Naturally

The bluebird nestlings were becoming bluer, a fawn followed its mother through the tall grass, indigo buntings sang "Fire, fire; where, where? here, here; see it?" incessantly, and spiderwort brightened the day. The deep-blue spiderwort flowers open in the morning and typically wilt by noon on hot days.

A catbird must have wanted me to see those things as it had begun singing outside my bedroom window before civil twilight began. How do catbirds produce their remarkable song? They have a voice box that's different from ours. It has two separate branches that are controlled independently, allowing the bird to make two distinct sounds at the same time. The catbird was singing a duet with itself. Town criers were responsible for making public announcements and acted as human loudspeakers when shouting things like, "12 o'clock and all is well," to reassure the public. The catbird is a town crier.

Multicolored Asian lady beetles had become rare in the house, but some stubbornly overstayed their welcome. I watched cedar waxwings feed feverishly on midges in May. Midges are small flies that resemble mosquitoes. Midges don’t bite or transmit disease, but they do create obnoxious swarms. Often referred to as lake flies, they’re frequently mistaken for mayflies, which are much larger.

Q&A

“How smart are blue jays, and do they migrate?” Blue jays belong to the Corvidae family, which are considered among the most intelligent birds in the world. That family includes ravens, crows, jays and magpies. Blue jays would do better in school if they’d just apply themselves, but other birds do copy from their papers. Their migration remains a mystery. They don’t all migrate, and it hasn’t been determined why those that migrate do so when they do. Another reader asked why blue jays were chipping away at the light-colored paint on her porch. It’s believed they use the paint chips as a source of calcium in the spring, when the mineral is essential for egg-laying. Some paint includes limestone, a good source of calcium.

Miriam of St. Paul saw a wild turkey hen with 12 poults and wondered about the clutch size of that species. Wild turkeys have one brood a year with a nest of 4 to 17 eggs. A hen sometimes renests if her first nest was unsuccessful. The hen lays one egg each day, but they all hatch at the same time, which is called synchronous hatching. The poults are precocial, meaning they hatch with their eyes open and are ready to run. Before hatching, the eggs are in danger from foxes, skunks, bobcats, raccoons, opossums, coyotes, crows, hogs, dogs and some snakes. After hatching, cats and avian predators, such as hawks and owls, become threats to poults. Studies indicate 10 to 40% of nests successfully hatch. About 25% of the poults live beyond four weeks. The diet of newly hatched turkeys is dependent upon a successful, timely hatch of insects. In the summer, it‘s common for turkeys to merge into larger brood flocks.

“Do we have bullfrogs in Minnesota and Iowa?” Bullfrogs are present in both Minnesota and Iowa, though they aren’t native to the entire state of either. In Minnesota, bullfrogs are considered native to the southeastern corner—Houston and Winona counties. Elsewhere in Minnesota, they’re considered introduced and invasive. People have tried to establish bullfrog populations in other parts of Minnesota because bullfrogs provide the majority of the frog legs for restaurants. In Iowa, they’re common and are the largest frog species in the state, growing up to 8 inches long. The natural, historical range of the bullfrog in Iowa was along the Mississippi River in the eastern and southern parts. They’re now found statewide due to introduced populations. Bullfrogs eat small mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and other frogs. They’re known for their deep calls, which have been described as “jug-o- rum,” the moo of a cow or the sound made by drawing a bow across a bass fiddle.

“What preys upon Canada goose goslings and eggs?” Messing with a goose can be a daunting task. They don’t take any guff and have aggressive behaviors. Raccoon, mink, bald eagle, bear, bobcat, dog, fox, coyote, raven, crow, gull and skunk are possible predators.

“How do I clean a hummingbird feeder?” Mix a solution of a 1:2 ratio of white vinegar to water. Let the feeder soak for a couple of hours. Scrub well. Use something like your brother-in-law’s toothbrush to clean off any residue. Rinse thoroughly. Air dry and feed those tiny birds.

Thanks for stopping by

“The business of the poet and the novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things.”—Thomas Hardy.

“Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?”―Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Do good.

This eastern tiger swallowtail’s yellow has faded. It has a 3.5 to 4.5-inch wingspan and flies from May through September. Larval hosts include American basswood, ash, birch, black cherry, chokecherry, cottonwood, mountain ash, poplar and willow. I love to see the butterflies nectaring on blazing stars later in the year. The Canadian tiger swallowtail is found in the northern half of Minnesota. Photo by Al Batt.