Naturally

If you want an incredible adventure, take the same walk or look out the same window as you did yesterday. You’ll see changes because everything changes by the minute, as do you.

Birds are storytellers. A mass choir of starlings gossiped in a language I couldn’t understand before taking flight in a murmuration. A murmuration is a sight to behold.

In late summer and fall, when a bird molts, it typically grows and replaces its feathers gradually, but occasionally a bird loses all the feathers on its head at once. This is true of blue jays, many of which molt the feathers of the head in synchrony. The result is a bald bird. This baldness lasts for about a week before new feathers replace the molted ones.

I watched common nighthawks migrate. They’re long-distance migrants that winter in South America. Nighthawks often take advantage of clouds of insects attracted to streetlamps, ballfield lights and other bright lights. They have long tails, narrow wings that are angled and pointed, and an erratic flight. Their white wing spots appear transparent against a cloudy sky.

Better there are bug deals than drug deals in the yard, but I haven’t seen many boxelder bugs yet. This native insect feeds on boxelder, maple and ash trees. Boxelder bugs thrive during hot, dry summers (their populations skyrocketed during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s), so maybe their numbers won’t be high this year. We’ll see.

I saw many yellow butterflies encircling a mud puddle. It was a puddle of sulphur butterflies. Have you ever had a butterfly land on your skin and start licking, and you thought the two of you were best friends? The truth was, it was using you for your sweat, which is a rich source of salt and sugar. Some butterflies enjoy blood and tears. Puddling is a behavior that many butterfly species engage in. Puddling sites can be mud, dung, fermenting fruit, carrion or urine. They are looking for salt and minerals.

Q&A

“How many deer have twins?” Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign & Illinois DNR found that in 2024, 21% had a single fawn, 71% twins and 8% triplets.

Jack May of Mankato asked when milkweeds could be cut without doing any harm to monarch butterflies. In September, the butterflies congregate in large numbers in trees and shrubs, and by the end of October, they will have left Minnesota for their wintering grounds in Mexico. The Xerces Society says monarchs fly up to 100 miles per day during their 2,000- to 3,000-mile migration south. Waiting until after a killing frost before felling the milkweeds ensures that no caterpillars are feeding on the plant. In Minnesota, caterpillars can be present until late September or even early October.

“How many generations do monarch butterflies have each year?” Generation 1 consists of the offspring of the monarchs that overwintered in Mexico. Eggs are laid from late March through April in the southern U.S. and northern Mexico, and the adults fly north. Monarchs in Generation 2 are the grandchildren of the overwintering monarchs. Eggs are laid throughout eastern North America from late April through June. Monarchs in Generations 3 and 4 are the great- and great-great-grandchildren of the overwintering monarchs. Eggs are laid in the northern part of the monarch’s range from late May through July (Generation 3) and late June through August (Generation 4). Generation 3 butterflies who emerge late in August migrate to Mexico, as do Generation 4 individuals. Research has found that fewer than 10% of eggs become butterflies. The eastern monarch butterfly population wintering in central Mexico's forests occupied 4.42 acres in 2024-25, up from 2.22 acres the previous winter.

Carolyn Smith of Albert Lea asked why there are so many gulls around now. They’re migrating or getting ready to migrate; moving about to find food or a perfect roosting site. Gulls are opportunistic omnivores whose diet varies by location, and they don’t stick to their diet. Many of the gulls are new to the area. They’re tourists. Roofs of buildings offer loafing spots. Landfills and parking lots provide buffets.

Thanks for stopping by

“Life cannot be classified in terms of a simple neurological ladder, with human beings at the top; it is more accurate to talk of different forms of intelligence, each with its strengths and weaknesses. This point was well demonstrated in the minutes before last December's tsunami [2004], when tourists grabbed their digital cameras and ran after the ebbing surf, and all the 'dumb' animals made for the hills.”—B.R. Myers.

“Every breath is a sacrament, an affirmation of our connection with all other living things, a renewal of our link with our ancestors and a contribution to generations yet to come. Our breath is a part of life’s breath, the ocean of air that envelopes the earth.”―David Suzuki.

Do good.

A green heron blends into its surroundings. Its most common calls are “skeow!” or “kuk-kuk-kuk.” Their diet consists of small fish, frogs, crayfish and small rodents. They forage at the edge of shallow water, standing still or slowly stalking prey. They quickly dart forward, grabbing prey with a spear-like bill. They sometimes drop a feather or an insect into the water to act as a fish lure. Photo by Al Batt