Naturally
I put peanuts in the shells in a feeder sheltered from the rain. Blue jays went nuts for them.
Rain has been generous this year. Many people have told me that robins sing before a rain. Many others shared their belief that robins sing after a rain. The wet weather has made it difficult for a robin not to do one or both. I walked in the rain. That wasn’t my intention, but the rain caught up with me. A robin, a fine sort of a bird, sang in the rain. I’ve always considered that song to be a rain song, even if it isn’t. There is rain and a song. It seems right.
Our backyard looks like a home for wayward ferns. And I didn’t even have to start a GoFrondMe campaign.
It’s a good year for fireflies. Fireflies do well in damp conditions. The same can be said for mosquitoes. It’s a good year for mosquitoes, too. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and what’s good for the lightning bug is good for the skeeter. Each time I slap a mosquito, I’m reminded that my swatting, no matter how frenetic it might be, only monitors the population and doesn’t impact it unless the insect is buzzing around in my bedroom.
Hummingbird moths (sphinx moths), which are often mistaken for hummingbirds, visit flowers to feed on the nectar. They don’t harm the plants.
Q&A
“Does applying nail polish help chigger bites?” Neither nail polish nor petroleum jelly is an effective treatment for chigger bites. It’s a myth that those things can suffocate chiggers, as chiggers don't burrow into the skin and are gone by the time you notice the bite. Focus on relieving the itching and inflammation with calamine lotion, antihistamine creams, corticosteroid creams or cool compresses. After chiggers make tiny holes in our skin, they inject saliva that turns cells into mush for food. My first step is to take a bath or shower and scrub my skin with soap and water. This washes off any chiggers that are on me. Using an insect repellent that has DEET or wearing clothing treated with an insecticide like permethrin before you venture outside can help deter the chiggers. Apply the bug spray to areas where chiggers might travel from clothing to your skin, like the waist of your pants and the tops of your socks. Some studies have suggested that natural sprays may help keep chiggers away. Wear long sleeves and long pants, with your pant legs tucked into your socks. Chiggers avoid people sporting a dorky look.
“How can I tell if a young rose-breasted grosbeak is a male or a female?” The fledged birds appear to me to be slow-moving, as if weary or lethargic, and often are begging for food. I watched an adult male crack open sunflower seeds and feed the kernels to a fledgling begging on a platform feeder. Males flash pink or reddish under the wings, whereas females show a yellowish color. If the immature bird has pink feathers on the breast, it’s male. Females and immatures are brown and streaked, with a bold whitish stripe over the eye.
“What birds eat ants?” Many birds eat ants, but northern flickers have a particular fondness for them. Woodpeckers, like flickers and pileated woodpeckers, use their long, sticky tongues to lap up ants. Other birds that regularly eat ants include wren, grouse, starling, sparrow, crow, wild turkey, robin, blackbird and cardinal. Gulls, common nighthawks, flycatchers, swallows and swifts feast on flying ants.
“How can I tell a Canada thistle from a bull thistle?” Bull thistles are generally larger and often described as meaner-looking than Canada thistles. The most obvious way to differentiate the two is by their stems and leaves. A Canada thistle has a smooth, mostly hairless stem without spiny wings, while a bull thistle has spiny wings along the stem and hairy leaves. Canada thistle also reproduces via rhizomes, making it a perennial, while bull thistle is a biennial, reproducing only by seed.
“Is the monarch butterfly on the endangered species list?” Sort of, kind of. The monarch butterfly isn’t currently listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing it as a threatened species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature officially classified the monarch butterfly as endangered. In Canada, monarchs were listed as endangered under the Species at Risk Act in 2023. My fingers are crossed for Minnesota’s state butterfly, which Wisconsin is considering elevating to the lofty position of being its state butterfly.
Thanks for stopping by
“Flowers. Those free gifts laid out on Mother Nature’s perfume counter.”―Roger McGough.
“The well of nature is full today. Time to go outside and take a drink.”—Diane Ackerman.
Do good.
©️Al Batt 2025
The black "V" on the yellow breast of a meadowlark is a key identifier. Its white outer tail feathers are noticeable when it flies. I delight in seeing eastern and western meadowlarks. Sadly, there are no northern, southern, northeastern, southeastern, northwestern or southwestern meadowlarks, but there is a Chihuahuan meadowlark found in southwestern U.S. and Mexico. Photo by Al Batt.