A beautiful day in Sitka is no fluke if there is a fluke around.

A beautiful day in Sitka is no fluke if there is a fluke around.

A beautiful day in Sitka is no fluke if there is a fluke around.

I was told the name Sitka derived from a Tlingit phrase meaning “on the outside of Shee [Baranof Island.” I believe that, but I’ve been told a lot of things.

I was told the name Sitka derived from a Tlingit phrase meaning “on the outside of Shee [Baranof Island.” I believe that, but I’ve been told a lot of things.

Emily Dickinson wrote, “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all. - Baltimore Oriole.

Emily Dickinson wrote, “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all. - Baltimore Oriole.

I’m finding Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to be extremely good company. A tiny bird makes a big difference to me.

I’m finding Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to be extremely good company. A tiny bird makes a big difference to me.

I’m finding Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to be extremely good company. A tiny bird makes a big difference to me.

Another kind of “terrible twos.” Soon, their gangliness will be replaced with fluidity and fleetness. I don’t think “gangliness” is a valid Scrabble word, but it fits them.

Another kind of “terrible twos.” Soon, their gangliness will be replaced with fluidity and fleetness. I don’t think “gangliness” is a valid Scrabble word, but it fits them.

An American Coot takes a big shoe.

An American Coot takes a big shoe.

Red Milkweed Beetles eat milkweed leaves, buds and flowers, and my spare time. I love watching insects on milkweed and goldenrods.

Red Milkweed Beetles eat milkweed leaves, buds and flowers, and my spare time. I love watching insects on milkweed and goldenrods.

He had those cute chipmunk cheeks

He had those cute chipmunk cheeks.

He had those cute chipmunk cheeks.

A Carolina Locust trying to look like dirt and succeeding. It makes crackling sounds called crepitations in flight.

A Carolina Locust trying to look like dirt and succeeding. It makes crackling sounds called crepitations in flight.

A Marsh Wren afraid to let go.

A Marsh Wren afraid to let go.

Rattles, trills and gurgles. It’s a Marsh Wren solo.

Rattles, trills and gurgles. It’s a Marsh Wren solo.

For the Birds: Amazing acrobatic chipmunks

By Al Batt

For the Birds from The Caledonia Argus

Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting

What’s wrong?

I called my eye doctor, but he can’t see me.

Sounds like he needs glasses.

Driving by Bruce’s drive

I live about 3688.12 smoots from the nearest post office. A smoot is a unit of measurement equal to 5 feet 7 inches. 

In 1958, a fraternity at MIT used one of its pledges, the 5-foot-7 Oliver Smoot, Jr., as a unit of measure to mark off the Harvard Bridge in 10-smoot increments. 

I used to mosey many smoots out yonder with remarkable regularity. I’d drive some roads over and over. Some had so much traffic it was obvious that someone had left the gate open. Others had so little traffic I had time to notice things. 

I drove by one house in Nebraska so often through the years that I recognized changes. I paid attention when a different car lived in the drive or the garden’s size changed. 

Last time I went by, the white house had been painted yellow. I had to circle back for a second look. I didn’t approve of that modification.

Nature notes

Count the number of cricket chirps in 15-seconds. Add 40 to that number to get an approximate temperature in Fahrenheit.

Five weeks after Canada geese hatch, the adults molt, which renders them flightless until the goslings can fly at 9 to 10 weeks of age. That’s typically during the second half of July.

Pam Martin of Great Bend, Kansas, said when she was a girl, her cousin had a pet crow that mimicked the sounds of human sneezes and ringing telephones. It was so good, it fooled the family’s telephone-hating dog into barking.

A temporary Texan 

“The sun has riz, the sun has set, and here we is in Texas yet.” I could drive a long time without leaving Texas. 

It seemed right to read some of Larry McMurtry books in Texas. I enjoyed “Lonesome Dove,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning, 843-page cattle-drive epic that was turned into a TV miniseries, “The Last Picture Show (made into a movie), and “Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen.” 

In 2008, the American Film Institute voted “The Searchers” the greatest western of all time. It was filmed at Monument Valley, a wild and sparsely populated region on the Arizona-Utah border, of which John Wayne said, “Monument Valley is the place where God put the West.”

Despite claims, the role of Matt Dillon on “Gunsmoke” wasn’t offered to John Wayne. Wayne considered TV unworthy of his talents. 

Wayne, born in Winterset, Iowa, was 6-foot-4. James Arness, born in Minneapolis, was 6-foot-7. Arness played the laconic marshal of Dodge City, Kansas. 

According to “True West” magazine, Dillon was shot 56 times, knocked unconscious 29 times, stabbed three times and poisoned once in the 635 episodes of “Gunsmoke” that spanned 20 years. 

Arness was shot in the leg at Anzio Beach during WWII. His brother, Peter Graves, starred in the TV show “Mission Impossible” and the movie “Airplane.”

Naturally

There’s more beauty in my ZIP code than I could see or hear in two lifetimes. Sweet sounds of goldfinches greeted me. What is yellow, weighs 4,000 pounds and sings? A two-ton American goldfinch.

The catbirds fed on suet more than I’d seen before. Smithsonian scientists reported 79% of fledged catbirds in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., were killed by predators before reaching adulthood, with 49% dispatched by domestic cats. Maybe the suet feeder is a “catbird seat,” a reference to a position of great prominence or advantage. 

I was filling bird feeders when I frightened a chipmunk from a hanging feeder. It jumped from the feeder into the birdbath. I’m sure that wasn’t intentional. He splashed down, jumped from the water and scurried off after a dive that would have made Greg Louganis proud.

A blue jay grabbed a peanut shell holding two peanuts and swallowed. It snatched another hull covering two goobers in its bill and flew away. A jay can transport food in its throat and upper esophagus — an area called a gular pouch.

I tossed a small pizza crust on the lawn to see what would become of it. A crow found it quickly. Later, while mowing the lawn, I found a crow feather in the spot where the pizza had been. A coincidence or a quid pro crow?

Cicadas called. They declared it to be summer. I watched a great horned owl land twice in the yard not long before dusk. I didn’t see it catch anything. It might have attempted to find relief from being mobbed by jays, robins, chickadees, nuthatches, catbirds, woodpeckers and grackles. Mobbing is a loud expression of outrage and a behavior birds engage in to defend themselves or their offspring from predators. The smaller birds worked together like an indignant committee to annoy the owl from the yard. The night would prove generous with its stars.

Q&A

“Do deer really eat birds?” Yes, they will eat eggs and baby birds as trail cams and eyewitness reports have seen.

“Did storks ever deliver babies?” They did until they were required to provide child restraint systems.

Thanks for stopping by

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” — Bertrand Russell

Do good.

©Al Batt 2020 

The cranes made me look

The cranes made me look. Sandhill Cranes along the Platte River in Nebraska.

The cranes made me look. Sandhill Cranes along the Platte River in Nebraska.

Sandhill Cranes in search of lost kernels of corn.

Sandhill Cranes in search of lost kernels of corn.

Dreams of Chilkoot Lake near Haines, Alaska.

Dreams of Chilkoot Lake near Haines, Alaska.

Chilkoot Lake near Haines, Alaska. A place to rest and feel better about the world.

Chilkoot Lake near Haines, Alaska. A place to rest and feel better about the world.

I’ve trained my pet Bull Thistle to attack any raccoons that are doing what I don’t feel they should be doing.

I’ve trained my pet Bull Thistle to attack any raccoons that are doing what I don’t feel they should be doing.

And circle gets the square.

And circle gets the square. Baltimore Oriole.

And circle gets the square. Baltimore Oriole.

Each year, right around this time, I give a happy whoop when I see a Silver-spotted Skipper.

Each year, right around this time, I give a happy whoop when I see a Silver-spotted Skipper.

Each year, right around this time, I give a happy whoop when I see a Silver-spotted Skipper.

Each year, right around this time, I give a happy whoop when I see a Silver-spotted Skipper.

Grape jelly, the official breakfast of Baltimore Orioles.

Grape jelly, the official breakfast of Baltimore Orioles.

As the great philosopher Adam Sandler sang, “Oh, so many things for me to wonder. Oh, I love grape jelly!”

As the great philosopher Adam Sandler sang, “Oh, so many things for me to wonder. Oh, I love grape jelly!”

A Painted Lady. Some nasty rumors claim that Miss Kitty on the “Gunsmoke” TV series was a painted lady. A different kind of painted lady, I guess.

A Painted Lady. Some nasty rumors claim that Miss Kitty on the “Gunsmoke” TV series was a painted lady. A different kind of painted lady, I guess.

Somewhere, I know not where, this bear is doing you know what in the woods.

Somewhere, I know not where, this bear is doing you know what in the woods.

Somewhere, I know not where, this bear is doing you know what in the woods.

For the Birds: Duck, duck, gray duck

By Al Batt for The Caledonia Argus

For the Birds

Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting 

I told my wife I wanted to be cremated.

It’s good to talk about those kinds of things.

No, it’s not. She made me an appointment for Tuesday.

Driving by Bruce’s drive

I have a wonderful neighbor named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive, thoughts occur to me, such as: The days go by too quickly. I tried to make one day seem as if it’d last forever by walking in the rain. Rain was no strain for Mother Nature as she’d become one of those gardeners whose answer for every problem is, “Just water it more.” 

Mosquitoes thought I was a meal they’d ordered from room service. For every drop of rain that fell, a mosquito grew. Mosquitoes can breed in a bottle cap of water. 

A picnic beetle bit me and I heard myself snarl, “I’ll fix your wagon.” I remember hearing my father say that very same thing as he stalked a fly with a flyswatter.

I fled the Batt Cave for a few hours to go to a farmer’s market. I followed my new mantra, “Wash up, mask up, back up.” 

We’ve had social distancing all my life. It’s called loaning someone money. I’d feel odd without a flu fence on my public face. It’s a second face. 

Lou Christie sang, “Two faces have I. One to laugh and one to cry.” In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates and doorways. He was depicted as having two faces, one looking back at the past and the other towards the future. 

Duck, duck, what?

 When I was in grade school, a group of kids sat in a circle, facing inward, while one child who was “it,” walked around them tapping each seated player and calling each a “duck” until declaring one a “gray duck.” 

The “gray duck” arose and tried to tag the “it,” before the “it” was able to run around the circle and sit where the “gray duck” had been sitting. 

If “it” succeeded, the “gray duck” became “it” and the process was repeated. If the “gray duck” tagged the “it,” the “it” remained “it.” 

I’ve heard rumors that Minnesota is the only state that plays “Duck, duck, gray duck.” The other states play “Duck, duck, goose.” The game was brought to this country by the Swedes. There were two versions of the game in Sweden. One translated into “Duck, duck, goose.” The other to “Duck, duck, gray duck.” 

The hypothesis is that the Swedes playing the second version were the ones who settled in Minnesota. Or maybe it was because no Minnesota child wanted to be labeled a goose. “Duck, duck, gray duck” is the proper and righteous way to play the game and will undoubtedly become an Olympic event.

Naturally 

The red admiral butterfly feeds on tree sap, rotting fruit and bird droppings. Its caterpillar eats nettles. This makes them nearly impossible to cook for. When I was a dear boy, I called the painted lady a “thistle butterfly.” Thistles are host plants for the caterpillars.

I watched an aggressive eastern kingbird fight with a crow, a couple of blue jays and a robin all in one day. Why attack a robin? It must have considered it a threat and the kingbird granted no pardons to anyone. It has a forceful personality. 

Eastern kingbirds often perch in an exposed position in the high trees or along utility lines or fences. They fly in shallow, rowing wingbeats, typically accompanied by electric, sputtering calls.

The perfume of flowers lingered in the air. In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the cricket chirps tonight. In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the cricket chirps tonight. Go outside at dusk and listen to a chirping cricket. Count the number of chirps it makes during a 15-second period. Adding 40 to that number will give you the approximate temperature in Fahrenheit. 

I look forward to seeing northwestern crows in Alaska each year. Considered a cousin of the familiar American crow until a recent study on the genetics of the two species prompted the American Ornithological Society to conclude that the two species are actually one and the same. It’s a variation within a species.

Mallard drakes have yellow bills. Hens and juveniles sport orange-and-brown bills. 

Q&A

“What do squirrels eat?” Acorns, hazelnuts, walnuts, butternuts, hickory nuts, tree seeds, fungi, buds, corn, fruits, berries, sap, eggs, nestlings, sunflower seeds, insects, caterpillars, small animals and snakes, carrion and goodies from the garden. When it comes to a diet, they don’t carrot all. It might have been easier to list what they won’t eat. 

“Do rabbits tunnel?” The eastern cottontail rabbit doesn’t dig its own burrows. They use deserted burrows of other animals, woody vegetation, decks or brush piles to escape the elements. A Michigan study showed only two out of 226 tagged cottontails lived 2 years. Other studies found about 30% of rabbits survive a winter. A cottontail’s range is around 5 acres.

“What’s the point of a yellow jacket?” It’s on the opposite end of their heads. Seriously, a yellow jacket gives you something to wear with those light orange pants. Yellow jackets are beneficial insects. They feed their young caterpillars, flies and other insects that damage crops and garden plants. 

“What kind of gopher is Goldy Gopher?” The mascot of the University of Minnesota isn’t a pocket gopher. He has stripes and looks like a thirteen-lined ground squirrel, which is often called a striped gopher. The original design was based on a thirteen-lined ground squirrel. The state nickname derives from a political cartoon by R. O. Sweeny, published as a broadside in 1858. The word “gopher” is a generic term for any rodent living underground. Some people think the original model for Goldy must have been a chipmunk, an animal more commonly seen than the thirteen-lined ground squirrel (other nicknames include striper, squinney, leopard ground squirrel and striped ground squirrel). I’ve heard a ground squirrel called a grinnie, but that term is more often used for a chipmunk.

Thanks for stopping by

“Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one’s own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality.” — Sheri S. Tepper

“A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself. — May Sarton

Meeting adjourned

“Kindness is not without its rocks ahead. People are apt to put it down to an easy temper and seldom recognize it as the secret striving of a generous nature; whilst, on the other hand, the ill-natured get credit for all the evil they refrain from.” —Honore De Balzac.     

Do good.

© Al Batt 2020

Eastern Kingbird photo by Al Batt

Eastern Kingbird photo by Al Batt

A poor excuse for a photo of a lovely Question Mark Butterfly on the roof of my house. I asked why it refused to pose elsewhere. It had no answer. You can see the white question mark on its wing.

A poor excuse for a photo of a lovely Question Mark Butterfly on the roof of my house. I asked why it refused to pose elsewhere. It had no answer. You can see the white question mark on its wing.

A young American Robin takes a break from bob-bob bobbin' along, an exhausting enterprise.

A young American Robin takes a break from bob-bob bobbin' along, an exhausting enterprise.

It was just another day at the sulphur butterfly factory.

It was just another day at the sulphur butterfly factory.

It was just another day at the sulphur butterfly factory.

A Painted Lady Butterfly trying not to fall off the world.

A Painted Lady Butterfly trying not to fall off the world.

The Cardinal Vine is lovely, but so far it hasn’t grown a single Northern Cardinal.

The Cardinal Vine is lovely, but so far it hasn’t grown a single Northern Cardinal.

A small grandson made a bird feeder for me and it works — it really works.

A small grandson made a bird feeder for me and it works — it really works.

Work had piled high, so I was late getting out for my hike today. A cardinal helped me put one foot in front of another by offering an encouraging “Boogity, boogity, boogity.”

Work had piled high, so I was late getting out for my hike today. A cardinal helped me put one foot in front of another by offering an encouraging “Boogity, boogity, boogity.”

Work had piled high, so I was late getting out for my hike today. A cardinal helped me put one foot in front of another by offering an encouraging “Boogity, boogity, boogity.”

A firefly (lightning bug) taking the time to recharge its batteries.

A firefly (lightning bug) taking the time to recharge its batteries.

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird checked out the grape jelly feeder aimed for orioles, catbirds, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, etc.

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird checked out the grape jelly feeder aimed for orioles, catbirds, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, etc.

looking old around the ages

This leaf is looking old around the ages.

This leaf is looking old around the ages.

The larval host for the Red Admiral butterfly is the nettle.

The larval host for the Red Admiral butterfly is the nettle.

The nickname for the Rose-breasted Grosbeak is the rose-breasted grosbeak.

The nickname for the Rose-breasted Grosbeak is the rose-breasted grosbeak.

Is “007” the collective noun for goldfinches?

Is “007” the collective noun for goldfinches?

Yellow bill and black eyes. It’s not me glaring at an ancient invoice. It’s a Barred Owl.

Yellow bill and black eyes. It’s not me glaring at an ancient invoice. It’s a Barred Owl.

Yellow bill and black eyes. It’s not me glaring at an ancient invoice. It’s a Barred Owl.

Purple Coneflower or Echinacea from the Latin echinus, “hedgehog.”

Purple Coneflower or Echinacea from the Latin echinus, “hedgehog.”

Butterfly Weed, unlike many of the other milkweed species, doesn’t have milky-sapped stems.

Butterfly Weed, unlike many of the other milkweed species, doesn’t have milky-sapped stems.

An Eastern Kingbird in front of a green screen that is a pond.

An Eastern Kingbird in front of a green screen that is a pond.

Mallard may mean wild drake or duck and derive from Old French malart or Medieval Latin mallardus or Latin masculus (male), but this is a Mallard hen.

Mallard may mean wild drake or duck and derive from Old French malart or Medieval Latin mallardus or Latin masculus (male), but this is a Mallard hen.

Catbirds creating cozy nests

For the Birds: Catbirds creating cozy nests

By Al Batt

For the Birds in The Caledonia Argus

Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting 

I set a record time for jogging last week.

Nice going.

Yup, it took me less than a minute to decide I wasn’t going to jog anymore. 

Old Sears years

In visiting with Bob Hargis of Riverton, WY, he mentioned a J.C. Higgins bicycle. I remember drooling over one owned by a kid I knew. 

Sears was known for Kenmore appliances, Craftsman tools, Allstate insurance, DieHard batteries, David Bradley lawn equipment, Christmas Wish Books (catalogs) and J.C. Higgins sporting goods. 

John Higgins started as the manager of the company’s bookkeeping office and retired as company comptroller in 1930. He didn’t have a middle initial, Sears added the “C.” 

The J.C. Higgins trademark covered baseball gloves, baseballs, footballs, basketballs, volleyballs, boxing, fishing, boating, tennis and camping equipment, luggage and bicycles. 

The J.C. Higgins name disappeared after Sears introduced the Ted Williams brand of sporting and recreation goods in 1961. I never got one of those bikes. My niece got a riding vacuum cleaner instead.

Who was that masked man?

 It was hotter than a burning stump. I had to wear sunglasses as I walked to the meeting. The heat brings out men’s legs. Shorts uncover legs white enough to be used as light sources. 

The meeting at the Courthouse was about the Coronavirus Relief Fund. It was an interesting session on funds available to small businesses. 

It was good being in the company of others, even if social distancing placed the nearest individual to me a quarter of mile away. We were required to wear masks. It was a wise thing to do for others, like driving on the right side of the road. Plus, it saved having to shave.

Nature notes

I walked while having a heated argument with the temperature and inciting conflict with biting insects. I visited with a cellphone caller who’d asked what it had been like to appear on Ron Schara’s “Minnesota Bound” TV show. I was about to give an answer when an unseen skunk held me smellbound. A skunk is an amazing anti-air freshener.

I watched soaring turkey vultures. A vulture’s heart rate when soaring is about the same as it is when the bird is sleeping. A half-dozen angry red-winged blackbirds hammered on a Cooper’s hawk. There was no movie on that flight.

Earwigs star in folklore claiming they will crawl into your ear and lay eggs. They don’t. Earwigs eat pests like aphids, mites and nematodes. They will chew on ornamental and vegetable plants, particularly dahlias, zinnias, hollyhocks, lettuce, strawberries, potatoes, roses, beans, beets and the silk of sweet corn. They’re preyed upon by tachinid flies, centipedes, toads and some birds.

Lightning bugs continue to flash when a thunderstorm is producing lightning. Fireflies don’t fear flashy competition.

Naturally

A black-throated brown strutted past. It was a male house sparrow.

Six young house wren siblings were crammed into a small house; not one had its own room or cellphone.

Goldfinch males flew overhead in undulating flights while calling “potato chip.” In 1947 and again in 1949, the goldfinch was proposed to the state legislature for consideration as the official state bird. Other proposed state birds during the 1940s and 1950s included the wood duck, scarlet tanager, mourning dove and pileated woodpecker. 

I listened to purple martins that migrate to Brazil – traveling more than 9,000 - 10,000 miles round-trip. 

I pulled some persistent bittersweet nightshade, but had to stop before the job was completed because a catbird let me know there was a nest in the jumble of vegetation. 

Catbirds usually build nests on horizontal branches hidden at the center of dense shrubs, small trees or vines. Nests are typically around 4 feet off the ground, but may be as high as 60 feet. 

Females build the nests, which take 5-6 days to build. The final product is a bulky, open cup made of twigs, straw, bark, mud and sometimes trash. It has a finely woven inner lining of grass, hair, rootlets and pine needles. 

Sap beetles, also known as picnic beetles, have become a nuisance in the garden and on my hummingbird feeders. Picnic beetle adults are about 1/4-inch long and are black with four orange-rust spots on the wing covers. 

They can injure fruits and vegetables, but are more common on fruits and vegetables that have been damaged or infected with a disease.

A raccoon kit grabbed a couple of fireflies out of the air with its paws and snapped another from the air in one bite. It ate them with relish. Or it may have been with onions. I’ve read many mammals find fireflies distasteful, but not this young’un. 

Pandemic birding

Try identifying 12 (a dandy dozen) birds from the windows of your home. Then use each bird name in a sentence before identifying a 13th. You’ll discover that most birds are weatherman handsome.

Q&A

“What color of flowers do bees like best?” Scientists have found the he most likely colors to attract bees are purple, violet and blue.

“Where could I see the most hummingbirds?” Colombia has 144 species and Ecuador hosts 132-134.

“Where do crows nest?” Crows typically nest in a crotch near the trunk of a tree or on a horizontal branch, generally towards the top third or quarter of a tree. They seem to prefer to nest in evergreens. A nest is usually about 1.5 feet across and 8-12 inches deep. The life of a typical nest is about 10 weeks (1-2.5 weeks building, 6 days egg-laying, 20 days incubating and 4 weeks of nestlings). The nests are well-made structures largely made of twigs and can remain intact for years. Occasionally a pair repairs and reuses an old nest or builds a new nest on top of an existing one.

Thanks for stopping by

“Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.” — Langston Hughes

Do good.

Meeting adjourned

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank. Be kind.

© Al Batt 2020

A gray catbird is both gray and a catbird. It meows like the average cat wishes it could.Photo by Al Batt

A gray catbird is both gray and a catbird. It meows like the average cat wishes it could.

Photo by Al Batt