Naturally
I notice nature’s gifts, finding beauty in the commonplace and mystery in simple things. I can’t send a thank-you card to a chickadee, so I supply it with sunflower seeds instead.
An eastern bluebird male perched on the mailbox, checking everywhere for nest cavity vacancies.
Red-tailed hawks plopped down on posts and poles. I wonder when a post becomes a pole. The terms are used interchangeably. A post is generally shorter, while a pole often serves as a structural element in buildings or utilities.
I’m sure they’d planned the journey behind crows’ doors. I watched five crows fly this way and that way in a meandering flight. "As the crow flies" is used to describe the distance between two points, ignoring roads and obstacles.
Birds teach us to listen by providing a delightful component to learning. I listened to the cheerful and complex warbling of a house finch and its backup singers—chorus frogs. Gophers and moles break through the grass ceiling, and Siberian squill pushes through the fallen leaves and reaches for the sun.
Q&A
Mike Rucker of Lake Wilson saw a pair of short-eared owls fly up from the grass in a road ditch and figured they weren’t tree-roosting owls. He noticed northern shovelers forming a circle on the water. Thanks, Mike. Short-eared owls are ground nesters. In Minnesota, this species is an inhabitant of grasslands, wet meadows, grainfields and open peatlands. They aren’t a common nester in Minnesota, with confirmed nesting mainly in the northwestern part of the state and some in the far southwestern corner. Groups of northern shovelers form tight swimming circles, creating a vortex to bring food to the surface. Mike also mentioned the abundance of Eurasian collared-doves and how the flickers perched in a tree like a robin or grackle. Eurasian collared-doves are larger than mourning doves and slightly lighter in color. It wears bling with a diagnostic black collar on the back of its neck and has a squared tail as opposed to the pointed tail on a mourning dove. Mourning doves, native to North America, have spotted wings, pinkish-buff bodies, and white tail tips. It’s sometimes incorrectly called a turtle dove. The name comes from its moaning coo. Eurasian collared-doves are originally from the Bay of Bengal in Asia, and escaped captivity in the Bahamas in the 1970s, arriving in Florida a decade later. Eurasian collared-doves make a three-note "koo-KOO-kook," with the middle syllable being the longest. Mourning doves produce a softer, haunting cooing sound, sometimes likened to an owl's hoot. Eurasian collared-doves make a loud "hwaah" call when excited or alarmed, and before alighting. Flickers spend substantial time on the ground, presenting un-woodpecker-like behavior as they search for ants, beetles and other invertebrates. In Minnesota, a male northern flicker can be identified by his distinctive black “mustache” stripe.
“Do the teeth of mice grow throughout their lives?” This is characteristic of rodents, including mice, rats, squirrels and beavers. As their teeth wear down from gnawing, they continue growing. This ensures that the teeth remain sharp and functional throughout the rodent's life. If the teeth don’t wear down properly, it causes problems such as difficulty eating, malocclusion and jaw damage. Rodents chew to maintain dental health.
“How many times do blue jays nest?” In Minnesota, where the bird-growing season is short, a pair has time enough for one successful brood, although re-nesting could occur two or three times if egg clutches are lost.
“How can I tell which kestrel is the male?” American kestrel males have slate-blue wings; females’ wings are reddish brown. Both sexes have pairs of black vertical slashes on the sides of their faces—resembling a mustache and sideburns. Females are 10 to 15% larger. Kestrels have two black spots, known as ocelli ("little eyes" in Latin), on the back of their heads. These fake eyes discourage potential attackers from sneaking up from behind. Males have one black bar on their orange tail feathers; females have many black bars on theirs.
“Antlers or horns?” Deer have antlers, not horns. Antlers are made of bone, while horns are composed of a bone core covered in a keratin sheath. Bucks have antlers to fight with other bucks for dominance. Antlers are football helmets that protect heads during battles. Antlers are shed each year, while horns continue growing. An exception is the North American pronghorn (not an antelope), which has horns it sheds annually. Horns are found on antelope, bison, sheep and other members of the bovine family. Deer, elk and moose are part of the Cervidae family. Deer shed their antlers annually, due to hormonal changes and changing daylight hours. Shedding antlers could be a way for deer to conserve energy, as they’re cumbersome and resource-intensive.
Thanks for stopping by
“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.”–Alice Walker.
“Spring would not be spring without bird songs.”—Francis M. Chapman.
Do good.
Al Batt 2025
Killdeer are common and widespread shorebirds that inhabit open fields, golf courses, lawns, airports, gravel parking lots and the edges of wetlands. They scrape shallow nests in gravel parking lots where they aggressively scold humans who get too close to a nest. They use a broken wing act to lure threats away from the nests. Killdeer loudly proclaim their name: “Kill-deer! Kill-deer!” Photo by Al Batt