Naturally

Blooming crabapple makes it look as if the world is having a party. The morning chorus of birds sounds like a symphony. The feathered musicians’ performance is stirring. Birdsong inspired Izaak Walton to say, "Lord, what music hast Thou provided for Thy saints in heaven, when Thou affordest bad men such music on earth!"

I cleaned the birdbath. Apparently, the birds had been holding a mud-wrestling tournament in it.

My ears welcomed the lovely song of the American robin, even though there is a rockin’ robin battling with his reflection in my bedroom window. He keeps going long after Rocky Balboa would have given up. Still, I appreciate the bird’s pep talk, “Cheerily, cheer-up, cheer-up, cheerily, cheer-up.”

I sliced an orange in half and hung it up for the orioles (Baltimore and orchard) to enjoy. Other birds enjoy sliced oranges: red-bellied woodpecker, rose-breasted grosbeak, gray catbird, scarlet tanager, red-headed woodpecker, northern mockingbird, house finch and others.

"When oak leaves are the size of a squirrel's ear, it's time to plant corn" is a reliable, traditional farming adage.

Q&A

“How did the toadstool get its name?” Its origin is rooted in folklore and superstition. Medieval Europeans believed that toads sat on poisonous mushrooms, making them dangerous to touch or eat. The name has evolved and is now commonly used as a general term for any mushroom.

“Are the Detroit Red Wings named after the red-winged blackbirds? Are Red Wing Shoes named after that bird?” James Norris invested in the Detroit Falcons hockey team in 1932 and changed its name to the Detroit Red Wings. The winged wheel was adopted as the team’s logo because Norris had played hockey for the Montreal Winged Wheelers. Red Wing Shoes aren’t named after the red-winged blackbird either. The company is named after its hometown of Red Wing, Minnesota, which was named after a local Native American leader, Chief Red Wing.

“My mother told me I am never more than three feet away from a spider. Is that true?” This line is from William Shakespeare's “Hamlet,” “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” was spoken by Hamlet to his friend after seeing his father's ghost. It argues that human knowledge is limited and cannot explain all mysteries of existence. A 1995 article by arachnologist Norman Platnick said, "Wherever you sit as you read these lines, a spider is probably no more than a few yards away." That considered remark morphed into “three feet away” after much repetition. It’s a myth. How close the nearest spider is to you depends on where you are. Did your mother work on a spider farm?

“What determines the size of a deer’s antlers?” Deer antler size is determined by a combination of five key factors: age, nutrition, genetics, Photoshop and AI. A white-tailed deer buck's antler potential is dictated by its genes, but its ability to reach that potential depends on proper nutrition and age, typically peaking around 5 to 7 years of age. A buck's antlers often double in size between 1.5 and 2.5 years of age.

“What does a rainbow in the morning mean?” A rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning. A morning rainbow appears when there is rain to the west, the direction from which weather is likely to come. A morning rainbow is a scientifically sound warning of approaching rain because it indicates moisture in the west and weather typically moves west-to-east. This means the rain-producing clouds are likely heading toward you. Rainbows appear opposite the sun. Conversely, an evening rainbow (sun in the west, rain in the east) signifies that the storm has already passed, hence "evening rainbow, sailor's delight".

“Because birds don’t have external ears, how good can their hearing be?” Good question. They don’t read lips. They can’t because they don’t have lips. They can’t read bills because they just can’t. Birds have ears, but as you said, they lack external ear flaps. What they have are small, funnel-shaped openings on the sides of their heads behind and below the eyes. These openings are covered and protected by specialized, soft feathers called auriculars, which reduce wind noise while allowing sound through. An average bird’s hearing is OK, but its range isn’t as wide as ours. Birds are good at hearing the sounds that they need to hear: those made by prey, predators, their babies and other birds of their species.

“Last winter, I had some American tree sparrows keeping company with the juncos in my yard. What could I have fed them?” They would enjoy millet.

Thanks for stopping by

“Having respect for animals makes us better humans.”—Jane Goodall.

“The butterfly flitting from flower to flower ever remains mine, I lose the one that is netted by me.”—Rabindranath Tagore.

Do good.

The Jack-in-the-pulpit is a native woodland perennial that can change its sex from male to female year-to-year based on stored energy. It features a unique, striped "pulpit" (spathe) shielding a "Jack" (spadix), smells like fungus to attract pollinators, and produces scarlet berries that are poisonous due to oxalic acid. Native Americans used the root for food, but only after extensive preparation to remove toxic calcium oxalate crystals. Photo by Al Batt.