Recent Articles from BRMC Newsletters

Rain

Bull Run Mountains Conservancy invites our visitors to sign our visitors log and share their experiences around the mountains. Here are a couple of interesting entries about rain on the mountain—something we’re thinking about today as we prepare this newsletter as the rain falls outside our windows.

8/7/00: What happens after a day of rain. In the simplest terms, the rain stops. Every bird, mammal, insect, worm, in a sense anything alive, feast on the fruits of water.

Bluebirds alight on every fence post, flocking juveniles preparing for winter after learning life's lessons from their former parents, who now simply take the role of elders. Meadowlarks are so busy feeding you can almost step on them before they will retreat. Wood-pewees sing their name over and over. Chickadees and nuthatches flutter through the trees as their call notes resonate throughout the hollow.

At all trophic levels, the burst of life itself grasps, divides, and completely utilizes the jolt of energy the rain has provided. With plenty of energy radiating down everyday, the normal limiting summer ingredient, water, has been more than compliant.

8/8/00: Today starts as spectacular as the night closed. In a summer of wet, what appears with the enormous amount of flowers are more butterflies than the human eye can process. Every corolla and every leaf seem to come to life as the amazing pollinators journey their way through every habitat, especially the early successional fields. Water has allowed all the nectar producing plants to reward the partners in life.

More water, more nectar, its just that simple. Nectar production in a normal summer is limited by what water loss the plant can afford. Nature's double edge sword-more nectar more pollinators and better chance to successfully reproduce; more nectar more water loss and greater stress on the plant. This year, excess rain has tipped the equation, both the plant and pollinator are benefiting.

Butterflies and moths as both adults and larva have more feed. The down side hits adult moths and butterflies literally as heavy rains pound them into the ground and they join another segment of the energy flow prematurely.