This bird is at the Duane and Judy Vonch place in Fountain, Minnesota. The photo was taken with a cellphone by Mark Kothman.
On the walk to an aviary in a nursing home.
Taking a photo of a bird nest in 1900
The only thing digital about it was the fingers broken in a fall.
This photo of a burrowing owl taken by Greg and Terry Tellier.
Cedar waxwings. Photo taken by Tim Scott of Mankato.
A varied thrush
That wintered in Madelia, Minnesota. Photo by Tom Jessen.
A double-crested cormorant photo taken by Julie Bronson of Emmons.
Ray Splinter took a photo of this common grackle with a white head. An example of leucism.
Leucistic red-tailed hawk
Photos taken by one of my good neighbors, Glenn Ausen.
Tom Jessen of Madelia sent me this photo of a rose-breasted grosbeak blending in with its environment.
Wild Bill Hickok was named after
The wild blue phlox. At least part of his name was derived from that. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
A dandelion is a dandy. I've found it easier to appreciate them then to try to eradicate them.
I have northern bedstraw on the knee. This plant was used for years to stuff mattresses and to color hair.
Mystery Cave
It's a mystery, but the arrow tells us where it is.
A wild leek. I used to eat one on a hot dog each year. It gave me garlicky breath for several days.
Spring beauty. A perfect name for this ephemeral.
Stinging nettles
Known to many as itch weed.
I love violets. This one looks like a butterfly.
Virginia bluebells make me anything but blue.
Merlin
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Bald eagles in Louisiana
A great guy makes the cover of a magazine.
Paul Loomis of Winnebago. Paul grew up around Hartland just as I am attempting to do.
Rasmussen Woods
Mankato, MN
Wild ginger.
Trout lily.
Blooming trout lily.
Leucistic robin.
Jack Madsen sent me this photo of a bird seen near Rapidan, Minnesota.
Hide your windshield wipers!
Jan Wicklund of Wayzata sent a couple of photos of a turkey vulture on the hood of an automobile that were taken by her son-in-law Mancel Mitchell. Jan was wondering what the bird was eating. I love seeing vultures, the sanitation crew of our roadways who are willing to work for food. The vulture in the photo was likely nibbling on windshield-wiper blades or window seals. Everglades Park has a problem with black vultures destroying those things. There are records from here and there of crows and jays doing the same thing. Keas in New Zealand demolish wiper blades and rubber moldings. Learned behavior, I suppose. The vultures must get something from this behavior. Perhaps they are using the cars for biting and tearing practice. Maybe it’s part of the initiation into a vulture fraternity. It might be a rite of passage, a step on the path to maturation. Maybe wiper blades are easier to find than bubblegum. As far as I’m aware, no one knows for certain why vultures do this. Vultures have also been known to gnaw away at vinyl roofs. What will a vulture be nibbling on next, a tire?
Song sparrow
What better name could there be for a sparrow that sings.
I think these things produce wind
Holy Spirit Retreat Center
From Sister JoAnn. "On April 26th we have two of our Franciscan sisters coming to Holy Spirit Retreat Center to do a program on Owls and Bees, since I know you are interested in these things could you put it out to the public. We’d love to have you come, let me know if it might be possible? Blessings and may you experience Joy this Easter season along with blessings these days of Holy Week.
Welcome Spring! Sunday, April 26. 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm Who's Who? WHAT DOES OWL SAY? S. Rita Brom will bring an owl (or more?) and her naturalist’s insights into the world of owls. What's the Buzz? S. Alice Thraen, Assisi Heights beekeeper, will share her wonder at the amazing world of bees. Free Will Offering. Holy Spirit Retreat Center. 3864 420th Ave Janesville, MN 56048. Phone: 507-234-5712. E-mail: retreat@frontiernet.net. Web: www.holyspiritrc.org
Look up!
Oh, great, as if I didn't have enough things to worry about already.
Another reason for not burning any bridges.
Iowa is a beautiful place.
Some changes are good.
The goldfinches, once an olive drab color, give us gold in the spring.
Our Town, our nature
Robins sang a cappella in the yard. The major movement of robin migration is timed to follow the 37-degree isotherm, a line on a weather map showing where the average daily temperature is 37 degrees.
I listened to the robins. Helen Isabel Moorhouse wrote, "And I think if you listen closely in the sweet glad days of spring. With the song of the brook, the breeze, and the birds, you can hear the flowers sing."
House sparrows chirped jauntily. These birds are much too interesting to be unvalued.
A friend retired. Now he has the time to take a cup of coffee onto his deck and listen to the cardinal's morning song. That’s a delightful benefit of retirement that is seldom mentioned.
I spotted a pair of mallards in a road ditch. A drake has the tightly curled tail feathers, but it’s the hen that quacks.
A woman from Minnetonka told me that she had grown up in a family that had a crow. The bird pecked holes in cigarettes so that smokers couldn't draw smoke. It was a health-conscious crow.
In "Our Town," Thornton Wilder wrote, "Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you."
That’s probably true, but I’m giving it a shot.
It's not all deductible.
But it sure makes for an interesting life.
