Al Batt: As cold weather continues, pay attention: Look for life and hope

byAl Batt,m.albertleatribune.com

February 2, 2019 09:00 AM

Does a downy find winter weather a downer? Al Batt/Albert Lea Tribune

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.

The guy from just down the road

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. Yesterday was a bummer. You know you’re getting older when you pull a muscle while eating a sandwich. And a neighbor has a pet skunk. I just got wind of that. But I’ve had a good day today. I found a Twinkie I’d left in a ‘Bonanza’ lunchbox I had in elementary school. It was delicious. I tell everyone I hate snowstorms, but I don’t. They get me out of doing things. I can sit around wearing my ‘I farm, what’s your excuse?’ T-shirt and ancient sweatpants while eating bad things and watching bad TV shows. A storm had been predicted and I’m the blizzard wizard, so I headed to the Grocery Emporium and Gizzard Rental to stock up on pizza, ice cream, root beer and kale. I knew that was what I was going to buy because I can read my mind.”

“You bought kale?” I say.

“My sister Cruella had been bugging me to eat healthier. Anyway, I buy those things and my credit card company called me with a fraud alert because I’d never purchased anything like kale before.”

Naturally

I tell myself that winter is on my side, but it can be ornery. At least I don’t have to shovel the cold. Here at the Hartland field station in January, I turn to the birds as sunflowers turn to the sun. I endeavor to notice things. It’s an expression of life and of hope.

The crashing temperatures painted frost patterns resembling ghostly plants on the window glass.

I watched a handsome red-bellied woodpecker fly to a feeder. It was a male with a red crown and nape. The female has the red nape, but lacks the red crown.

I saw a pair of critically acclaimed birds — cardinals. Each time I take a good look at a bird, I’m reminded why I’m a card-carrying birder.

A squirrel chattered at me the entire time I filled the feeders. Squirrels have a salty vocabulary. I enjoy squirrels even though they can be hard on feeders. It’s as the psalmist said, “Harden not your hearts.” I reckon that applies to all things including squirrels.

We’d just received somewhere between 8 and 143 inches of snow — most of it parked illegally. It reminded me that Harmony became the Minnesota state annual precipitation record holder by receiving 60.21 inches in 2018. This proves that planning and hard work pay off. Harmony crushed the old record of 56.24 inches set by Waseca in 2016. A downy woodpecker flew in as I was filling the feeder. I wondered if a downy finds winter weather a downer? I told it about Harmony’s record in hopes it might bring cheer, but the woodpecker wasn’t interested.

Q&A

“Where do eagles roost during Minnesota winters?” Bald eagles find shelter in protective areas, in brush, branches and conifers, which reduces exposure to wind. These microclimates hold heat more efficiently than do open spaces. An eagle’s 7,000 to 7,200 feathers are effective insulators and its large size helps it retain heat.

“Do chickens sing?” I think they do. Chickens make a wide range of sounds and communicate with one another. Roosters sing loudly when they crow, and they call hens whenever they find a tasty treat they wish to share. Hens cackle after laying eggs. It’s better singing than I hear from many humans.

“Do vultures have enough carrion space when they fly?” No, and they don’t fly cheep. Vultures asked that I remind human fliers that just because it has a handle, doesn’t make it carry-on luggage. Turkey vultures generally eat mammals, but feed on other carrion such as birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. I’ve seen them eating rotting pumpkins. A vulture prefers freshly dead animals, but wait for carcasses to reach a condition that George Foreman wouldn’t consider grilling. This makes it possible for the vulture to pierce the skin.

Albert Lea Christmas Bird Count

This count produced 44 species on Dec. 29. There were 104 wild turkeys and 17 pheasants counted, more Eurasian-collared doves than mourning doves, and seven pelicans. Other birds seen included: Brown creeper, golden-crowned kinglet, white-throated sparrow, northern shrike, northern flicker, song sparrow and red-winged blackbird. No robins were spotted. The highest numbers in descending order were: House sparrow, rock pigeon, dark-eyed junco, horned lark and American crow.

Thanks for stopping by

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We have probed the earth, excavated it, burned it, ripped things from it, buried things in it, chopped down its forests, leveled its hills, muddied its waters, and dirtied its air. That does not fit my definition of a good tenant. If we were here on a month-to-month basis, we would have been evicted long ago.” — Rose Bird, former chief justice of the California Supreme Court

Do good.

The blue jay tried to hide from me.

The junco’s snow goggles were made from real snow.

A red-bellied beauty, otherwise known as a red-bellied woodpecker.

When a woodpecker hangs around the suet, it hangs around the suet.

Sundogs follow the sun as a dog follows its master.

A red-winged blackbird drops by for a bite at the Batt bird table.

I like looking at a house finch.

The goldfinch complained not a bit about 30 degrees below zero. That’s why it’s one of my heroes.

A fox squirrel watched the wind blow a red squirrel by.

This is how I sneak up to look at the thermometer each morning.

This squirrel is headed to Atlanta. It heard that there will be a lot of nuts at the Super Bowl.

What a time for the air conditioning to stop working.

It was cold enough that the guy on the tractor crossing sign wished his tractor had a cab.

It looked as if the ornamental eagle in the yard was hit in the face with a snow pie.

The beauty of the world sometimes hides in the shadows.

A starling wears a coat of many colors and feathers.

I went for a walk today and took the sundogs with me.

A nuthatch plans its next move.

A starling reacts after hearing the latest weather report.

One of the faces of winter. 

We don’t see killdeer in Minnesota when it’s 32 degrees below zero, but a friend considers them to be the true sign of spring. “A killdeer doesn’t lie,” he says.

A scene from a mallard’s dream in January in Minnesota.

And in today’s views: a sedge wren.

Outspoken and captivating — it’s the blue jay way.

The look of winter.

Al Batt: White-tailed deer and lutefisk diners may have one thing in common

by Al Batt, albertleatribune.com
January 26, 2019 09:00 AM

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.

The guy from just down the road

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. I’m trying to get a government grant to learn how to get government grants. Yesterday came out sideways. It was because I’d finally figured out that everything isn’t about me. I was shattered. I had to run right out and find a little pie for my whipped cream. My neighbor Still Bill — you have to drive stakes by him to see if he’s moving — bought a new truck. He kept showing me photos of it on his cellphone. Each time, he said, ’Ain’t she beautiful?’ After the 10th time, he’d made me so mad I could spit tacks. I told Still Bill that if he thought his pickup was lovely, he should see my cousin Calvin.”

“Does he have a snazzy truck?” I say.

“Nope. He’s an optometrist.”

Naturally

I walked, enjoying what nature had filled my yard with.

I paid attention to the things in my yard. Mary Oliver, a favorite poet of mine, had just died. She had written, “Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” She also wrote this: “To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”

There is always something out there in the wild kingdom. I spied with my little eye — snow and a deer far off in the distance. It was looking at me or something near me. High numbers of deer reflect a productive landscape. I saw a study that found a white-tailed deer will eat over 600 plant species and 3.5 percent of its weight daily. I know people who exceed 3.5 percent at a single lutefisk feed.

I moseyed past a nice cherry tree that had given up the ghost. The yard chipmunks will miss it as the fruits were a favorite of theirs.

A bald eagle flew overhead as I pruned a tree. The DNR estimated there were 9,800 pairs of bald eagles in Minnesota in 2017. A 2018 survey found nearly 1,700 bald eagle nests in Iowa.

I busied myself providing room service at my bird feeders. Feeding such beautiful creatures warmed me on a cold day. My winter coat helped.

I remember years ago when I’d see evening grosbeaks some winters. I don’t see them in my yard anymore. These handsome “grocerybeaks” displayed prodigious appetites at the feeder.

Q&A

“How many snowy owls does The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota care for each year?” The Raptor Center treats around 1,000 sick and injured raptors each year. I know they had about 40 snowy owls as patients during one exceptional year, but I’d guess the average is five snowies or less.

“I watched a bald eagle fly over ducks on a lake. Some ducks flew and some didn’t. How does a duck decide what to do?” Its choice of predator evasion tactics might be decided by what kind of a duck it is. A dabbling duck (puddle duck) is a type of duck that feeds primarily along the surface of the water or by tipping headfirst into the water to graze on aquatic plants, vegetation, insects and larvae. These ducks are infrequent divers and are more likely to fly to escape danger. Diving ducks propel themselves underwater with large feet attached to short legs situated far back on the body. When threatened by an aerial predator, they tend to dive to safety.

“How do I know if it’s a hill or a mountain?” According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there is no official difference between hills and mountains. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names once stated that the difference between a hill and a mountain in the U.S. was that a mountain rises at least 1,000 feet above its surrounding area, but this was abandoned in the 1970s.

“Can a large insect fly farther than a smaller insect?” I don’t know. I’d reckon larger insects are the winners, but I’m guessing. I do know the fragile looking monarch butterfly can travel 2,500 miles during its migration. You’d think that would win a gold medal, but it doesn’t. The Pantala flavescens dragonfly, about 1.5 inches long, flies across continents and oceans from India to Africa, about 4,400 miles. According to Smithsonian, dragonflies are known to travel at a speed of 35 miles an hour. Hawk moths, clocked at a speed of 33.7 miles an hour, come in as the second fastest. I’ve read that there is a horsefly that is faster, but not according to Smithsonian.

Thanks for stopping by

“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.” — Theodore Roosevelt

“Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.” — Stephen Hawking

Do good.

When it’s 16 degrees below zero, things freeze in place.

This is how a local woolly bear caterpillar gave the winter forecast in October. The wider the rusty brown section, the milder the winter will be. The more black there is, the more severe the winter.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the groundhog sleeps tonight.

The eastern cottontail isn’t one to go down the rabbit hole.

I call him Hopalong Cassidy. He doesn’t come when I call him.

Hopalong Cassidy was an old-time star of cowboy shows.

There is room for everyone at the bird table.

This chipmunk had either been on its way to a burrow or to the dentist’s office.

When not just any duck would do, a wood duck does.

And in today’s views: a northern shoveler, aka a spoonbill.

The cardinal is a darling of the backyard. Not bad in the front yard either.

If snow were green.

Blue-winged teal.

A guard goose.

My father called it a blue canary. By any name, the indigo bunting is an attractive being.

This bald eagle is slicing — projectile pooping.

What does the bald eagle see? It’s probably me.

In today’s views: a bald eagle.

This nattily attired Steller’s jay dressed himself this morning.

The legend of the headless bald eagle continues. Photo purposely blurred to enhance the mystery.

Remembering November.

A bridge to somewhere lovely. Lutak, Alaska.

Each time I take a good look at a bird, I am reminded why I’m a card-carrying birder.

It’s Squirrel Appreciation Day. You should form an exploratory committee to determine if a squirrel could run successfully for public office.

A young bald eagle wondering what the old fool is up to now.

I get this same look whenever I update my computer’s operating system.

Showing the other bald eagles how he used to dance in his younger years.

The fishing was good unless you were a fish.

And in today’s views: a bald eagle.

Al Batt: Square v. rectangle: All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com

The guy from just down the road

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. I finally got that coffee stain out of my new coat.”

“How did you do that?” I say, knowing the cleaners had given up on it.

“I used an old family secret. It removes most stains easily. It’s called a scissors.”

Naturally

Eastern cottontails danced in the night’s moonlight. I watched when dawn arrived as they fed upon twigs, stems and bark. Rabbits venture from hiding places at dusk and dawn to find food.

I take a walk to see how the critters are wintering.

Fox, gray and red squirrels bulk up and cache food for winter. This lessens the need to spend time foraging in severe weather. They weather a storm in a drey, a type of nest in the forks of trees that the squirrels build of dry leaves and twigs. They also use tree cavities and nestboxes. Red squirrels cache cones and nuts in middens, piles of food and leftovers. They hang fungi in trees for winter eating.

Chipmunks sleep in their burrows, waking periodically to eat stored food. Ground squirrels and groundhogs use stored fat for maintenance energy during hibernations.

Voles build nests and tunnels under an insulating blanket of snow and eat from a cache of seeds and nuts or consume bark and roots in this subnivean environment. Subnivean means beneath the snow. When forced to leave this safety zone, voles become vulnerable to predation by hawks, owls and foxes.

A red fox stays warm by growing a winter coat and curling into a ball on open ground, using its tail as a warm scarf.

I saw deer tracks at the edge of the yard. Deer change from grazing to browsing in winter. Their gray-brown winter coats have hollow hair shafts and a dense underfur that provides excellent insulation.

Not capable of growing much of a fur coat and unable to construct a suitable drey, some humans opt to migrate to areas of warm temperatures with an abundance of restaurants. The rest of us stay here.

Q&A

“Why are cedar waxwings called waxwings?” The name comes from the waxy red tips of the secondary wing feathers of some birds. The first part of the common name is based on their fondness for cedar tree berries. A group of waxwings is known as an earful or a museum. You might see some tomorrow, as they’re more nomadic than migratory.

“I watched songbirds flock around a screech owl. Why do they do that?” Birds mob predators as a collective response to danger. Are they trying to drive the threat away or call attention to it? Maybe both.

“Is it correct to call insects “bugs”?” The insects don’t mind. People tend to use bug to identify many small creatures. However, a true bug belongs to the order Hemiptera. A true bug has a stylet (a mouth like a straw) that they generally use to suck juices from plants. Leafhoppers, aphids, cicadas, stink bugs and bed bugs are true bugs. Insects belong to the class Insecta and are characterized by three-part bodies, usually two pairs of wings and six legs. Bees and mosquitoes are good examples. Arthropods are in a separate phylum from bugs and insects. They include centipedes, spiders and ticks. Not all insects are bugs, but all bugs are insects. To repeat myself. To repeat myself, a key difference between true bugs and other insects are the mouthparts. True bugs suck.

“My grandfather said that dogs with floppy ears make the best trackers. Is he right?” Of course, he’s right. Grandfathers are always right. Beagles, Basset hounds, bloodhounds and coonhounds are exceptionally good trackers. That’s partially because their long, floppy ears scoop up scent particles and send them toward the nose. Long ears might limit a dog’s ability to hear distant sounds, forcing the canines to rely more on a sense of smell.

“Do windows of houses kill many birds?” The study “Bird–building Collisions in the United States: Estimates of Annual Mortality and Species Vulnerability” was published in The Condor in 2014. It was authored by Scott R. Loss, Sara S. Loss, and Peter P. Marra of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and Tom Will of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The study provided quantitative evidence to support the conclusion that building collisions are second only to cats as the largest source of direct human-caused mortality for U.S. birds. They found that roughly 55 percent of the avian mortality occurred at low-rises, 44 percent at residences and 1 percent at high-rises.

Thanks for stopping by

“No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.” — Zen proverb

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

Do good.

Minnesota winters aren’t bad if you know how to dress.

A fox squirrel disguised as snow.

A snowbird in a snowfall.

A chickadee puts the finishing touches on a sculpture.

A chickadee weathers a storm.

A red squirrel thinking red squirrel thoughts.

Does a downy find winter a downer?

And in today’s views: a bald eagle grasping driftwood.

All Christmas Bird Counts are great, but the ones where I see a golden-crowned kinglet are the best.

I was eating a slice of pean pie when I saw this pied-billed grebe. Coincidence? I think not.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood when a red-breasted nuthatch moves in.

And in today’s views: a snowbird (dark-eyed junco).

A bald eagle thinks about retirement planning.

It’s as if Congress were in session.

Congress is in session.

A trumpeter swan acting all triumphant.

Waiting while the wife gets a facial.

And in today’s views: mallards.

The newly elected chair of the Board of Squirrels.

And in today’s views: a house sparrow.

A pine siskin takes the time to preen.

Today is my late brother Donald’s birthday. I remember him fondly. He was a fire chief for many years. His boots sat outside the fire hall on the day of his funeral in 2015.

My brother loved a parade — as long as he was driving a tractor.

I floated by these cypress knees in Louisiana. Their function is unknown. Mine is often unknown, too.

At least the woodpecker’s nostrils were warm.

A dandy bald-faced hornet nest just hanging around.

The blue skies of summer show up in the winter in the feathers of a blue jay.

This barred owl is seeing things I can only imagine.

House finches find Christmas wreaths and hanging planters to be excellent nest sites.

Alaska

Nature’s art.

There was frost on the binoculars as the morning’s quest for birds began.

Nature has a showing of its latest work.

Mendenhall Glacier. Juneau, Alaska

Poster at an Owatonna school.

As could be written only by a child.

Al Batt: Primary consideration when choosing binoculars is ease of use

by Al Batt, m.albertleatribune.com
January 12, 2019 09:00 AM

kAl Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.

The guy from just down the road

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. I had my shoes on the wrong feet until lunch, I flossed with a gummy bear this morning and I ran out of plastic silverware. Don’t ever try eating chili through a straw. I’m waiting for the flying monkeys. I knew bad weather was on the way. The cows were on the porch. They always beg to get into the house when the weather is getting colder. I returned a pile of my Christmas gifts to Dollar Tree. I’m ahead by nearly $7 on that deal. I stopped to see my nephew Carl’s new baby, a son named Carl, Jr. The kid has that new Carl smell.”

Naturally

The cold had been overly ambitious, but my “Arizona is for wimps” T-shirt warmed me. I hit the trail, hoping curiosity might drag some information with it. I took a lovely walk filled with wonder and discovery. It was a quiet day. The outdoors must have been listening. Demonstrating the art of patience, I hoped to stumble upon things.

I looked at a dandelion plant. Dandelions develop taproots that can extend 15 feet deep in ideal conditions. I watched squirrels and woodpeckers on a dead tree. A dead tree lives. I’m a member of the dead tree appreciation society. Dead trees provide vital habitat for many species of wildlife.

A chickadee was busy at a feeder. It was on a diet in which it eats only one thing. More. I watched it fly into the shelter of a small tree and fluff up for warmth. On cold days, being fluffy is a good thing to be.

I spoke at the Albert Lea Seed House and told the wonderful crowd gathered there why the chickadee was my favorite bird. As I listened to the stories of others, my wife shopped for Christmas gifts. I bloviated. She bought.

While doing Christmas Bird Counts, I’ve noticed an abundance of squirrels this winter. Rabbits were, as always, in good numbers. This year, I called every eastern cottontail Hopalong. CBCs are a way of playing hide-and-seek with birds. John Hockema of Rochester showed up with old Swift Audubon binoculars. It was good to see John. He and his aged optics brought great memories. I did stumble onto good birds.

John Leininger of Albert Lea informed me of some bad behavior demonstrated by wild turkeys in his neighborhood. The birds have been acting aggressively towards humans. It’s a good idea not to turn your back to this kind of a bully.

Snow fell. It was lovely, as if I were in a snow globe. I don’t appreciate each individual snowflake as much as I should.

Birds wallpapered my stroll. There was a dazzling array of winter birds. The sounds they and the squirrels made were calls of the wild. I watched downy woodpeckers forage. Males and females divide feeding territories in winter. Males tend to feed on small branches and weed stems, while females feed on larger branches and trunks. Males discourage females from foraging in better spots. Downies eat foods that larger woodpeckers cannot reach.

Q&A

“Did you really kick a skunk when you were barefooted?” Yes, but I’m not stupid. I thought it was a rock.

“What is the most important thing to look for in binoculars?” They should be easy to use. There are two primary kinds of binoculars — porro prism and roof prism. A porro looks like an M and a roof prism resembles a capital H.

”Where is the best location for a feeder?” Where you can watch the birds visiting it. Try to find a place sheltered from wind and away from predators.

“Can birds fly upside down?” Hummingbirds can for short periods. Other species do during conflicts and while courting.

“What bird is most likely to be hit by an aircraft in North America?” According to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the species most often involved in birdstrikes is the horned lark.

“What could I do to get a young child to watch birds?” An easy way is to attach a feeder to a window where the child could watch it.

“What preys upon Japanese beetle grubs in the lawn?” Starlings, grackles, crows, meadowlarks, catbirds, gulls, pheasants, chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, skunks, raccoons and moles are predators.

Thanks for stopping by

“The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.” — John Muir

“I don’t want to be a great leader; I want to be a man who goes around with a little oilcan and when he sees a breakdown, offers his help. To me, the man who does that is greater than any holy man in saffron-colored robes. The mechanic with the oilcan: that is my ideal in life.”  — Baba Amte

Do good.