This eastern phoebe was filling its beak with nestling chow.
You may be a red-necked grebe if...
Listen to nature talk on the radio.
Peonies were live bouquets at the cemeteries I visited as a boy.
our Lady of Mercy Church in Brush Creek, Minnesota.
Loitering mallard drakes.
By Al Batt
Published 9:00 am Saturday, June 9, 2018Nature’s World by Al Batt
The guy from just down the road
My neighbor Crandall stops by.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
“Everything is nearly copacetic. Today is laundry day. I’ve been out of clean bath towels for a couple of weeks now and I’m tired of using a hair dryer to dry off after a shower. I’ve started wearing shorts regularly. My glowing white legs act as beacons to low-flying airplanes. I’d love to pick your brain, but the one you picked isn’t working all that well. I guess that’s OK. I forgot what I was going to ask you anyway. I have a lot on my mind. There is no slack in my slacks. My kindergarten class reunion is coming up. It’s been quite a journey, but I’m worried about the 200 pounds I’ve gained since then.”
Naturally
A gray catbird was sitting pretty. It was in the catbird’s seat next to our bedroom’s screened window. Its plumage is muted, but it has an abundance of personality. Its mimicking song is a series of short musical and harsh notes collected into phrases. A song can last 10 minutes, but it seems longer outside my predawn window. A catbird puts in a long day, as it continues to sing after the sun goes down.
I visited several grocery stores as I did my errands. The cheapest grape jelly was absent from their shelves. It had gone to feed orioles. Chipmunks like jelly, too. I watched one putting sunflower seeds into its mouth, using its cheeks as lunch boxes.
I spotted a tiny bird standing out from the green vegetation. It was more yellow than bird. It was a yellow warbler losing yet another game of hide-and-seek. A friend, Dave Lewis of Stow, Ohio, said that it sings, “Feet, feet, feet; smell my feet.”
Another bird, petite and blue, perched nearby. The indigo bunting breeds from southeastern Saskatchewan east to New Brunswick, and south to central Arizona, central Texas, Gulf Coast and northern Florida. It must be very tired.
Samaras, the winged seeds of maple trees, covered the drive. They had been carried by the wind. As a child, I called samaras whirlybirds, helicopters or whirligigs.
By Jiminy! Crickets called by rubbing their wings together.
Dandelions serve as important sources of nectar for bees in the early spring, when most other flowers aren’t yet in bloom. Creeping Charlie, also called ground ivy, is an herbaceous plant native to Europe, brought to North American by the European settlers as medicine and a ground cover. Who was Charlie and why was he creeping? I strolled by the rhubarb. One of my parents preferred cutting rhubarb while the other felt pulling was the best way to go. My mother reminded me that no more than a third of the plant should be harvested at one time.
A turkey vulture took advantage of the 86,400-second rule to enjoy a road-killed raccoon. I found a pileated woodpecker on the road. Pileated can be correctly pronounced PIE-lee-ay-tid or PILL-ee-ay-tid. Sadly, I pronounced this handsome woodpecker dead.
Some arborvitae has browned. This is a severe example of winter drying, which can affect many kinds of evergreens. In late April, the warm, windy days with low humidity caused needles to lose moisture. Frozen soil in the root zone prevented water from moving into the needles to replace the lost moisture. Branches buried under the snow remained alive because they weren’t exposed to the warm, windy and dry environment. If a tree has 50 percent or more green needles, it may recover.
Q&A
Ed Pfannkoch of Chatfield asked for the best strategy to assist dazed birds that have hit windows. The greatest danger to a stunned bird is its vulnerability. An immobilized bird makes easy prey for cats and other predators. Place a dry washcloth or paper towel in the bottom of a shoebox to give the bird’s feet traction. Pick up the bird gently and put it into the box. Place the box indoors somewhere dark and quiet. Darkness calms the bird, which speeds recovery. In an hour, take the box outside and remove the lid. If the bird flies away, feel free to give an imaginary friend a high five. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota located in Roseville is a great help with injured birds. Their phone number is 651-486-9453.
“When is the best time to see a firefly in Minnesota?“ I typically see them from the second half of May through August, with July being an excellent month for viewing lightning bugs and their natural fireworks.
The Pelican Breeze
Join me on a natural cruise on Albert Lea Lake on July 1, Aug. 12 or Sept. 2. Please call 383-7273 for more information.
Thanks for stopping by
“Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.” — John Ruskin
“No sun outlasts its sunset, but it will rise again & bring the dawn.” — Maya Angelou
Do good.
Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.
Pelicans in a feeding frenzy nearly matching something typically seen at McDonald’s.
Caging feeders could keep larger birds out. Emphasis on “could.”
My parents wanted to name me Hydrangea. But I smelled more like an Al.
Grandma made hollyhock dolls.
I watched cedar waxwings feeding on midges beyond count. The humming sound produced by the midges has a frightening mosquito-like quality. The males have feathery antennae.
A swamp sparrow treed in a swamp.
Tyrannus tyrannus, the eastern kingbird. My neighborhood royalty.
The perfect shelf for an old garage.
This reminded me of George’s Garage of my youth. I thought George knew everything about cars. He may have.
The bird feeding section of a local grocery store has grape jelly galore.
A honey bee hive could contain up to 80,000 bees.
Blue-winged teal dabbling as ducks.
Trying to get their geese in a row.
One of the goslings is named Ryan.
This handsome cedar waxwing had just been on the ground eating midges.
It was like hunting for a midge in the grass.
Is it northern Minnesota? No, it’s Freeborn Lake.
A common yellowthroat. Each warbler is a one-bird bouquet.
To me, it’s a wild rose, but it’s an airport to an insect.
Canada anemone. I heard someone call it a meadow anemone.
Immature male orchard oriole singing, “"Look here, what cheer, wee yo, what cheer, whip yo, what wheer."
No man is an island — or an egret.
No, there isn’t a baseball game going on nearby. This “spittle” protects the nymphs of spittlebugs.
They (MN Rise) were the champions of the Battle on the Hardwood Tournament held in Hastings. My lovely granddaughter is at the end of the front row with the coach directly behind her.
Some folks call it five-finger. Poison ivy has three leaflets. Leaves of three, let it be; leaves of five, let it thrive. Leaves of five, stay alive.
Dame's rocket is often confused for a native phlox, but phlox has 5-petaled flowers and dame's rocket has 4 petals.
The Virginia waterleaf has spots on its earliest leaves that resemble water stains.
Samara warriors.
Samaras, the winged seeds of maple trees, covered the drive. They had been carried by the wind. As a child, I called samaras whirlybirds, helicopters or whirligigs.
A tortoise has to deal with a lot of overhead.
by Al Batt, albertleatribune.comJune 2, 2018 09:00 AM
Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.
My neighbor Crandall stops by.
“How are you doing? I ask.
“Everything is nearly copacetic. I had the best salad I’ve ever had yesterday.”
“Eating a jar of bacon bits isn’t the same as eating a salad,” I say.
“What made it so good was that my neighbor Still Bill, he makes more dust than miles, bought it for me. I’m not saying he is tight, but if you put a dollar bill in one of his pockets and a rattlesnake in another pocket, you’d never know which one would come out first.“
Naturally
I heard a western meadowlark sing. I listened long and hard to this voice of my generation. An owl had called in the darkness, part of the job description of a night owl.
I spent an entire day walking trails at a fish hatchery located near Bayfield, Wisconsin. Winter wrens called most of the time. Winter wrens, like house wrens, are little birds with big voices. A wren is 90 percent song. Most of the singing had been done by males hoping to attract a hen wren. A winter wren’s song is more powerful than that of a crowing rooster. Yellow warblers, common yellowthroats and ovenbirds sang constantly, too. Mnemonics of the songs of those birds are as follows: Yellow warbler — “Sweet sweet sweet, I’m so sweet,” common yellowthroat — “Follow me, follow me,” and ovenbird — “Nature, nature, nature.” A common mnemonic for a backyard bird would be the “Hula, hoop, hoop, hoop” of a mourning dove. What would a mnemonic be for the winter wren’s rich, bubbling, cascading song? I don’t know. I’m sure there are some, but I find its song too complicated and busy to welcome such a thing. I saw a couple of scarlet tanagers, lovely black-winged redbirds. I was so taken with the handsome tanagers that I nearly stepped on a nesting Canada goose.
My father called the yellow warbler a summer warbler. Among the 21 species of warblers I saw was a Blackburnian warbler. Its striking black-and-orange pattern is breathtaking.
I walked a wooded wetland near Ashland, Wisconsin. My eyes were treated to the loveliness of the marsh marigolds and my nose detected the putrid odor of skunk cabbage. I think skunk cabbage plants are beautiful and they produce enough of their own heat to melt snow. It gets its name from the pungent, skunk-like smell it makes. To me, the stench is more like that of a rotting carcass. This smell attracts flies and other insects for pollination.
Each year, I make a point of moseying along the winding paths of Munsinger Gardens and strolling the brick walkways of Clemens Gardens in St. Cloud. These beautiful gardens situated along the Mississippi River offer hardy perennials, over 1,000 roses, 100,000 annual plants and a garden inspired by the world-renowned White Garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, England.
I opened the door to the house and a June bug, also called a May beetle, flew in. It bounced off a lampshade and fell to the floor. The June bug found itself on its back, like a tipped-over turtle, pawing the air with its legs. I released it outside.
I was pleased to see a monarch butterfly. The area of Mexican forests occupied by overwintering monarchs fell to 6.12 acres from 7.19 acres the prior winter. The number of treed acres occupied by monarchs measures butterfly populations. Twenty years ago, 44 acres of trees held butterflies. Bad weather, illegal logging, habitat destruction and herbicides killing milkweed are the main threats to the butterflies.
Q&A
“Why are owl eyes so big?” Because if they were smaller, they’d fall out of their eye sockets. Large eyes let in more light than small eyes, enhancing the ability to see in the dark. A great gray owl, weighing 2 1/2 pounds, has eyes larger than those of most humans.
“I’ve noticed some Canada goose goslings have gone missing. What preys upon goslings?” The size, intelligence, wariness and aggressive behavior of the parents limit predation on goslings. Foxes, coyotes, raccoons, mink, eagles, owls, snapping turtles, hawks, gulls and crows would love to take a gosling out for lunch.
“Why are ladybugs so brightly colored?” It’s a warning to predators of a lady beetle’s toxicity.
Thanks for stopping by
“Only when one comes to listen, only when one is aware and still, can things be seen and heard. Everyone has a listening point somewhere. It does not have to be in the north or close to the wilderness, but someplace of quiet where the universe can be contemplated with awe.” — Sigurd Olson
“Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.” — Herman Hesse
Do good.
The Blackburnian warbler was named after the botanist Anna Blackburne. The baseball team could have been named the Baltimore Blackburnians. - Al Batt/Albert Lea Tribune
The fly had a question.
Ma and Pa, the Purple Martins.
A butterbutt (yellow-rumped warbler) trying to hide its yellow bits from view.
A young robin is called a young robin.
A house sparrow put something down on a bluebird house. A wild turkey feather.
No snowy egret, but this great egret is snow white.
The Jack-in-the-pulpit is a perennial, but Jack’s preaching will end and his position will be filled with red berries.
This is the bumblebee I petted this morning as it busied itself on Virginia waterleaf.
Gobble, gobble and a slight wobble.
The red-headed woodpecker is nicknamed the half-a-shirt, shirt tail bird, jellycoat, flag bird and flying checker-board.
Kissing cardinals.
These guys have found the internet much too fast.
Ruby-throated hummingbird nests have been found on loops of chain, wire and extension cords.
Wild ginger is a wonderful ground cover.
Why Hartland, Minnesota is blessed with the presence of chimney swifts.
The palm warbler is named for the tiny bird’s amazing ability to palm a basketball.
It’s the time of the year when everything seems to have feathers.
A yellow warbler losing yet another game of hide-and-seek.
The yellow-headed blackbird’s song sounds as if it is being strangled.
The indigo bunting breeds from southeastern Saskatchewan east to New Brunswick, and south to central Arizona, central Texas, Gulf Coast, and northern Florida. It is very tired.
Trout lily.
What happens when you hug a tree.
A chipmunk using its cheeks as lunch boxes.
A common yellowthroat wears a mask.
A yellow-rumped warbler looks at home with the dandelions.
The Wilson’s warbler wears a black crown.
An American redstart. Start is an old English word for tail. In Latin America, the redstart is called candelita or "little torch."
Shadow tail.
Al Batt on KMSU radio.
https://soundcloud.com/kmsu/al-batt-05292018
by Al Batt, albertleatribune.comMay 26, 2018 09:00 AM
A nest of barn swallows. - Al Batt/Albert Lea Tribune
Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.
My neighbor Crandall stops by.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
“Did you hear that Jane Johnson is marrying John Johnson‘s son, John Junior? They’re going to hyphenate their last name. So it will be John and Jane Johnson-Johnson, Junior. Pop finally got hearing aids. Ma hasn’t stopped talking since he got them. She says it’s been years since he has heard anything she has said. She saved it all and is letting him hear it. I see the neighbor has an old pickup planted in the middle of his lawn. Why did he do that?”
“He didn’t want to get a gnome,” I said.
“I had to take time away from slaving on my Hostile Acres Farm to attend to some family matters. It involved more than enough traveling. I’m always happy to get home. My bathroom understands me. I love having the home-bathroom advantage.”
Naturally
I had the blues. And I was happy to have them. There were six male indigo buntings at the feeders. It made me want to hug a cardinal. There was a female bunting, too, a lovely brown bird. Some might call her an LBJ — Little Brown Job.
The morning’s birdsong was a flawless symphony. An egret flew over. As egrets go, it was a great one. Bobolinks sang a song that has been described as “a tinkle of fairy music, like the strains of an old Greek harp.” Bobolinks wear black tuxedos with the wrong side at the front. Most birds with contrasting plumages are light underneath and dark on top. Not bobolinks.
The horned lark, the only native lark in North America, begins nesting early in spring and the tinkling songs of the males come from high overhead. The “horns” of the horned lark are feather tufts. A great crested flycatcher covered in feathers of earth tones pursued flying insects in the yard. I spotted turkey vultures in a dead tree. That seemed appropriate.
A squirrel ran past. They can run up to 20 mph. They work up a sweat that way, as they have sweat glands in their feet.
Jeff Bahls of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, told me that he’d spotted a barred owl eating nightcrawlers on a road.
There are mysteries to bird migration. The wandering of birds leaves me wondering. Birds can be expected, but they can confound expectations.
A red fox trotted through my yard. I was happy to see it. A study by an ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies found that where Lyme disease is found, it occurred most often where fox numbers were the lowest. The reason is because red foxes are effective predators of mice, major carriers of Lyme disease.
The day’s red-winged blackbird’s opponent was a bald eagle. The blackbird was fighting out of its weight class, but it hectored the eagle enough that it landed in a farm field. The feistiness of a redwing is impressive.
I heard “kek-kek-kek” coming from on high. It was the call of a Cooper’s hawk, the chicken hawk of my boyhood days. I hear that sound often when I’m near the raptor’s nest. An impressive aerial skirmish took place. A crow and the hawk fussed with one another. Then a second crow came in like the cavalry to put the hawk on the run. They forced the Cooper’s to land in a tree. The crows turned to fly away and the hawk came shooting out of the tree at breakneck speed and chased both the corvids out of the neighborhood.
Q&A
Mary Thostenson of Ellendale asked if goldfinches will nest here. The American goldfinch’s main natural habitats are weedy fields and floodplains, where plants such as thistles and asters are common. They’re also found in backyards, cultivated areas, orchards and roadsides. Goldfinches can be found at feeders all year. They don’t start nesting until July when the fibers, such as thistle down, they need for nesting material become available.
Dennis Seaton of Emmons asked how to prevent barn swallows from nesting under the eaves of a house. It has been speculated that one reason swallows choose to nest close to humans is because that keeps crows and other predators away. In some cultures, it’s considered good luck to have barn swallows nest on a house. To prevent barn swallows from nesting on a building, cover the area with bird netting, chicken wire, aluminum foil or plastic cling. It’s generally four weeks from the time the swallows begin incubating eggs until the young leave the nest.
Thanks for stopping by
“Show respect to people who don’t even deserve it; not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours.” — Dave Willis
“Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing.” — Abraham Lincoln
Do good.
My father called the yellow warbler a summer warbler.
The Blackburnian warbler was named after the botanist Anna Blackburne.
The baseball team could have been named the Baltimore Blackburnians.
The betting window was busy at the duck races today. These two blue-winged teal swam bill-to-bill.
A female American redstart. A snazzy little hen is this butterfly of birds.
Singing in the rain.
Hoping for a good crop of purple martins this year.
Works better than a “Keep off the grass” sign.
I remember a fall day in Manteo, North Carolina
Large-flowered trillium allowed me to tiptoe through trillions of trillies.
As egrets go, this was a great one.
A woodchuck taking a break from chucking wood.
This woodpecker didn’t know his own strength.
Tools for picking corn by hand.
A crane that erects wind turbines.
When I was in Bayfield, Wisconsin, I was a real blockhead.
I was charged by this mallard hen. Either someone had been feeding her or it was an annual event, The Running of the Ducks.
I nearly stepped on this nesting Canada goose. That would have resulted in a confrontation.
Bat houses.
The marsh marigold is a plant I called cowslip when I was a lad.
