I was eating a slice of pean pie when I saw this pied-billed grebe. Coincidence? I think not.
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood when a red-breasted nuthatch moves in.
And in today’s views: a snowbird (dark-eyed junco).
A bald eagle thinks about retirement planning.
Congress is in session.
A trumpeter swan acting all triumphant.
Waiting while the wife gets a facial.
And in today’s views: mallards.
And in today’s views: a house sparrow.
A pine siskin takes the time to preen.
My brother loved a parade — as long as he was driving a tractor.
I floated by these cypress knees in Louisiana. Their function is unknown. Mine is often unknown, too.
At least the woodpecker’s nostrils were warm.
A dandy bald-faced hornet nest just hanging around.
This barred owl is seeing things I can only imagine.
House finches find Christmas wreaths and hanging planters to be excellent nest sites.
Nature’s art.
There was frost on the binoculars as the morning’s quest for birds began.
Nature has a showing of its latest work.
Poster at an Owatonna school.
As could be written only by a child.
by Al Batt, m.albertleatribune.com
January 12, 2019 09:00 AM
kAl Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.
The guy from just down the road
My neighbor Crandall stops by.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
“Everything is nearly copacetic. I had my shoes on the wrong feet until lunch, I flossed with a gummy bear this morning and I ran out of plastic silverware. Don’t ever try eating chili through a straw. I’m waiting for the flying monkeys. I knew bad weather was on the way. The cows were on the porch. They always beg to get into the house when the weather is getting colder. I returned a pile of my Christmas gifts to Dollar Tree. I’m ahead by nearly $7 on that deal. I stopped to see my nephew Carl’s new baby, a son named Carl, Jr. The kid has that new Carl smell.”
Naturally
The cold had been overly ambitious, but my “Arizona is for wimps” T-shirt warmed me. I hit the trail, hoping curiosity might drag some information with it. I took a lovely walk filled with wonder and discovery. It was a quiet day. The outdoors must have been listening. Demonstrating the art of patience, I hoped to stumble upon things.
I looked at a dandelion plant. Dandelions develop taproots that can extend 15 feet deep in ideal conditions. I watched squirrels and woodpeckers on a dead tree. A dead tree lives. I’m a member of the dead tree appreciation society. Dead trees provide vital habitat for many species of wildlife.
A chickadee was busy at a feeder. It was on a diet in which it eats only one thing. More. I watched it fly into the shelter of a small tree and fluff up for warmth. On cold days, being fluffy is a good thing to be.
I spoke at the Albert Lea Seed House and told the wonderful crowd gathered there why the chickadee was my favorite bird. As I listened to the stories of others, my wife shopped for Christmas gifts. I bloviated. She bought.
While doing Christmas Bird Counts, I’ve noticed an abundance of squirrels this winter. Rabbits were, as always, in good numbers. This year, I called every eastern cottontail Hopalong. CBCs are a way of playing hide-and-seek with birds. John Hockema of Rochester showed up with old Swift Audubon binoculars. It was good to see John. He and his aged optics brought great memories. I did stumble onto good birds.
John Leininger of Albert Lea informed me of some bad behavior demonstrated by wild turkeys in his neighborhood. The birds have been acting aggressively towards humans. It’s a good idea not to turn your back to this kind of a bully.
Snow fell. It was lovely, as if I were in a snow globe. I don’t appreciate each individual snowflake as much as I should.
Birds wallpapered my stroll. There was a dazzling array of winter birds. The sounds they and the squirrels made were calls of the wild. I watched downy woodpeckers forage. Males and females divide feeding territories in winter. Males tend to feed on small branches and weed stems, while females feed on larger branches and trunks. Males discourage females from foraging in better spots. Downies eat foods that larger woodpeckers cannot reach.
Q&A
“Did you really kick a skunk when you were barefooted?” Yes, but I’m not stupid. I thought it was a rock.
“What is the most important thing to look for in binoculars?” They should be easy to use. There are two primary kinds of binoculars — porro prism and roof prism. A porro looks like an M and a roof prism resembles a capital H.
”Where is the best location for a feeder?” Where you can watch the birds visiting it. Try to find a place sheltered from wind and away from predators.
“Can birds fly upside down?” Hummingbirds can for short periods. Other species do during conflicts and while courting.
“What bird is most likely to be hit by an aircraft in North America?” According to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the species most often involved in birdstrikes is the horned lark.
“What could I do to get a young child to watch birds?” An easy way is to attach a feeder to a window where the child could watch it.
“What preys upon Japanese beetle grubs in the lawn?” Starlings, grackles, crows, meadowlarks, catbirds, gulls, pheasants, chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, skunks, raccoons and moles are predators.
Thanks for stopping by
“The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.” — John Muir
“I don’t want to be a great leader; I want to be a man who goes around with a little oilcan and when he sees a breakdown, offers his help. To me, the man who does that is greater than any holy man in saffron-colored robes. The mechanic with the oilcan: that is my ideal in life.” — Baba Amte
Do good.
My hometown. This was not taken last week.
The cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle were magpies. Here they are examining dirty snow.
I love this native art presented prominently in Klukwan, a village of 95 people in Alaska.
I see a bald eagle nearly every day. I find that amazing.
I took this photo of an old barn for only one reason — I like old barns. I have often been accused of having been born in a barn.
No harbingering of spring here.
A downy woodpecker has the bill for sunflower seeds, but I pay for them.
Fun fact: Chickadees do not like ketchup on their sunflower seeds.
Why suet when you can eat it?
Despite its name, many American tree sparrows nest on the tundra.
Life is a picnic.
The Floyd Monument in Sioux City, Iowa. Sergeant Charles Floyd was the only member of the crew to die during the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Having a long tail can be a real drag.
An Andean bear at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo.
This peacock can relax because his tail keeps eyes out for predators.
by Al Batt, albertleatribune.com
January 5, 2019 09:00 AM
Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.
The guy from just down the road
My neighbor Crandall stops by.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
“Everything is nearly copacetic. I should be taking a nap, but I don’t have the energy to take one. Thanks to the magic of a nifty trash compactor, I was able to fit all the presents I’d bought into one small gift bag this Christmas. I’ve resolved to give up making New Year’s resolutions. Have you noticed that traffic has increased greatly in the neighborhood? I think it’s because my neighbor Still Bill bought a second pickup. Why he needs two, I don’t know. Still Bill is a pain in the ankle when he starts singing Elvis Presley songs. I like Elvis Costello more than Elvis Presley. I choose the lesser of two Elvises. This is one of the greatest days ever. I’ve learned that jelly doughnuts are the perfect breakfast.”
“Who told you that?” I say.
“Hugh Cares, the owner of the Breaking Bad Bakery.”
Naturally
It looked like a fairyland. The trees were white. Hoarfrost is a deposition of ice crystals on objects like tree branches, wires and poles without the moisture passing through a liquid phase. It typically forms on clear, cold and calm nights. Hoar is a reference to the frosty coating and comes from the word hoary, meaning white or gray with age. Rime is similar, but different. It’s ice that forms when fog droplets freeze upon coming in contact with objects.
The temperature was supposed to drop. I think it was likely due to the cold. A little winter snarkiness there. Sorry. The night’s activities are often inscribed in the snow, but the snow had melted or hardened, making clues difficult to find. I picked up trash from the road ditch. Like a crow, I pick up shiny things from the ground.
Blue jays were having a collective cow as I walked. Jays are known to eat eggs and nestlings of other birds, but in a study of blue jay diets, only 1 percent of jays showed evidence of having eaten eggs or baby birds. The diets of the jays studied were composed of mostly insects and nuts. The oldest known wild blue jay was at least 26 years, 11 months old.
On the subject of studies, researchers discovered that opossums have impressive memories when it comes to food. Opossums were found to be better at remembering food locations than were cats, dogs, pigs and rats. Any mammal can get rabies, but the chance of finding rabies in an opossum is extremely slim.
Q&A
“How fast do a deer’s antlers grow?” A white-tailed buck’s antlers begin growing in April and are fully grown by mid-August. Depending upon the source for this information, his antlers grow 1/4 inch to an inch per day.
“Have you ever heard of a Manitoba fly trap?” It’s a cone-shaped canopy/trap open at the bottom and standing on three legs. A black ball is suspended from its center. Horse or deer flies are attracted to the black sphere and are captured in a collection chamber after they fly into the upper reaches of the trap.
“What happened to the barn owls I used to see in Minnesota?” It’s probably due to changes in agriculture that has reduced grassy habitats. Barn owls aren’t made for cold weather. A barn with livestock was just the ticket for a barn owl. Barns can buy happiness. Barns provided shelter, heat and food (rodents). We used to have more pastured land, which provided hunting grounds for barn owls. Both barns and pastures have declined in number.
“Did I see a red fox or a gray fox?” A red fox has a white tip to its tail and a gray fox has a black tip to its tail. Mating for foxes peaks in February, with kits born in April or May.
“Do sapsuckers harm trees?” Yellow-bellied sapsuckers drill sapwells in many species of trees and woody plants, but have a strong preference for birches and maples, trees with high sugar concentrations. Sapsucker sapwells are approximately 1/4 inch in diameter and are typically numerous holes drilled in horizontal rows. The sapwells attract hummingbirds. Sapsucker damage could make a tree vulnerable to other problems, such as insects, disease or decay fungi. The yellow-bellied sapsucker is the only woodpecker in eastern North America that is completely migratory.
“How common are spider bites?” Not common unless you’re a fly. Most suspected spider bites are bites from other creatures such as fleas. Spiders have no reason to bite people. We’re not food for them and many spiders aren’t capable of piercing human flesh.
Thanks for stopping by
“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” — Willie Nelson
“One should pay attention to even the smallest crawling creature for these, too, may have a valuable lesson to teach us.” — Black Elk
Do good.
Pine siskins, like many northern finches, have a fondness for salt and are seenon winter highways on which salt had been applied.
To some, a pine siskin sounds like a hoarse American goldfinch.
This tiny bird, the white-breasted nuthatch, is the largest of the five species of nuthatches found in North America.
And there we were, doing a little birding on Lake Superior in Duluth on a cool day.
A pole-dancing opossum.
A red fox kit in June in North Dakota.
A squirrel logging in for the day.
It appeared to be a corncob popsicle.
There have been pine siskins at every port but one.
Any port in a storm.
Except one.
A purple finch and a cardinal redden things up at the feeders.
I count on seeing black squirrels while doing Christmas Bird Counts.
There are ears for listening and ears for eating.
It was a wonderful Christmas pheasant.
I wish you a bright and happy New Year with or without sundogs.
by Al Batt, albertleatribune.com
December 29, 2018 09:00 AM
Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.
The guy from just down the road
My neighbor Crandall stops by.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
“Everything is nearly copacetic. I gave Ma a new washing machine and all my dirty laundry for Christmas. I’ve decided to make a bunch of New Year’s resolutions.”
“Good for you. Each of us is in need of constant tinkering,” I say.
“I’ve decided to give up dangerous sports like heli-skiing, bull riding, rugby, skydiving, mountaineering, surfing, cliff diving and jousting.”
“What?” I wonder aloud.
“And I’m giving up eating raccoon jerky, opossum chili, deep-fried butter, chislic, livermush, chitterlings, Cincinnati chili (it has spaghetti in it), scrapple and fried rattlesnake. I’m not going to sink a fang in any of those foods.”
“How do you expect to give up sports you’ve never participated in and to stop eating foods you don’t eat?” I ask.
“Simple. It’s called willpower.”
Naturally
My wife threw out some nuts for the squirrels. The squirrels didn’t take long to find them. One fox squirrel chased another fox squirrel and a red squirrel away. In between chases, the squirrel grabbed the nuts like a Black Friday shopper with a new credit card. It carried a morsel away and buried it in the snow in a different spot on the lawn. A hole was dug, the nut dropped into it, the hole covered and the snow patted down. This was done while keeping an eye out for other squirrels. This process was continued until all the nuts were hidden.
Q&A
“Why does a friend put a bird nest in her Christmas tree?” Folklore says that if you have a bird nest in your Christmas tree, your family will experience health, wealth and happiness in the coming year. Use an artificial nest, as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid federal permit.
Millie Woller wondered why there were many birds at her feeders one day and barely any the next day. That’s a great question, and like so many great questions, there are many answers. Some possible factors are: A predator showed up. A hunting hawk in my yard sure drops the census numbers. Birds are in constant search of food sources and can quickly move to a neighbor’s feeder. Nice weather makes it easier to sample natural food supplies, so birds might take that opportunity to hunt for new food. Some of the birds you see at your feeder in the morning may not be the same birds you see in late afternoon. Birds move to other areas. Family groups break up. They migrate. They find new food sources. They establish new territory. Or it could be another reason. A predator and the availability of natural foods are the primary reasons causing desertion at my feeders. Birds have wings. They come and go. Bad weather does make for a busy bird table.
Doug Christopherson of Albert Lea asked about some white and black ducks he’d seen with mallards. Leucism occurs in mallards, but the mallard has been known to breed with approximately 40 other species of waterfowl, plus some domestic ducks. The mallard is the ancestor of most domesticated ducks. Mallards frequently breed with their closest relatives such as the American black duck and also with species more distantly related, like the northern pintail.
“I saw a raccoon in late December? Shouldn’t it be sleeping?” Raccoons winter in places like tree cavities, animal burrows, abandoned buildings, chimneys and rock crevices. They stay in their dens and sleep lightly during bad weather. When temperatures and weather improve, they are out looking for food. They eat as much as possible in the fall, in order to build an extra layer of fat. They don’t hibernate, but hole up in dens during the nastiest winter days and are capable of sleeping for long periods of time. Raccoons are typically solitary creatures, but sometimes den in groups during cold weather.
“Do birds ever freeze after using a heated bird bath in the winter?” I have never encountered a feathered popsicle, but a friend tells of finding cardinals unable to fly due to frozen feathers. Some people put rocks in the bath or boards over the bath to allow drinking, but not bathing when the temps become frighteningly frigid.
Thanks for stopping by
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.” — Neil Gaiman
“I think nature’s imagination is so much greater than man’s, she’s never going to let us relax.”— Richard Feynman
Do good. Happy New Year.
I’m doing a Christmas Bird Count and I’m watching as many deer as birds.
One of our intrepid Christmas Bird Counters this year is a hybrid — a human and pileated woodpecker cross.
This chickadee is on a diet in which it eats only one thing. More.
On cold days, being fluffy is a good thing to be.
The first time exercising after Christmas can be a challenge.
A Christmas nap enjoyed at the aviary at the New Richland Care Center.