Fireflies are amazing insects! Did you know…?

• Fireflies and lightning bugs are the same thing! It’s just a different dialect and depends on where you grew up.
• Neither a fly nor a bug, fireflies are beetles in the order Coleoptera, family Lampyridae.
• There are 2,000 species of fireflies worldwide, 125 in North America, and 15+ in Pennsylvania.
• All fireflies emit some sort of bioluminescence at some point in their life cycle (every single firefly larva glows, aka “glow-worms”).
• There is fossil evidence of their light organ from 99 million years ago.
• Fireflies are diverse eaters; they can be cannibals, carnivores, and even nectar drinkers.
• Many fireflies exist in temperate, tropical habitats. In PA, you’ll find their peak is warm, humid nights in mid-June to early July. Once the night temps hit 60 F, they are less active.
• Adult fireflies only live for a few weeks. In their final moments, they will mate and lay eggs (when you’ll see their glow).
• Folklore incorporates fireflies as a spiritual symbol. Amazonian folklore tells that firefly light came from the gods, a symbol of hope and guidance. In Japanese legend, the light of two species represents ghosts of ancient warriors, or stars that left the sky to travel Earth. In Apache mythology, fire came to the people from trickster fox, who tried to steal it from the firefly village. Some cultures believe they are bad luck. In Victorian superstition, finding a firefly in your home meant someone would die soon.
• Fireflies glow through the enzyme luciferase, which catalyzes the oxidation of a luciferin, an organic substance, present in luminescent organisms.
• Scientists have employed luciferase to detect metabolic diseases, perform cancer research, test for life on Mars, in forensics, and to detect E. Coli and Salmonella in foods.
• Fireflies glow for different reasons, including warning of toxicity as larva, mating selection, and predation.
• The light produced by fireflies is the most efficient lighting in the world. It’s a cold light, emitting zero heat and no infrared or UV frequencies.
• Some things we can do to help dwindling and threatened firefly populations: plant native species; leave the leaves; reduce light pollution; avoid pesticides and herbicides.

 

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

Cadets from the Owen J. Roberts High School Navy JROTC program came out to Crow’s Nest Preserve again this year to volunteer their time and labor. At Warwick Woods they scooped up a pile of gravel left over from its campground days and spread it—bucket by bucket—on the trail that leads to the meadow.

There’s no easy way to remove the gravel from where it isn’t wanted (the woods) and put it where it is (the trail), without a lot of hand labor. Cadets employed rakes, shovels, and buckets to scoop up the gravel and formed a brigade to get it over to the trail.

Visitors will enjoy the new trail surface leading to the meadow. Thank you, Cadets!

 

When Zane Miller was growing up, he got to know a particular eastern box turtle. Every spring for several years in a row, this turtle made her way to his mother’s flower garden to lay her eggs.

“She had a chunk out of her shell that made her quite distinct, so we knew it was the same turtle,” said Zane.

Perhaps this was where the Natural Lands preserve manager’s fascination with these reptiles began, though he’s quick to point out he’s not a turtle expert. “Really, I like all wild things,” Zane clarifies. “I love studying them to learn more about them.”

Zane has spotted quite a few box turtles as he goes about his workdays. The more he encountered, the more he began to wonder how robust their population was.

Eastern box turtles are a species of special concern in Pennsylvania. Their numbers have declined steadily throughout their range due to habitat loss and poaching by the illegal pet trade. A naturally low reproduction rate further compounds their challenges. Females may take up to a decade to begin laying eggs, which have a high natural failure rate. Both eggs and hatchlings are vulnerable to predators like skunks, racoons, and foxes. However, eastern box turtles are long lived and produce eggs well into “old age.” There are some reports of individuals living more than 100 years in the wild.

Recalling that turtle from his childhood, Zane knew he could identify distinct individuals by their shell and skin markings, which are as unique as human fingerprints. So, he set up a spreadsheet with GPS locations, photos of shell patterns, sex, and guesstimated age based on size. Zane carefully logs every box turtle he comes across during his work. And he shares his findings via the Pennsylvania Amphibian and Reptile Survey, a citizen-science effort to document the state’s herptiles.

Shell photos: Zane Miller

 

Turtles, like birds and butterflies, are an indicator species; their presence and abundance can tell us a lot about the overall health of the ecosystem.

“It’s important to study indicator species, particularly to understand how our land stewardship activities may impact them,” Zane explained. “Over time, my documentation can help me get a fuller picture of this species. For example, I have noted individuals that have traveled more than a quarter of a mile and several hundred feet of elevation change. That’s quite something considering their average walking pace is about two tenths of a mile per hour.”

Box turtles generally stick to a relatively small home range but do travel farther during spring mating and nesting season. Sadly, many turtles are crushed by cars when they attempt to cross roadways built across their habitats. Unlike mammals, turtles are ectothermic; they regulate their body temperatures from their surroundings. When it’s hot outside, they seek shade. When it’s cold, they find a sunny spot. Though they don’t live in water, box turtles prefer a humid environment. Zane has noticed they’re particularly active during and after a rainstorm.

“Natural Lands’ preserves are ideal turtle habitat,” Zane shared. “Few roads traverse these conserved acres and development isn’t a threat. We also leave leaves and fallen trees to decompose, which offer great shelter from the heat of summer and a place for turtles to keep warm in winter. Turtles often return to the same site each winter, when they enter a state called brumation, which is similar to hibernation. It’s yet another compelling reason for leaving dead trees to decompose. I’ve seen quite a few box turtles emerging from under dead trees where they overwintered.”

In late summer, after a few days of rain, a turtle appeared by Zane’s office door and stayed there. At first, he was delighted, but Zane became worried after the third day and when he noticed one of the turtle’s eyes was closed.

He transported the animal to Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Chalfont, PA. The clinic staff there diagnosed the turtle with conjunctivitis, which was hampering the animal’s ability to forage. They admitted the turtle to administer antibiotics and help it put on some much-needed weight. Once it’s healthy again, they’ll release it exactly where Zane found it: at his office door.

The loss of even just one turtle to a species faced with so many challenges is significant. Fortunately for this lucky reptile, and the many others that call the preserve home, Zane Miller is keeping a watchful eye out. “It doesn’t have to just be me,” said Zane. “If we all create safe habitat in natural areas in our yards and gardens and support conservation efforts around the region, together, we can be part of the solution.”

what to do if you find a box turtle…

• on the road
  Pull over safely and put on your flashers. Pick the turtle up, holding it securely with both hands. Move the turtle out of the road in the direction it was facing. Wash your hands, as turtles often carry salmonella, chlamydia, and fungal infections.
• on a nature walk
  Don’t disturb or handle the turtle. Take a photo if you wish (and send it to photos@natlands.org if you’re at one of our preserves), but don’t post the location on social media. Take home some happy memories but NEVER take home a turtle.
• in your yard or garden
  Make your property more inviting to turtles by leaving downed trees and leaves whenever possible. If you observe a turtle digging a nest (May through July), keep pets and curious children away from that area. Eggs incubate for up to 80 days.

turtles and climate change.

Because eastern box turtles rely on their external environment to regulate body temperature, they are especially vulnerable to changes in climate. Some scientists predict they’ll experience increases in nest failures, skewed sex ratios, and disease outbreaks. Others think the species may benefit from a warming climate with higher winter survival rates and longer seasons to reproduce, particularly in the northern parts of their range.

note: It is a federal crime to take a turtle from the wild, punishable by fines of up to $5,000 and six months in prison. It is also illegal to own an eastern box turtle in Pennsylvania and the species is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity. Sadly, that doesn’t stop those in the illegal pet trade from poaching them or incidental turtle-napping by curious hikers. One recent report estimates that “hundreds and sometimes thousands of eastern box turtles are traded each year.”

 

For the second time, Natural Lands’ Hildacy Preserve hosted Nature as Healer: A Writing Workshop with instructor Naila Francis of This Hallowed Wilderness.

Despite 20 mile-per-hour wind gusts, participants sheltered beside Crum Creek for a grounding meditation, open share, and poetry reading, and then wandered silently down the trail, pausing to take time to nourish and reflect beside the flowing water and up alongside the meadow. Red-shouldered Hawks, Turkey Vultures, and myriad songbirds flew overhead, and two turtles sun-bathed on a log. Tree branches danced in the wind, and both trout lilies and spring beauties bloomed along the forest floor.

In her reflection, Naila shared, “I know the wind was fierce at times but perhaps had much to say to us.”

Of the attendees, two happened to have lost children within the last year or so and connected deeply during the event. Attendees all shared their immense gratitude for an event where they could share their grief and feel, at least for a short time, that grief shift or lift through the healing power of nature.

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

Spring is upon us and the ephemeral wildflowers are incredible right now. Crow’s Nest Preserve lags behind much of the region in the season’s progress so it is still early spring here.

Trout lily is blooming in abundance. Redbud fills the understory with clouds of pink.

Skunk cabbage foliage grows lush along the streams.

A clump of Jack-in-the-pulpit growing in a thicket.

We hope you take advantage of this protected open space to enjoy nature. At 712 acres, there is plenty of room to find peace here.

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

The beginning of March is unusually early for us to be doing prescribed fire, but the conditions have been ideal on some days (and too dry on others). Staff began last week with burning 18 acres of grasslands at Green Hills Preserve—our first time using fire there. You can see the two fields in the photo below, taken a week after the burn.

A prescribed burn is a controlled application of fire to a meadow under appropriate weather conditions and fuel and soil moisture.

This will confine the fire to predetermined areas and produce the intensity of heat and rate of spread required to accomplish our goals. The burns are conducted only if all necessary conditions are met.

Prescribed fire more closely mimics a natural process than mowing, an alternative we use when burning is not possible.

We started this week with a couple small burns at Crow’s Nest Preserve. We burned a small meadow with warm-season grasses and bottle gentians that have responded well to prescribed fire. Below, the meadow below the Chief’s Grove is freshly blackened. (The top photo shows the classic chevron shape of the prescribed fire where two flanks of fire are drawing together before going out.)

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

I don’t spend a lot of time in the office—there’s a lot of land out there to manage. But in the winter we have reports to fill out, events to plan, and presentations to prepare. So when the weather is icy or extremely cold you may find me in the visitor center barn office.

We use reports to track hazard trees, record preserve visitation, and track every piece of equipment and preserve infrastructure along with its expected lifespan and current condition. Not to mention we document every cent we spend!

I’ve also been keeping up to date a presentation on managing invasive plants, and recently added one on landscaping with native plants; now I’m preparing one on the barns of Crow’s Nest for an event here on March 29.

Speaking of events, last year we held 20 public events here (not including our own summer camps and Nature Clubs, our monthly volunteer days, and not counting outside groups using our facilities). So far in 2025 we have 15 scheduled at Crow’s Nest in the first six months alone, including our always-popular Hepatica Hike, monthly Sound Meditations in the barn, the aforementioned Barns of Crow’s Nest slideshow and hike (a rare opportunity to see inside the barns), a Mycology Foray with Tianna Godsey, Fairy Village Crafting with Devon Funt, Birding with Jeff and Angela in May, and our Contra Dance in June. More events are constantly being added and we’re working on our fall lineup now. And you heard it here first: we’re super-excited to be planning a barn concert with singer-songwriter Edie Carey on December 5. You can see all of our events here.

So amid the paperwork you might imagine my delight to have a visitor in the office, a tiny reptile. That’s the ring-necked snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii) pictured above and, for scale with a pen, below. They’re common, though usually they’re under leaves and rocks, so we don’t see them all that often. This one showed up by my desk in the office, and was returned to the wild under some leaves in a protected spot (where it may very well find a way inside again). With an office in a converted barn, wildlife makes a regular appearance.

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager. 

Despite some rough weather in the last few weeks we had a decent day for February’s hardy volunteers at Crow’s Nest Preserve. We went back to a hedgerow that had been done a few years ago and cut shrub honeysuckle from the understory. Since it had been cut before the sprouts were smaller and we covered a lot of ground in a short time.

We pick this spot for occasional winter projects because it is on a south-facing slope to take advantage of the of the sun and shelter from the wind. We didn’t have sun on this day but we kept moving and kept warm. We are so grateful for all the work we accomplish with volunteers. Join us if you can on the first Wednesday of most months from 9 – 11:30 am.

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager. 

Assistant Educator and Land Steward Devon Funt has prepared a presentation about the native woodland garden she designed and installed with volunteers, located on a bank above the parking area at Crow’s Nest Preserve’s Warwick Woods. We were able to find some photos—from December 2020 and June 2024—showing the dramatic change. Above is a screenshot of what it looks like; the red arrows point to the same tree for reference.

This restoration and garden have appeared on this blog before, but I don’t think we captured the change as dramatically as Devon has here. This year the woodland wildflowers and ferns should begin to fill in and we’ll be able to document an even more dramatic change. Look for an update here, or better yet, come to Warwick Woods to see the gardens in person!

 

 

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

We’re pleased to say we’re all cleared out at Crow’s Nest Preserve. Cody started plowing last evening and resumed this morning. The visitor center walkways have been shoveled a couple of times. So if you are interested in doing a little cross-country skiing or getting outdoors in some sunny, beautiful scenery, we are here.

That said, at this writing (10:45 am) I haven’t seen a single car go by, other than Natural Lands staff. So conditions on public roads may not be great. And keep in mind that the gravel parking lot we can plow most of the surface snow off of, but gravel can’t be plowed down to expose all the stone without digging up and damaging the surface, so the parking lot is a thin layer of snow and stone.