Naturally

I watched a northern harrier hunt by floating low over the ground. Its buoyant flight reminds many of a butterfly. It was called a marsh hawk when I was a boy. I quite like seeing this raptor. The more, the harrier.

Two young cardinals, their grayish-black bills not turning an orange-red color until the birds are around 65-80 days, were stationed one each on two platform feeders offering black oil sunflower seeds. From there, they fended off a female purple finch who thought the seeds were for sharing. There was a lot of feigning and stabbing the air with bills, but no apparent harm.

The yard blue jays were having a communal cow. It was likely that a perched owl had been discovered. Their most common calls were a harsh, raucous "Jay, jay, jay!" I’m sure a blue jay, a dapper sentry of the neighborhood, is a reliable listener, even though it sounds as if it’s a constant interruptor.

I marveled at the beauty of the red maple leaves. The leaves had worked hard, and now they get to become what they really want to be—breathtaking beauties. I found it impossible to find a winner in a legion of champion leaves.

A veery good meteorologist

Veeries are lovely singers, as I’m sure every thrush is, but they are also good at weather forecasting. Researchers found that veeries tend to stop breeding early in the years that the Atlantic hurricane season is severe. Veeries can be better at predicting hurricane conditions than are the computer models.

You hoo, hoopoe

I went to Israel. I visited Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Bethlehem, Masada, the Wailing Wall, Mount Carmel, a kibbutz and elsewhere. It was an incredible tour. To see all the things I’d only heard or read about in the Bible was thrilling. And I got to see Israel’s national bird, the hoopoe. The bird has a long, swooping beak and a crest resembling a mohawk haircut. The hoopoe led King Solomon to meet the Queen of Sheba. Unsure about the queen's purity and motives, Solomon confided in the bird and trusted its advice. The king praised the hoopoe's observation skills and called the bird "wise."

A hawk eye and an eye on a hawk

The red-tailed hawk had been following me all day as I moved a tractor about a field. It perched on posts, poles and snags. My eager eyes looked for the raptor, and its hawk eyes searched for food in the mice and voles the farm equipment had revealed. I became Tickle Me Elmo. I giggled from the tractor seat.

I enjoy visiting Hawk Ridge. Lake Superior is a natural barrier for many migrating birds, funneling them all along the North Shore, towards Duluth. When conditions are right, the raptors, as well as many other kinds of birds, ride the thermals, which are shoreline currents of rising warm air. I’ve watched hawks use those thermals to gain height. The thermals act like invisible elevators for hawks and aid the birds on their journey.

Q&A

“Why are some lilacs blooming in October?” It could be a sign of stress from heat, drought or disease, or be of a re-blooming variety. This out-of-season bloom isn’t harmful but may reduce the number of flowers in the following spring.

“Why do I see young bald eagles gathering in October?” Once young eagles (fledglings) become independent of their parents, they frequently join with other immature eagles. These loose associations provide a valuable learning environment for honing survival skills. Young eagles aren’t yet skilled at hunting and often scavenge for food. They learn by observing. Their wanderlust leads them to congregate in areas with abundant food. The gatherings might aid in migration.

“When do black walnut trees first produce nuts?” Typically, it’s 4 to 7 years with peak production reached at 30 years of age.

“How many species of owls are there in the US?” Nineteen owl species are found in the United States. Ranging from the diminutive elf owl to the colossal great gray owl.

“I see woolly bear caterpillars crawling across the road. Do they know where they are going?” A woolly bear caterpillar’s direction of travel is an instinctual search for a safe spot, not a conscious navigation towards a specific destination. Its movements are meant to find a suitable hibernating place to overwinter, such as under leaf litter or wood chips, which offer a freeze tolerance. The colors of the future Isabella tiger moth indicate the woolly worm’s age.

Thanks for stopping by

“A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”—Alexander Pope.

“Don't be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value.”—Arthur Miller.

Do good.

Folklore suggests the amount of black on a woolly bear caterpillar varies proportionally with the upcoming winter’s severity. A wider brown band portends a milder winter, while more black forecasts a harsher one. If the front end has the most black, winter’s beginning will be the most severe; if the tail end has the most black, winter’s end will be hardest. If crawling in a southerly direction, it’s escaping a cold winter. A northward crawl predicts a mild winter. It’s more of an indicator of the caterpillar’s age. Photo by Al Batt.