Why is that bird called a godwit?

Naturally

 It’s the time of the year when it becomes the land of the tall, yellow flowers. They’re worth the price of admission.
 I still think house sparrows are cute, and I’m excited that the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled a limited-edition Cicada Bobblehead.

Q&A

 Jim Lageson of Ellendale asked me to explain the love life of a house wren. They nest in old woodpecker holes, natural crevices and nest boxes provided by humans. Wrens are fierce competitors for nest sites, sometimes evicting a larger species or claiming a cavity after another bird has begun nesting. Male house wrens arrive about nine days before the females and build several nests, hoping to attract a female. I read of a nest containing 500 sticks. Only the female incubates the two broods of eggs. Pairs rarely reunite a second year. Single males sometimes compete for females even after a pair has begun nesting and can displace their rivals. Some mated males sing to advertise for secondary mates at surplus cavities on their territories, a form of polygamy called polygyny. Some unpaired males add spider egg sacs to the nest. You’d think they’d function as ornaments to attract mates, but scientists found that nests containing those sacs took significantly longer to acquire mates. Their presence had no effect on the number or condition of offspring produced from a nest. Some believe wrens put the spider egg sacs in their nests to reduce the number of mites, reasoning that the eggs hatch and the baby spiders dine on the mites.
 “Why do earthworms come to the surface when it rains?” It’s likely that they find it easier to move across a wet soil surface to find food, a new habitat or a mate. Conventional wisdom holds that earthworms head to the surface because they can’t breathe. Humans drown when our lungs fill with water, but earthworms lack lungs. Studies show most earthworm species can survive being submerged in water for two weeks or more, making the drowning worm idea a myth. Some scientists believe the sound of rain hitting the ground makes worms think they're in danger from moles, causing them to escape to the surface.
 “How can I tell loon sexes apart?” The male is the one that gives a yodel and he typically has a larger bill.
 “What’s the difference between a juvenile bird and an immature bird?” A juvenile is a bird in its first plumage of non-downy feathers. An immature is a bird of any age other than an adult. A juvenile is an immature bird, but an immature bird isn’t necessarily a juvenile.
 Karen Wright of Mankato asked if earwig numbers are high this year. A mild winter can lead to a bumper crop as more adult earwigs survive and lay eggs in the spring. Dryer years see fewer earwigs, so wet winters are also good for them. Earwigs are omnivorous scavengers that feed on fruits, vegetables, decaying organic material, and weakened or dead insects and other tiny organisms. They also chew irregular holes in leaves and flower blossoms of dahlias, hostas and marigolds. The name “earwig” comes from the Old English ear-wicga, which means “ear wiggler”—named because the insect was thought to seek human ears to live in. The pincers (cerci) at the end of an earwig’s abdomen look like formidable forceps and can pinch, but the pinch isn’t robust enough to bother most people. They use their cerci to ward off enemies, to catch prey and during romantic encounters. A male earwig’s pincers are long and curved, while a female’s are shorter and straighter. Earwigs are 1/2 to 1 1/4-inch long and are reddish-brown.
 I showed tour participants a noisy marbled godwit, and some wondered about the origin of the name for this large, long-legged, wading bird. The name is of unknown origin but is likely imitative of the bird's call.
 “Are Russian olives good for deer?” Russian olive seed is relished by birds, whose droppings contribute to the tree's spread. Deer, coyotes and raccoons consume the fruit, and small mammals use the fruit and seeds as a food source. The nonnative Russian olive quickly takes over streambanks, lakeshores and prairies, choking out native vegetation. It changes nutrient cycling and taxes water reserves. The DNR recommends planting false indigo, nannyberry, chokecherry, gray dogwood, pin cherry or pussy willow instead.
 “What is a cat owl?” That’s a nickname for a great horned owl with its feathered tufts (plumicorns) resembling the ears of a cat.

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 “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”―Mark Twain.
 “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”― Charles Bukowski.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

A female red fox, called a vixen, gives birth to 5-10 kits, pups or cubs, which become independent at 7 months of age. The fox makes many sounds, including barks and screams. The red fox has a white tip to its tail; the gray fox has a black-tipped tail. Photo of red fox kits by Al Batt.

We need a national bird

Naturally

 I rambled while wearing sandals because I love the freedom of the open-toed.
 I walked with purpose. An inspired bird saunter. My antennae were finely tuned, searching for magic doors to open. My heart sang as I glimpsed something out of the corner of my eye. I turned onto a trail of discovery. The thing turned out to be a plastic bag clinging to a branch. The bag shimmered in the wind like an air dancer outside an auto dealer’s lot. It was disappointing in many ways.
 Turkey vultures sliced the air thin. I watched as meditation. Raindrops and birds are bolts of beauty. Proust wrote, “Whence could it have come to me, this all-powerful joy?” I walked several miles until I heard a vesper sparrow sing. I was soggy, but I’d reached my destination—an all-powerful joy.
 On a rare night without rain, I watched a baseball game at Mueller Park in New Ulm and listened to common nighthawks flying overhead and calling for “beans,” but eating flying insects instead.
 At home, I watched two suet holders do a thriving business. The birds I saw feeding on suet over a week were brown thrasher, gray catbird, red-headed woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, European starling, house sparrow, common grackle, white-breasted nuthatch, Baltimore oriole, blue jay, rose-breasted grosbeak and that gold standard of birds, the black-capped chickadee. A hairy woodpecker male displayed noisily with his bill pointed upward and bobbing from side to side of the suet feeder.
 I located a red-winged blackbird nest with three eggs (blue with black markings) in it, which was 2 feet off the ground in a Canada thistle in a prairie planting. 
 In Disney’s animated version of “Alice in Wonderland,” the White Rabbit sang, “I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date! No time to say ‘Hello,’ goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!” 
 My yard’s version of the White Rabbit was a late Blackburnian warbler here on June 19. It posed for a photo, noticed the time and fled the scene. A Eurasian tree sparrow has been a recurring guest star on the suet feeders.
Our national bird
 The National Eagle Center in Wabasha and a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and Members of the House of Representatives are leading an effort to make the bald eagle the country’s national bird. Preston Cook, Co-Chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center, said, “The bison is the national mammal, the rose is the national flower, and the oak is the national tree. It’s time the bald eagle, long revered as our national symbol, finds its rightful place as our country’s official national bird.”
 Many people think it’s the national bird because on June 20, 1782, the Continental Congress installed the bald eagle on the front of the Great Seal. The legislative effort is being led by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and U.S. Representatives Brad Finstad (R-MN) and Angie Craig (D-MN).

Q&A

 “Why does a bird chirp in the middle of the night?” It means the bird’s battery is low. They also do so to communicate, declare territory, respond to danger, seek mates or are confused by light pollution.
 “When did the opossum first arrive in Minnesota?” They showed up in southeastern Minnesota around 1900.
 Jack May of Mankato asked about pelican travel. American white pelicans will fly 100 miles, at up to 31 mph, to a food source. A pelican can reach down to about 3 feet below the surface of the water, eat about 3 pounds of fish a day, and expel 3 gallons of water after a catch. 
 “Why do I see so many crows and vultures in fields of mowed hay?” American crows and turkey vultures are there for the food. They eat animals that didn’t survive the mowing. The crows also gobble up voles, mice and large insects exposed by an implement.
 “What is corn thistle?” It’s a nickname for the nonnative Canada thistle. Other nicknames include creeping thistle, field thistle, perennial thistle, small-flowered thistle, green thistle, cursed thistle and Californian thistle. It was named by early settlers who blamed its presence on French traders from Canada. The aggressive plant reduces crop yields, as its 40,000 seeds could remain viable for 21 years in the soil. There is a native plant named the field thistle.

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 “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”―Roald Dahl.
 “If you ask me what is the most essential element in the teaching and morality of Jesus Christ, I would answer you: the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is humility.”—St. Augustine.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

Adult male orchard orioles are predominately chestnut in color. Females and juveniles of both sexes have olive and yellow plumages. The orchard oriole is the smallest species of oriole in North America. Its song is a series of loud, clear whistles with a phrasing similar to an American robin. The nest (built chiefly, if not all, by the female) is a hanging pouch. Photo by Al Batt. 

Woodpeckers are a keystone species

Naturally 

 A glance out the windows showcasing feeders unveiled a red-headed woodpecker, indigo bunting, northern cardinal, Baltimore oriole, gray catbird, blue jay and black-capped chickadee. I don’t question why I watch birds, but if I did, I’d find answers in the beauty beyond the glass.
 A great crested flycatcher continues to battle his reflection in several of those windows. Inchworms (cankerworms) are so abundant this year, I rarely see a house wren bill without a green worm in it. A check of the bluebird boxes was good news. If a bluebird you see, a good time having you be.
 Woodpeckers are considered keystone species because of their broad effects on other species. They create cavities that other species use, aid in controlling forest insects, and may help disperse spores of fungi that are agents of decay. A keystone species is one that has a disproportionately large effect on the communities in which it lives. The term was coined by American zoologist Robert T. Paine in 1969 and refers to the practice of using a wedge-shaped stone to support the top of an arch in a bridge or other construction.
 I enjoy seeing the Jack-in-the-pulpits in the woods. The plant has both male and female parts, and can change gender from year to year in response to successful (or failed) reproduction the previous year. Small flies pollinate it. The Jack-in-the-pulpit is native to the lower 48 states and parts of Canada. Some birds and mammals eat the berries of this plant, but humans should not. Native Americans harvested the roots for food, but the plant contains calcium oxalate crystals that cause blisters and painful irritations when eaten raw. 

Q&A

 “What are ditch lilies?” The bright orange flowers on tall spikes are perennials whose botanical name is Hemerocallis fulva, but are better known as ditch lilies, tiger lilies, orange daylilies, railroad lilies, corn lilies, outhouse lilies, tawny lilies and wash-house lilies.  
 “How did the loon become our state bird?” Minnesota has the largest population of common loons in the contiguous 48 states. In 1949, Minnesota's legislature appointed a state bird commission to select from eight candidates: the pileated woodpecker, wood duck, belted kingfisher, killdeer, scarlet tanager, rose-breasted grosbeak, mourning dove and common loon. The commission included ornithologists, museum directors and state officials. Their first task was to set up criteria for the selection. They were: 1. It should be a bird no other state had as a state bird. 2. It should be reasonably well known. 3. It should occur throughout the state, at least during the nesting season and preferably during the entire year. 4. It should be a strikingly marked bird whose pattern would lend itself well to use in an insignia. 5. It should have a special significance for Minnesota. Voting for the best of the eight choices included school children, sportsmen's clubs, other organizations and interested citizens. The voting was inconclusive and the legislature took no action. The American goldfinch was considered the unofficial state bird and the pileated woodpecker and the belted kingfisher were proposed for the honor. The Minnesota Ornithologists' Union continued to campaign for the common loon. They influenced public opinion and the legislature enough that in 1961, the common loon became the official state bird. 
 “How can I tell male and female chickadees apart?” They look identical. It’s primarily males that whistle the fee-bee song, and in aggressive encounters, males are usually dominant over females. 
 “When were honey bees brought to this country?” I’d learned that the honey bee didn’t exist on this continent until 1622, when colonists brought it from Europe and the Native Americans dubbed it "the white man's fly." Now I’ve read that honey bees existed at least 14 million years ago in North America, according to a fossil record identified by paleontologist-entomologist Michael Engle of the University of Kansas. It had been unearthed in the Stewart Valley basin in Nevada.
 “Do any fruit trees do well in wet areas?” Fruit trees don’t like wet feet. They don’t do well where water collects. Pears can grow in wet soil conditions if they get enough sun.
 “Is it only the female ticks that bite?” Both male and female ticks feed on blood by inserting their barbed, straw-like mouthparts into the skin of their host, but only female ticks drink enough to become engorged.

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 “We don’t need too much birdlore, do we, To tell a flamingo from a towhee; Yet I cannot, and never will, Unless the silly birds stand still.” – Ogden Nash
 “You can rush to consult your nature guide And inspect the gallery inside, But a bird in the open never looks Like its picture in the birdie books—Or if it once did, it has changed its plumage, And plunges you back into ignorant gloomage.”—Ogden Nash.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

The melancholy hul-a, hoop, hoop, hoop is the wistful song that gave the mourning dove its name. Pigeons and doves suck water through their beaks like a straw, instead of tilting their heads back to let gravity work. Both parents feed chicks pigeon milk—a nutrient-rich substance secreted by the crop and regurgitated as a meal. Photo of parents with young mourning dove by Al Batt.

Adult males are called cobs and adult females are pens.

 Naturally

 Kelly Blackledge, visitor service manager at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge, has her car serviced in a garage with woods behind it, which allows her to go birding while her oil is being changed. 
 Sigurd Olson wrote “A time for silence” and Ralph Waldo Emerson penned, “Drink the wild air.” I walked with those words and friends at Tamarac NWR in May, where we were surrounded by birdsong. I wanted to pull up a chair, lean in and listen. 
 Don Kroodsma, an author and an expert on birdsong, found that unpaired male Connecticut warblers sing through much of the night. Any male warbler who sings all day long is unpaired. Unpaired mockingbirds sing at night. He said a Connecticut warbler at Sax-Zim Bog began singing at 7:38 p.m. and ended at 10:13 a.m. He added the mockingbird has about 100 songs, the catbird 200 to 400, and the brown thrasher 1,000 to 2,000 songs. All three mimic, but the mockingbird mimics more than the other two, doing some well enough to fool the Merlin Sound ID app that listens to birds and suggests the singer. Don played a recording of a starling mimicking an eastern phoebe and a northern flicker at the same time, one with its left voice box and the other with the right voice box. He described four male chipping sparrows displaying and singing in a lek-like arena during the dawn chorus, but dispersing to their daytime centers of activity before sunrise. Two other males replaced those four after sunrise; those two had been presumably displaying elsewhere during the dawn chorus. Lek-like behavior is observed in birds such as prairie chickens.

Trumpeter swans

 I drove over the Wing River on my way to Wadena. As I did so, a pair of trumpeter swans winged their way overhead. Adult males are called cobs, and adult females are pens. They usually mate for life and typically begin nesting when 3 or 4 years old. A pair of swans may build their nest on a muskrat house, beaver lodge or construct it from marsh vegetation. Nest mounds are 6 to 12 feet across and 18 inches high. They will defend up to 100 acres of wetland territory against other swans or predators. In late April, pens will lay a clutch of 5 to 7 eggs. The young swans, called cygnets, hatch in 33 to 37 days and remain in the nest with the pen for at least 24 hours until they can maintain their own body temperature. Cygnets have a light gray plumage and feed mainly on aquatic insects and crustaceans during their first weeks of life. In July, before the cygnets can fly, the adult swans lose their primary wing feathers. In August, adult swans grow new primaries and can fly again. The cygnets fly in September when they are 14 to 17 weeks old.

Q&A

 “How many kinds of rabbits are there in Minnesota?” There are three lagomorph species in the state. One rabbit and two hares. Hares are born well-furred with eyes open, and move around shortly after birth, whereas rabbit babies are born blind, hairless and helpless. The eastern cottontail is the rabbit we commonly see. The white-tailed jackrabbit is a hare with exceptionally long ears (hare extensions), is 2 feet long and weighs 6 to 10 pounds. When surprised, it bounds off like a kangaroo. When frightened, it speeds away at up to 40 mph. It can leap 10 feet at a time. The snowshoe hare is slightly larger than the cottontail rabbit and can reach speeds of 30 mph and jump 12 feet in a single bound. Its coat is brown in summer and white in the winter, earning it the nickname varying hare. Snowshoe hares live in the upper half of the state, where they’re typically found in young forests, dense woodlands, thickets, and forest bogs and swamps. They’re about 20 inches long and weigh 3 pounds. The snowshoe hare's food changes with the seasons. In summer, it feeds on grasses, berries, wildflowers, clover and other green vegetation. In winter, it eats bark, twigs and evergreen needles. The snowshoe hare roams a 7- to 17-acre home range. An acre is slightly smaller than a football field.
 “Do adult cicadas eat?” Cicadas are often mistakenly called locusts, which are members of the grasshopper family and have chewing mouthparts. Cicadas have sucking mouthparts and don’t chew. Cicadas are in the scientific order Hemiptera, a group of insects known as true bugs. Adult cicadas feed little on plant sap.
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 “If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows.”—Henry Ward Beecher.
 “We heap up around us things that we do not need as the crow makes piles of glittering pebbles.”—Laura Ingalls Wilder.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

 

A red-eyed vireo is noted for singing tirelessly from the treetops during the nesting season. Its song can be heard as “Here I am, up here, in the tree, look up, at the top, over here.” One dedicated listener counted 22,197 songs from one vireo in one day. The name “vireo” comes from a Latin word meaning “to be green.” Only the adults have the red eyes. Photo by Al Batt.

How many inchworms does it take to make a footworm?



Naturally 

 I heard a miracle in the song of what my father called a “summer warbler.” It was an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie, red-striped, yellow warbler male. Starlings imitated eastern wood-pewees and eastern meadowlarks.
 A blue-gray gnatcatcher is blue-gray above and white below, with a white eye-ring. The males have distinctive black eyebrows. They eat various small insects and spiders, not just gnats. 
 A snowy owl that delighted birders and photographers in Sax-Zim Bog last winter, died after being struck by a train. Owls don’t win that battle.
 The European invasive Dame's rocket blooms profusely in colonies. It’s often confused with native phlox, but Dame’s rocket flowers have four petals, while phlox blossoms have five petals (P-H-L-O-X).
 The names May beetle, June beetle and June bug refer to species of beetles in the genus Phyllophaga that injure turfgrass. The larvae feed on grass, tree and shrub roots, and mature in the soil, which takes the white grubs two or three years.
 The white foam blobs on various plants are produced by the nymphs of spittlebugs, small insects related to aphids. The foam protects the nymph from predators and provides insulation from temperature extremes and low humidity so the nymph doesn’t desiccate. Adult spittlebugs are called froghoppers.

Q&A

 “How many inchworms does it take to make a footworm?” Inchworms, also called cankerworms, loopers or spanworms, are caterpillars that move with a distinctive “looping” motion. Full-grown cankerworms are about an inch in length and vary in color. Fall cankerworms emerge from the soil as adult moths in late October; spring cankerworms in March. Spring and fall cankerworm eggs hatch at about the same time in the spring. Cankerworms go through natural cycles with two to seven years of high populations (average of four years), followed by 13 to 18 years of low populations. Spring and fall cankerworms feed on buds and leaves after eggs hatch in the spring. They create small BB-sized holes in leaves. Spring cankerworms can be yellow-green to brownish to blackish. A white stripe may run along the side of the body. Fall cankerworms range from light green to dark green to black.
 “Do turtles replace their shells?” The shell of most freshwater turtle species is made of multiple layers and the outermost portion consists of large scales called scutes. The scutes are made of keratin and are similar to human fingernails in that both are composed of a material called keratin. The innermost portion of a turtle’s shell is part of its skeleton. As a turtle grows, its shell must grow with it. A turtle goes through periods of molting where the scutes shed individually, appearing to peel off.
 “I read that captive-reared monarch butterflies have smaller wing sizes, decreased navigational abilities, lower migration success, slower flight with less power, are physically weaker and aren’t as intelligent as wild monarchs. True?” We thought we were doing them a favor, didn’t we? They also experience stress from human handling. The Xerxes Society recommends rearing no more than 10 monarchs per year and collecting immature monarchs locally. Keep rearing containers clean between individuals by using a 20% bleach solution to avoid spreading diseases or mold. Provide sufficient milkweed by adding fresh milkweed daily. Keep rearing containers out of direct sunlight and provide a moist (not wet) paper towel or sponge to provide adequate, not excessive, moisture. Release monarchs where they were collected at appropriate times. 
 “What plant is the old man’s whiskers?” It’s also known as prairie smoke or purple avens, a delightful spring wildflower that spreads by rhizomes to form large clumps. As the nodding reddish-pink to purplish flowers fade, they turn upright to form feathery gray tails that resemble miniature feather dusters.
 “Does a robin look or listen for worms?” The American robin uses auditory, visual, olfactory and possibly vibrotactile cues to find prey, but vision is the principal means of prey detection. Scientists found that a robin can locate earthworms just by listening, as reported in the journal Animal Behavior. Researchers hid worms behind barriers, eliminating the possibilities of sight, smell and touch. The robins found the worms easily.
 “Do rabbits dig burrows?” They don’t. To nest, the female eastern cottontail rabbit digs a shallow depression and lines it with grass and fur, and tops it with grass and leaves. The young are born blind and without fur, but within a week their eyes are open, and by the second week their fur has grown in. In the winter, rabbits might use an underground burrow abandoned by a woodchuck or other species.

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 “Wonder takes our breath away,  and makes room for new breath. That’s why they call it breathtaking.”―Anne Lamott.
 “‘Wow’ is about having one’s mind blown by the mesmerizing or the miraculous: the veins in a leaf, birdsong, volcanoes.”—Anne Lamott.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

The question mark butterfly is a conspicuous orange and brown butterfly commonly found in wooded areas and city parks. When the butterfly folds its wings, they mimic the color and shape of a dead leaf. Its name comes from a small, silver, question mark-shaped marking on the underside of the hindwing. This butterfly overwinters as an adult. I see this butterfly feeding on nectar feeders, sap flows and rotting fruit. Photos by Al Batt.

The bird gave me a loud smacking kiss.



Naturally

 A friend said she’d been using the Merlin app on her phone to ID bird calls, but the frogs and toads called so emphatically, it left the app confounded. When I started leading birding trips, people carried binoculars and spotting scopes. More cameras became included. While leading a busload of birders recently, some depleted their phone batteries while using Merlin.
Brown noise
 I’ve heard people call the brown thrasher (state bird of Georgia) the “brown thrush.” An intriguing call of this inventive songster sounds like a loud smacking kiss. It sings, "Plant a seed, plant a seed, bury it, bury it, cover it up, cover it up, let it grow, let it grow, pull it up, pull it up, eat it, eat it."
 A thrasher greets the day on my deck rail each morning. It’s not an eponymic, so its name need not be changed unless it was named for Buster Brown. Its name could be the brown-rufous-cinnamon-rust-umber-white-gray-burnt sienna-cream-reddish-brownish-red-black-yellow-foxy thrasher. The yellow for its eyes. It’s just a thought.

Canada geese

 I walked around Lake Sagatagan at the St. John’s Abbey Arboretum. A family of Canada geese (Ma, Pa and five goslings) moved toward the water. One baby had difficulty climbing over the trunk of a fallen tree. To the gosling, it was Mt. Everest. It cried. The gander walked back to see if he could help and stepped onto the log just as the gosling reached the summit. The gander’s big foot landed directly on top of the little fellow. More crying ensued. They both shuffled into the water, appearing no worse for the wear, but I expect the gosling had nightmares.
 There was a traffic jam in Waseca. Waseca isn’t a big city, so its traffic jams generally involve farm equipment. The cause of this one was a large gaggle of Canada goose parents and their goslings traveling from feeding along the railroad tracks to a lake. I saw molt flights northward of nonbreeding and failed breeding Canada geese in late May and early June. In early to mid-June, adult geese molt and cannot fly for about a month. If the adult geese have goslings, the goslings are unable to fly until around mid-July when they’re 8 to 12 weeks old. The geese breed when two or three years old. If all of those non-breeding birds spent the summer with the breeding population, it’d stress the resources needed to raise the next generation. They need a secure area to undergo a molt and molting in a flock provides security.

Meadowlark melodies

 A male western meadowlark has serious pipes and sings to defend his nesting territory and attract a mate. There is a thunderclap in the decibel level of his song. I drove down a gravel road and thought I heard a western meadowlark singing in my backseat—it was that loud. Its paean came at full tilt from its fence post perch along the road. The meadowlark wore a brilliant yellow vest marked with a black V-shaped bib worn under a brown tweed jacket. Meadowlarks made a good impression on me when I was a boy. Like all good Minnesotans, I enjoy driving around with my windows rolled down, although there’s not much rolling required anymore. I don’t want to miss any windchills or comforting songs of western meadowlarks, which Donald Culross Peattie called “the most joyful voice in all the world of birds.” 
Born Meadow George Lemon, he adopted the name “Meadowlark” because of its “sweet happy song.” His first basket was fashioned from a coat hanger and onion sack, and an empty tin can was the ball. Meadowlark Lemon was the Clown Prince of Basketball and the star of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Q&A

 “What’s a group of warblers called?” Collective nouns for warblers are a bouquet, confusion, fall, flock or wrench.
 “When do turtles lay their eggs, and why am I seeing baby turtles now?” Most of Minnesota’s nine species of freshwater turtles lay their eggs from late May through June. Sadly, 80-90% of the nests are predated, most in the first couple of days before the scent of the freshly laid eggs diminishes. The sun warms the eggs. If the nest isn’t in a sunny spot, the turtles hatch later in the fall and stay underground until spring.
 “Is there a queen bird?” There are king penguins, king vultures, king eiders, kingfishers, kingbirds and kinglets. The Carola’s parotia is sometimes called Queen Carola’s parotia.

Thanks for stopping by

 “Here is the great privilege at every person living in the present possesses: We are entitled to enjoy all the advances of the past 300 years of society and civilization, and yet we are not required to pay one iota for that enjoyment.”–Michael Garry.
 “Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.”—James Thurber.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

Eastern chipmunks and 13-lined ground squirrels have grayish- or reddish-brown fur. Chipmunks are about 10 inches long, and ground squirrels 11 inches—including tails. The 13-lined ground squirrel has stripes that extend to its head. Only the body of a chipmunk displays stripes. Their 13 stripes (seven dark brown and six tan) give the ground squirrels (striped gophers) their name. The darker stripes usually have tan spots. Chipmunks have five broad stripes alternating between dark and light. Photos by Al Batt.

Does my car have a frog in its throat?

Naturally

 A robin sang in the rain, polishing my day. Why did it sing in the falling moisture? Why not? We sing in the shower. The robin was singing in the shower. What does it mean when a bird sings in the rain? It’s said to indicate that fair weather is approaching. That makes sense. My experience is that the rain always stops, and eventually, fair weather magically appears. A robin may sing to defend its territory or because it enjoys “Singin' in the Rain,” a 1952 musical and romantic comedy film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds. I find comfort in the robin’s rain song. I’ve used this written by Robert Louis Stevenson in eulogies, “Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.”
 Among the earliest to bloom in spring, woodland wildflowers have value for pollinators when food is scarce. Spring ephemerals bloom, are pollinated and produce seed during a small window of time between snow-melt and leaf-out. Ephemerals are a heart drawn in the sand and quickly give way to more shade-tolerant flowers.
 The cracks in the sidewalk showed many small, volcanic-like mounds of soil. Pavement ants are tiny ants about 1/8th inch long and dark brown to black. The name for this ant comes from its habit of nesting under sidewalks and driveways and piling dirt removed from the nest in a mound on top of the pavement.

Q&A

 “What should I do if I find a fawn?“ Leave it where you found it. Its mother is likely nearby. The doe returns several times a day to nurse her fawn. The young fawn's best defense from predators is to hide and wait for mom. A fawn has brown fur that blends in with dry grass and leaves, and white spots to mimic dappled sunlight. By the time this fawn is around two weeks old, it’ll be able to outrun most predators.
 “Are wild strawberries good to eat?” This plant is deciduous, but leaves remain green throughout the winter. Flowers develop in May and fruits appear in June. Wild strawberries resemble cultivated strawberries but are smaller. They are delicious.
 “Do purple martins send scouts?” The first arriving individuals aren’t scouts checking out a colony site for others. They are older martins returning to areas where they’ve nested before. Martins returning north to breed for the first time come back several weeks later. A martin colony is an aggregation of birds attracted to a common breeding site. The claim that martins eat 2000 mosquitoes a day is a myth. Martins forage at heights where few mosquitoes are found. Martins are insect-eating machines that could eat mosquitos, but they prefer larger prey such as mayflies, beetles, moths, flies, butterflies and dragonflies.
 Leon Schoenrock of New Richland wrote, “ I’ve noticed when I’m driving that I can hear frogs croaking even though I’m going 40 mph with the windows up, radio on, fan blowing and the noise of a gravel road. What is it about a frog’s voice that makes it penetrate like that? And at the speed I’m traveling. I’m certainly not hearing just one frog, but the croaking seems to be continuous.” Your vehicle might have a frog in its throat. The western/boreal chorus frog, Minnesota’s smallest frog, sounds like a fingernail being dragged across a stiff comb. Little frog, big noise. They are loud and many. I’ve read their vocalizations can be heard a mile away. They are a rock band of frogs. Spring peepers aren’t found in your part of the state, but there are people who find them annoyingly loud. Emily Dickinson wrote, “How public – like a Frog –To tell one’s name – the livelong June –To an admiring Bog!” We can hear the chorus frog because they are yelling.
 “How can I keep birds from hitting the window of my house?” Try marking the outside of the window with soap or tempera paint, which is inexpensive and long lasting. Use either a grid pattern of 2 inches by 2 inches, or get creative and paint patterns or artwork on your window. Let me know if it helps.
 “How deep can an osprey dive?” About 3 feet.

Thanks for stopping by

 “Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.”—Hal Borland.
 “I spoke ... of the sweet singing of the western meadowlark ... among the most attractive singers to which I have ever listened; but with all bird-music much must be allowed for the surroundings, and much for the mood, and the keenness of sense of the listener. The meadowlark is a singer of a higher order, deserving to rank with the best. Its song has length, variety, power and rich melody; and there is sometimes a cadence of wild sadness, inexpressibly touching.”—Theodore Roosevelt.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

A walk with friends of wonderment at Tamarac NWR. Don Kroodsma is the fine fellow pointing. Don said, “Somewhere, always, the sun is rising, and somewhere, always, the birds are singing.” He explores the mysteries of birdsong — how birds learn to sing, why some sing and some don't, and why songs vary from bird to bird and even from place to place. More information available at “Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist.” Photo by Al Batt

Rothsay is the Prairie Chicken Capital of Minnesota.

Sitting in the catbird seat



Naturally

 Be observant. Things are happening out there.
 American white pelicans glided overhead on 9-foot-wingspans.
 In my yard, common grackles were everywhere. Despite that, their populations have had a cumulative decline of 54% from 1966 to 2014. In Minnesota, the decline averaged 2.03% per year since 1967. Since 1966, when the Breeding Bird Survey began monitoring, the house sparrow has experienced a decrease of 3.61% per year. In Minnesota, the decline has been 4.08% annually. Although common grackles are a protected species under the Federal Migratory Bird Act, they’re taken legally when causing serious damage to agricultural or horticultural crops, which impacts grackle populations. House sparrow declines have resulted from intensive agriculture. The increasing use of pesticides reduces insect populations, which lowers food availability for nestlings, and efficient farming practices limit the availability of waste grain. 
 I once kept baby geese in the porch. What kind of geese were 
they? They were porch-a-geese, of course.
 The bumblebee couldn’t decide. It landed on one flower briefly and then moved to another. It was a maybee.
 Birds can be appetites with wings. Milo in a birdseed mix is like banana chips in a trail mix. I don’t want either one.

Q&A

 Jennifer and Lillie of Wells asked what are the odd things dropping from walnut trees. Black walnut trees flower in April–May. The male flowers are in catkins, female flowers are in short spikes on the same tree. The tree is primarily wind pollinated. All walnut trees produce a yellow-green flower tendril called a catkin, which hangs from the branches in early spring. The word catkin comes from the Dutch word katteken, meaning "kitten," due to a likeness to a kitten's tail. These slim, cylindrical, pendulous clusters are 2 to 4 inches long. I suspect that’s what you’re seeing.
 “Do both catbirds in a pair sing?” Both males and females, virtually indistinguishable in appearance, sing and call, with males being louder. The male often sings shortly before twilight and in the evening. The gray bird with a black cap and a rusty butt makes a joyful noise and often produces a “mew” sound, like a kitten. Females sing infrequently and their songs are quieter. A male catbird with a complex song is desirable because it’s a demonstration of his great experience with life and survival. A “catbird seat” is a reference to  a position of great prominence or advantage. Legendary baseball announcer Red Barber used the expression “sitting in the catbird seat,” meaning a baseball player was sitting pretty like a batter with three balls and no strikes. It’s believed the expression originated in the 1942 short story by James Thurber, “The Catbird Seat”.
 “Do deer whistles work?” No. Data currently doesn't support the idea that deer whistles reduce deer-vehicle collisions. A study published in 2009 by the “Journal of Wildlife Management” concluded that whistle-like noises don’t change deer behavior. A study from 2003 found deer whistles are unlikely to produce a sound loud enough for deer to hear at a sufficient distance to avoid traffic encounters. A 2018 review of scientific literature by Iowa State University indicated inconclusive data on the device's effectiveness but confirms there is no proven efficacy in preventing deer-vehicle collisions. According to wildlife biologists at the University of Georgia, neither deer nor humans can hear ultrasonic sounds. Whistles blown near captive deer produced no response. A University of Wisconsin study found three types of whistles produced low-pitched, ultrasonic sounds at speeds of 30 to 70 mph, but researchers couldn’t verify that deer responded to the sounds. University of Georgia researchers concluded: “Considering the challenges of producing sound at appropriate intensities and distances from a moving vehicle, deer hearing capabilities, human safety concerns, and our observed lack of behavioral responses of deer to sound treatments, auditory deterrents do not appear to be appropriate for prevention of deer-vehicle collisions.”
 “What do you know about hummingbirds?” Very little.
 “When can we see fireflies in Minnesota?” Lightning bugs can be seen throughout Minnesota in areas with long grasses, particularly from mid-June through mid-July. Firefly populations have declined dramatically in the last 50 years due to habitat loss, light pollution and pesticides.

Thanks for stopping by

 “The saddest thing I ever did see Was a woodpecker peckin’ at a plastic tree. He looks at me, and ‘Friend,’ says he, ‘Things ain’t as sweet as they used to be.’”—Shel Silverstein.
 “His black cap gives him a jaunty look, for which we humans have learned to tilt our caps, in envy. When he is not singing, he is listening. Neither have I ever seen him with his eyes closed. Though he may be looking at nothing more than a cloud it brings to his mind several dozen new remarks. From one branch to another, or across the path, he dazzles with flight.”—Mary Oliver, “Catbird.”
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

  The gray catbird mimics the songs of other birds and frogs. Its syrinx allows it to make two sounds at once. Its song is distinguished from that of the brown thrasher because the thrasher usually repeats phrases twice and the catbird sings most phrases only once. In contrast to many songbirds that choose a prominent perch to sing, the catbird often elects to sing where it’s obscured by foliage. Photo by Al Batt.

The grape jelly doesn’t need toast.

Naturally

 I moved a pair of shoes down a trail and was pleased to see and hear meadowlarks. Grassland birds have suffered a 53% reduction in population, which is the most significant bird decline in any terrestrial biome.
 It was good to see the northern lights and the thistle butterflies. The University of Minnesota Extension says painted lady butterflies don’t overwinter in Minnesota but migrate from southern states each spring. Eggs are laid on the leaves of host plants, including Canada thistle, sunflower and soybean. Painted ladies are attracted to open areas with low vegetation and a variety of flowers, especially composites.
 I watched deer about to engage in road-crossing behavior. Data shows U.S. drivers have a 1 in 127 chance of a collision with an animal, according to State Farm’s annual analysis. The company estimates there were over 1.8 million animal collision insurance claims in the U.S. between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. The top 5 animal collisions reported by State Farm were deer (1,288,714), unidentified animals (207,373), rodents (94,805), dogs (55,005) and raccoons (52,054). West Virginia tops the list of states where a driver is most likely to hit an animal, with a likelihood of 1 in 38. Montana (1 in 53 chance), Pennsylvania (1 in 59), Michigan (1 in 60) and Wisconsin (1 in 60) are in the top five. Iowa is 6th at 1 in 63, South Dakota 8th at 1 in 69, Minnesota is 11th at 1 in 81 and North Dakota 12th at 1 in 82. I’d add that Minnesota must get more than its share of raccoon/car collisions. The World Animal Foundation sent me information suggesting animal/car collisions might be more frequent. https://worldanimalfoundation.org/advocate/deer-accidents-statistics/

Q&A

 Larry Friedrich of St. Peter asked if grape jelly is bad for orioles. I’m aware of no scientific studies done to confirm whether jelly is good or bad for the lovely orioles. I put out orange slices, sliced purple grapes and grape jelly for them. Robins, brown thrashers, house finches, cardinals, scarlet tanagers, hummingbirds, Cape May warblers, red-bellied woodpeckers and other birds with sweet beaks also eat grape jelly. Chipmunks love the stuff. The orioles in my yard readily feed on suet in the spring. It’s a good idea to feed grape jelly in limited amounts, as moderation is good for all of us, and it keeps hummingbirds from becoming stuck in the jelly. You could stretch your grape jelly budget by combining one part grape jelly to one part water and mixing it to the consistency of a thick juice. Grape jelly is best if it doesn’t contain artificial coloring, other additives or corn fructose. It’s best to choose homemade jelly or grape jelly found at bird stores that is created specifically for wild birds and doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup, and avoid offering any sugar-free options. I’ve fed orange marmalade and red cherry, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry jellies to orioles without a single complaint on a comment card. For those uncomfortable with feeding grape jelly to the orioles, slice an orange in half and place it on a platform feeder or impale it on a special feeder. Placing sliced purple grapes on a platform feeder might be appreciated. You could make oriole/hummingbird nectar: One part granulated sugar to four parts non-distilled drinking water with no need to boil safe drinking water. Don’t use honey or red dye. Heidi Faulkner, Project Feederwatch Assistant at Cornell Lab of Ornithology, wrote this in 2022: “Jelly is fine to offer. We recommend trying to offer natural jelly if possible.”
 Penny Jacobsen of Albert Lea asked when it’s OK to destroy a bird nest. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act states it is illegal to "take (kill), possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such bird except as may be permitted under the terms of a valid permit." It’s illegal to move or destroy active nests, which is any nest with eggs or live young in it. You are allowed to discourage birds from building a nest in a bad spot by destroying a partially built, inactive nest. Under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, it’s illegal to move or destroy eagle nests, even if they are inactive.

Thanks for stopping by

 “Oh, if you’re a bird, be an early bird And catch the worm for your breakfast plate. If you’re a bird, be an early early bird-But if you’re a worm, sleep late."—by Shel Silverstein.
 “The owl is wary, the owl is wise. He knows all the names of the stars in the skies. He hoots and he toots and he lives by his wits, But mostly he sits… (and he sits… and he sits).”—Jack Prelutsky.
Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

  The name “oriole” has Latin roots, deriving from aureolus, which is Latin for “golden.” The Baltimore oriole belongs to the blackbird family. The males wear orange and black, the heraldic colors of Lord Baltimore, credited as the founder of Maryland. The Baltimore oriole’s tote bag-like hanging nest is a wonderment of avian weaving. Photo by Al Batt.

Starling, starling. First starling I see today. I wish I might, I wish I may, have this wish I wish today.

Naturally

 Starling, starling. First starling I see today. I wish I might, I wish I may, have this wish I wish today. That’s right, I wished upon a starling.
 May never leaves me dismayed. Everyone should go outdoors if for no other reason than it’s safer than going out windows.
 It was a gee-whiz morning for me. It was a soggy day for the birds. The suet feeders had a rush of business made up of rose-breasted grosbeaks, brown thrashers, woodpeckers (downy, hairy & red-bellied), starlings, nuthatches, chickadees and blue jays. It was the time of the whistling sparrows, and I love the company of white-throated, Harris’s and white-crowned. It was also the time when I remember how much I enjoy wren and thrasher music. It’s like hearing a nearly forgotten Etta James song.
 Life is little moments. I was thrilled to see meadowlarks flapping with short, stiff, grouse-like wingbeats and gliding as I listened to the snoring sounds of leopard frogs, when I noticed a great egret standing in the middle of the road. Why didn’t the egret cross the road? Because a pair of Canada geese wouldn’t let it. The gander tends to be bigger than the female, and he stretched his neck threateningly. The egret gave up. A wild turkey crossed the road. The geese looked the other way. A meadowlark sang, “Have-you-planted your wheat yet?"
 Eastern fox squirrels have two breeding seasons, one of which occurs in December-February, and the other in May-June. The gestation period lasts for 44-45 days, yielding a litter of up to 7 young with an average of 2-3. Females are able to produce two litters per year but generally yield only a single litter. Young squirrels are independent within 12 weeks.

Q&A

 “When do wild turkeys lay eggs?” The breeding season goes from mid-April to mid-May, depending on the weather. Hens lay between eight and 15 eggs, one per day, from mid-April to mid-June and don’t start incubating until the last egg is laid. She incubates them for 28 days. When the eggs hatch, the chicks leave the nest with the hen within a day. The chicks feed themselves immediately, but depend on the hen for warmth and protection. Ducks, geese and pheasants also have precocial hatchlings. That means they need to incubate their eggs all at the same time regardless of when they lay the eggs so that all babies can leave the nest quickly because of a vulnerability in the nest. 
 Dean Muesing sent photos of Canada geese on a roof and wondered if there’s any particular reason for it. Rooftops provide plenty of flat and open space with a good view of potential predators and the surrounding habitat. Roofs offer security since most of a flock's predators are ground based. A building is an odd, but useful tree and geese will nest on a roof or in a tree.
 “Where could I see otters?” In otter space, of course. The playful river otters are found on lakes, ponds and streams. They dig dens in river banks. An adult river otter is 4 to 5.5 feet long, including its 18-inch tail and weighs up to 30 pounds, with 15 to 19 pounds the average. An otter’s diet is both aquatic and terrestrial, including fish, crayfish, clams, muskrats, mussels, turtles, amphibians, fruits, reptiles, birds, aquatic insects and small mammals.
 Jane of St. James asked if putting cayenne pepper on birdseed discourages squirrels. The taste of cayenne pepper does often repel squirrels, and eating moderate amounts of pepper apparently doesn’t harm birds. In the American tropics, some birds eat the red fruits of native wild peppers without being affected by the capsaicin. In general, birds have fewer taste buds than mammals, and the burning sensation doesn’t bother them. Birds can eat pepper without harm because they have tough digestive systems. Pepper in a powdered form has the potential of getting in birds’ eyes. It wouldn’t be an assault. It’d be a-pepper.
 “Where are morel mushrooms usually found?” Morels are most often found in woodlands or woody edges. Morels grow under or around decaying elms, ash, poplar and apple trees. Common sites include south-facing slopes, and burned or logged woodlands.
 “What is the earliest nesting songbird in Iowa and Minnesota?” It’s likely the horned lark. Smaller than a robin, it’s the only true lark native to North America. The meadowlark isn’t a lark. It’s a member of the blackbird family. The horned lark has babies during a time when it seems only owls and eagles should.

Thanks for stopping by

 “A wise old owl lived in an oak. The more he saw the less he spoke. The less he spoke the more he heard. Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?”—Anonymous.
 “I am that little robin That sits upon a tree. I sing to you each morning But you don't know it’s me.”—John F. Connor.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

Why is this lovely bird called a brown thrasher? There’s an entire box of crayons there. Perhaps it’s brown for simplicity’s sake. Thrasher is a version of an older term “thrusher” or a reflection of the bird’s feeding behavior. It thrashes about in leaf litter by vigorously swinging its bill back and forth in pursuit of insects, fruits and nuts. It sings varied songs that include imitations of other birds. Photo by Al Batt. 

A flying nuptial tubercle



Naturally

 I listened to the morning’s bird song featuring orchestral complexity. I joined in the dawn chorus by singing, “I Put a Spell On You.” 
 American white pelicans flew over. The upper mandible on some had developed a flattened, semicircular, fibrous plate (horn) called a nuptial tubercle. Birds mature enough to reproduce develop a nuptial tubercle, which falls off when mating season is over and is unique to the American white pelican. The size of the bump or sail is variable. Its purpose is to make them more attractive to mates. Upon molting into its eclipse plumage at the end of the breeding season, their crests turn gray and their eye color changes from dark to light. Both the males and the females develop the tubercle.

I was in North Dakota

 I sought the company of a chestnut-collared longspur, which prefers grazed or mowed grasslands over undisturbed ground because of the short grass they provide. Overgrazing can be detrimental to nesting. The bird nests on the ground, often by a cowpie or under a clump of grass. They forage on the ground for seeds, insects and spiders. Scientists don't know why their nests are often near dried cow dung patties. Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.

Q&A

 “Will swans chase away Canada geese?” Only a mature, mated territorial nesting pair of trumpeter swans chase off geese and other waterfowl in their nesting waters. This aggressive behavior is usually exhibited only during the nesting season, which begins in April. Swans and geese often co-exist nicely, and it isn’t unusual to see them swimming together. At times of the year, the swans will readily flock with the geese. Young swans or two swans of the same sex will not be as aggressive and generally tolerate geese and other waterfowl at any time of year. Swans get along famously with other species. Swans tend to discourage geese from getting too close, especially when they have babies. However, they don’t usually force geese to leave the water, except in small farm ponds.
 “Why do cats sleep so much?” On average, cats doze off for a 13 to 16 hours per day. These marathon naps aren’t a sign of laziness, but rather a reflection of cats' unique biology and health requirements. Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they need to get most of their nutrients from high-protein meats. Cats are skilled predators. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences implicates domestic cats in the extinction of at least two reptile species, 21 mammal species, and 40 bird species—accounting for 26% of all known contemporary extinctions in these species. Domestic cats pose a threat to a minimum of 367 species at risk of extinction. After a protein-rich meal, cats can experience a surge of the amino acid tryptophan, which leads to the production of serotonin. This naturally occurring brain chemical serves as a mood stabilizer and brings about feelings of contentment and relaxation, setting the stage for a good snooze. The tendency to doze during daylight hours and become more active as dusk falls is a natural rhythm ingrained in their predatory DNA.
 “How can I tell if a ladybug is a multicolored lady beetle?” This beetle is originally from Asia and was first released for biological control of other insects in this country in 1916. It’s not known for certain whether the establishment of lady beetles in the US resulted from accidental entries, planned releases or both. The beetle’s color ranges from yellow to orange to red, with zero to 19 black spots. The wings could even be entirely black with red spots. That’s why its name includes “multicolored.” A consistent pattern is the black “M” on a white plate behind its head, just above the wings. It could be an "M" or a "W," depending upon whether the beetle is viewed from the front or rear.
 “What bird lays the most eggs?” In an official test conducted at the College of Agriculture, University of Missouri, in 1979, a white leghorn laid 371 eggs in 365 days. This super chicken also laid an egg a day for 448 consecutive days. The average laying hen, depending on breed, produces around 300 eggs per year. 
 “How can I stop a sapsucker from drilling holes in a tree?” Wrap the targeted area in burlap over a wide enough section that the sapsucker won’t start a new ring of holes. The ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglet, phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Cape May warbler, ruby-throated hummingbird, woodpeckers, squirrels, moths and butterflies all feed on sap or insects found in sap wells.

Thanks for stopping by

 "The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
 “Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.”—Hans Christian Andersen.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

I’ve heard the ornamental fibrous plate growing on the upper mandible called a horn, bump, sail, knob or nuptial tubercle. Both male and female mature (3-year-old) American white pelicans develop nuptial tubercles that fall off when the mating mating season is over. Photo by Al Batt.

LBJs, Little Brown Jobs, fed on millet on the ground



Naturally

 The sun had just gotten up, and the turkeys and deer were doing some roadwork. The turkeys relish standing in the middle of a road and attempting to stare down cars. Large flocks of blackbirds fed in a field near the road. One black squirrel was near them. The squirrel was likely a mascot. One look at a lake and a duck said, “What a dive.” Minnesota diving ducks are the canvasback, redhead, ringneck (also called ringbill), scaup (also called bluebill), goldeneye, bufflehead and ruddy duck. Arriving home, I tossed a handful of purple grapes onto the ground on a freezing April day. I didn’t quarter them. The robins ate them with obvious pleasure.

Picking up sticks

 From Mary Oliver’s poem “Invitation”: “…it is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world. I beg of you, do not walk by without pausing to attend this rather ridiculous performance…” It was a cool and damp morning. Some might have called it cold and wet. The yard that had been covered with juncos and sticks yesterday was now covered by only one junco and the sticks shed by the yard’s trees. I gathered sticks while listening to robin, cardinal, redwing, dove and rooster pheasant voices. A vesper sparrow sang, “Oh-oh-my-my, its-such-a-beautiful day” from an elevated perch. My farming father loved to hear that. The vesper sparrow sings at any time of the day but gets its name from its evening hymns (vespers), “Listen to my evening sing-ing-ing-ing.” White-throated sparrows whistled as I watched an eastern phoebe pursue flying insects I couldn’t discern. It was far from 50 degrees. Maybe some insects were dressed in wool.
 My birdfeeders are locally owned and operated. LBJs filled the space below the seed dispensaries. Little brown jobs, including white-throated sparrows, song sparrows and chipping sparrows. I saw kinglet, sapsucker, bluebird, yellow-rumped warbler, bumblebee, butterflies, dragonfly and meadowlark nearby. After giving thousands of talks, I’ve learned that no one who has heard a western meadowlark song ever forgets it. 

Nature by the yard

 I take in the feeders at night because of the rampaging and pillaging done by raccoons. Why do raccoons have black masks? So, they can watch an eclipse.
 Each morning, I return those feeders to their proper places. Sometimes, I get the feeling that something is watching me in the yard. That’s because something is always watching me. To many creatures, I look like an unsavory character. What’s watching? Squirrels? Blue jays, for sure. They keep an eye on me in case I put out peanuts in a shell, which allows them the opportunity to perform the magic act of appearing out of nowhere and causing the goobers to disappear. 

Red admiral butterflies

 I’m seeing many red admiral butterflies, named for the red-bar markings on their black upper wings. They have white in the upper corners of the forewings. The undersides of the wings, often visible when the butterfly perches, are mottled in brown, tan and black, with a pink band and white spotting on the forewing. Some red admirals migrate south in the fall and some stay behind. How far north they can survive the winter seems is up for debate, and that line could be shifting. The caterpillar hosts plants are of the nettle family, including stinging nettle and wood nettle. Red admiral adults feed on sap flows on trees, fermenting fruit and bird droppings, visiting flowers only when the other foods are unavailable.

Take a gander at a crane

 A nesting sandhill crane cam is at https://coloradocranes.org/crane-nest-camera/

Q&A

 “What do you do about the lady beetles, box elder bugs and stink bugs in your house in the spring?” For the most part, I ignore them. They’re trying to find an exit.
 “What is the rarest animal in the world?” It’s one that has yet to  be discovered by man. 
 “Are cabbage white butterflies pollinators?” This nonnative species was introduced to the US in the 1800s. The velvety green caterpillars specialize in eating cole crops like cabbage, kale and broccoli. Cole crops are typically cool-season crops that belong to the mustard (Brassica) family. The adult butterflies nectar on flowers.
 “How many fatal coyote attacks on humans have there been?” There have been only two documented cases of fatal coyote attacks in the U.S. and Canada, one in each. The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that from 2000-2020, there were 184 human fatalities due to a TV tipping over on people and another 174 deaths from a combination of TV and furniture falling on a person. Most of these were children. It’s safer to watch coyotes than to watch TV.

Thanks for stopping by

 “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”―Audrey Hepburn.
 “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.--”Leonardo da Vinci.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

The white-breasted nuthatch is territorial, with pairs staying together throughout the year. It’s omnivorous, eating insects and seeds. Nuthatches cache a significantly greater proportion of seeds with the shell removed. Its foraging pattern garnered it the nickname “upside-down bird.” In winter, nuthatches often forage with chickadees, titmice and downy woodpeckers in a group called a foraging guild. Photo by Al Batt.

Is the bigger eagle I’m seeing a golden or a bald?

Naturally

 The birds come back because they miss you. A male cardinal has a great PR firm. It’s called red feathers. A short walk brought sightings of red admiral and sulphur butterflies, an eastern phoebe and a groundhog while I listened to the musical stylings of chorus frogs and red-winged blackbirds. A cardinal singing brought me ringing joy. Life gets tweeter in the spring. Even a grackle’s song sounds good in the spring.

Q&A

 Mike Johnson of the Norseland Community Preservation Association asked where red-winged blackbirds go. They follow routes called flyways, with individuals often returning to the same places year after year. The males return here first and try to impress the females who arrive later. By November, most redwings have left Minnesota and headed to the southern US for the winter.
 Red Bushman of Norseland asked about the eagles' impact on loons. Loons face a wide range of threats, including mortality from lead tackle poisoning, avian malaria and entanglement in monofilament fishing lines. The loon chicks with limited diving skills and the eggs are vulnerable to eagles.
 Don Johnson of Norseland asked where the meadowlarks are. Both eastern and western meadowlarks inhabit roadsides, grasslands, croplands, weedy fallow fields and mixed grasslands/shrubs. The western prefers drier grasslands, and the eastern favors moister habitats. Like many grassland species, the decline of the meadowlarks is attributed to habitat loss and degradation. The loss of family farms contributes. Meadowlarks nest on the ground, so any disturbance of roadsides and other cover by mowing, spraying, burning, tillage, grazing or ATV usage during the peak nesting months (May, June, July) lowers production significantly. The eastern has a simple, clear, slurred whistle while the western's song has a musical bubbling flute-like quality. Males commonly use fence posts as perches while singing.
 “Is the bigger eagle I’m seeing a golden or a bald?” The two species are about the same size, and the females are larger. The legs of golden eagles are feathered to the foot; the bald eagle has featherless, yellow ankles. Goldens frequent forested and grassland landscapes, often away from lakes, rivers and coastlines. Bald eagles are typically found near open, fish-filled waters. Both species are fond of carrion. Juvenile bald eagles are larger than adults due to their longer wing and tail feathers.
 “What is the fastest animal?” A cheetah can run as fast as 70 mph. The pronghorn can run at 35 mph for 4 miles and could hit 55 mph during a sprint. A sailfish can move through water as swiftly as 68 mph. The peregrine falcon dives at speeds up to 200 mph.
 Katie Jacobson of Albert Lea asked what to do about a robin fighting with a window. After choosing a nest site, a pair of birds claim the area as their own and defend it from other birds of their kind. When a male robin spots another male, a chasing fight ensues. The dominant male gets a mate, the nesting location, the territory and the area’s food. The window acts as a mirror. A robin is territorial and instinctively attacks rivals in its breeding territory, making an enemy of its image. A real robin would leave, but the reflection remains. Being persistent and stubborn, the robin continues the attack. If you want the robin to stop, block the image. Put a piece of cardboard, black nylon screen, painter’s cloth or plastic cling on the outside of the window where the bird is attacking. Soaping the window works. This may cause Martha Stewart to shudder, but, in most cases, you’ll need it only until the shadowboxing robin thinks its worthy adversary has departed. Covering the inside of the window might enhance the reflection. Forget about using plastic owls or fake snakes.
 “What eats milo?” There is milo and millet. White proso millet is a tiny light-colored seed that ground-feeding birds, such as doves, native sparrows, thrashers, Carolina wrens, cardinals, starlings and house sparrows enjoy. Milo is a large, reddish round seed, also called sorghum, often used as a filler in commercial seed mixes. It’s less expensive than most types of birdseed, but isn’t appealing to most species. On Cornell Lab of Ornithology seed preference tests, western ground-feeding birds like Steller’s jays, curve-billed thrashers and Gambel’s quail preferred milo to sunflower. In another study, house sparrows didn’t eat milo, but cowbirds did. Wild turkeys, doves and pheasants eat milo. Milo is used for livestock feed.
 “Have you ever heard of Canada geese nesting in a bald eagle nest?” Yes. Here’s a link to a video of a nest in Decorah. https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-goose-cam/

Thanks for stopping by

 “Wherever there are birds, there is hope.”―Mehmet Murat ildan.
 “I doubt whether the world holds for any [child] one more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream.”—Heywood Broun.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

  A birdie with a yellow bill hopped upon my suet feeder, cocked his shining eye and said nothing because he was too busy eating. With apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson, there are days when starlings dominate my suet feeder. There are starling-resistant suet feeders. Upside-down suet feeders are meant to challenge starlings and do lessen that bird’s presence, but starlings can hang upside down and feed. It’s going to the gym and eating lunch for a starling. Photo by Al Batt.

“It wasn’t me,” said the skunk.

Naturally

 The robin sang, “cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up.” It was a good morning. The rain had fallen. It rarely ascends. Flowers stuck their noses out of the ground to sniff the spring air. I wondered what a wet squirrel smelled like as I watched one move dexterously through the wet trees like a mini-Tarzan without a vine to swing on.
 I tossed some millet onto the ground for the native sparrows. Juncos enjoy that seed, and their gray and white bodies covered the seedy ground. Between the snowbirds and the American tree sparrows, there was little room for anything else. A couple of song sparrows, a few purple finches and house finches, and one more species. I watched the double-scratch behavior of a handsome fox sparrow. It used a backward kick it performed simultaneously with both feet to find food in the leaf litter. I want to give that a try, but I’m afraid I’d fall beak first into the scattered millet. Each time I see fox sparrows, I want to do for them what the Trashmen did for Surfin’ Birds.
 During the last couple of snowfalls, I’ve put raisins and bits of suet out for the robins. They sampled those products but were more interested in eating the millet. I took photos to make sure that’s what they were eating. Mourning doves like millet, too. 
 For a live view of a greater prairie chicken lek on the Bluestem Prairie Scientific and Natural Area near Glyndon in northwestern Minnesota go to: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/wildlife/window-wildlife.html
 In times of war, some soldiers used ground acorns as a coffee substitute. Acorn coffee was made during the American Civil War, and the Germans made their version during the World Wars, calling it ersatz coffee. It requires a leaching process. It could serve as a highly nutritious substitute in any recipe where you would use cornmeal. Acorns are also used in flatbreads, tortillas, cornbread-type confections, pancakes and honey cakes.
 Lynne Wasmoen of Emmons sent me a photo of a shrike that had met its demise by colliding with a window. A shrike in Minnesota in the summer is a loggerhead, and one in the winter is a northern. But in April, who knows? They’re often called “butcher birds” and are both a songbird and a predator of songbirds. Shrikes sometimes kill more prey than they need, but don't let it go to waste. They store food for later by impaling their prey on the spines of trees or barbed wire. The shrike’s facial band tells the tale as far as ID goes. I couldn’t see where the mask met the bill in the photo. A loggerhead shrike has a thicker eye band. A northern shrike has a noticeably thinner eye band that doesn’t extend over the eyes or above the bill. The Lone Ranger wore a mask to keep his identity a secret. Not being able to see a mask kept this shrike’s identity a secret.
 Dr. Brandon Miller of the University of Minnesota Department of Horticultural Science said that a ginkgo tree is a good choice to plant where every other tree has died. It’s a tree that can withstand poor conditions. Female ginkgo trees produce seeds with fleshy coverings. When those coverings ripen in the fall, they produce a foul and pungent scent, often compared to the smell of dog feces. 

Q&A

 “I saw a rabbit with black horns. What’s going on?” Rabbit papillomas are growths on the skin caused by the papillomavirus and don’t infect other species. The growths, made up of mostly keratin, have no significant effects on wild rabbits unless they interfere with eating/drinking. The black nodules on the skin are usually on the head and can become elongated, taking on a hornlike appearance. They might be the origin of the jackalope. Most infected cottontails survive the viral infection and the growths go away. The virus spreads through direct contact and possibly through biting vectors such as ticks.

Bad jokes about nature department

 “It wasn’t me,” said the skunk back when skunks could talk. 
 Unless you have a lot of time, never ask a grandfather buck rabbit about his grandkids.
 An afternoon shadow is good when you’re feeling low. 
 The ether bunny can put you to sleep. 
 The days are getting longer, but they’re still 24 hours long.
 I watched a grackle using a laptop. It was probably checking its stock portfolio. Some birds adapt well to a human environment.
 What’s the largest ant? A giant.

Thanks for stopping by

 “Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?”—Martin Luther King, Jr.
 ”I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.”—Maya Angelou.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

Once abundant, populations of the rusty blackbird have declined an estimated 85-95% in 40 years. The only North American blackbird more troubled is the tricolored blackbird, a declining blackbird of West Coast wetlands. Scientists aren’t sure why the bird is in chronic decline. Migrating rusty blackbirds like damp habitats. They have piercing yellow eyes. Photo by Al Batt.

If crows are so smart, how come I can’t understand what they’re saying?

Naturally

 Owls are like stars. They come out at night. A great horned owl flew in front of my car in the late night. Owls find roads to be prime hunting locations. An owl-car collision was avoided.
 Winter went into hiding and May came early this year, then came the end of March with its snow and cold. I was stationed at the edge of a lake, an intersection with nature, ready and willing to be astounded by all I might experience. Canada geese flew in for a water landing. I think of geese as accomplished fliers, but I don’t think of them as fancy aerialists. They aren’t designed for fancy feats of flying. Some geese coming to the water used a tricky technique to slow themselves for a safe and effective landing. The geese stopped flapping their wings and rolled their bodies upside down while twisting their long necks so that they remained right side up. Then, they rotated their bodies to right themselves just in time for a gentle splashdown. If they had been passenger geese, the travelers aboard would have applauded the landing. The maneuver the geese performed is called whiffling. Slowing their descent is what I think the big birds wearing goose down were doing, but they might have been just showing off. Either way, it was impressive. If I had Superman’s hearing, I could have heard one goose say, “Take that, peregrine falcons.”
 Turkey vultures monitored the roads no matter where I drove. To them, each road is an aisle in the grocery store. Road-killed deer, raccoons and opossums were available for their dining pleasure. 
 I listened to a tufted titmouse calling “Peter-Peter-Peter” in Lamoni, Iowa. That’s what the mnemonic is. It could have been producing a clear whistle that said pita-pita-pita, cheeva-cheeva-cheeva, or here-here-here. The plural is titmice, and that name has nothing to do with mice. It derives from Old English words meaning “small bird.” The collective noun for titmice is a banditry. One titmouse flew near me, its big, dark eyes giving it the look of something that is constantly surprised. It used its feet as a plate to hold a seed and its beak as silverware to open and eat the food.
 I strolled around the St. Joseph, Missouri, area and had lovely looks at a northern mockingbird, Carolina wren, eastern meadowlark and great-tailed grackle.
 I watched trumpeter swans watching tilers working in a field in Minnesota. This swan can be nearly 6 feet long with a 7-foot wingspan and weigh over 25 pounds. That’s no Sesame Street’s Big Bird, but it’s a big bird. When the swans flew, the wind was so strong it was as if they were flying in place.

Q&A

 “If crows are so smart, how come I can’t understand what they’re saying?” It’s because they are so smart.
 “How is it decided if ‘Lake’ goes before the name or after it?” Lakes with more surface area are more likely to be called something with “Lake” first. The size of a lake has something to do with whether “Lake” goes first or second in a name. Every Great Lake has “Lake” first, as do many of the country’s biggest or most prominent lakes. The way lakes were named was influenced by settlement patterns and the languages of those who colonized an area. There are some area differences in whether it was more common to put “Lake” first or second.
 “Are ticks insects?” They are actually arachnids, which are the same group as spiders, mites and scorpions. How can you tell them apart? The best way to tell arachnids from insects is the number of legs. Arachnids have eight legs, whereas insects have only six. Insects have three segments: head, thorax and abdomen. Arachnids have only two segments: cephalothorax and abdomen.
 “What bird could fly higher than Mt. Everest?” The chickadee could do so easily. Mt. Everest can’t fly. The bar-headed goose has been recorded at heights of over 23,000 feet and mountaineers have reported seeing the geese flying over Mount Everest.
 “Why does a tree have so many branches?” It’s because they stick together. Branches help to transport water, sugar and nutrients to the leaves and canopy of the tree.
 “What kind of haircut does a bee get?” A buzz cut.

Thanks for stopping by

 “Biographical history, as taught in our public schools, is still largely a history of boneheads: ridiculous kings and queens, paranoid political leaders, compulsive voyagers, ignorant generals, the flotsam and jetsam of historical currents. The men who radically altered history, the great creative scientists and mathematicians, are seldom mentioned if at all.”—Martin Gardner.
 “The earth has its music for those who will listen; Its bright variations forever abound. With all of the wonders that God has bequeathed us, There’s nothing that thrills like the magic of sound.”—Reginald Holmes.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

The largest bald eagle nest on record was in Florida and was 10 feet in diameter and 20 feet tall. A nest in Ohio, shaped like a wine glass, weighed over 2 tons, and served its purpose for 34 years until the tree blew down. The nest shown here is at Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge near Trempealeau, Wisconsin. A bald eagle, one of the owners of the nest, is visible to the right of the nest. What a fine sight to see. Photo by Al Batt.

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Instructions for living a life

Naturally

 There are days when I say, “What a beautiful day!” with such gusto it’s as if I’d never seen a beautiful day before. I’ve learned that the weather doesn’t determine a day's loveliness. It’s all on me, but birds help. It’s as Mary Oliver wrote, “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
 Life can be like the child’s steering wheel on a shopping cart. It doesn’t take us where we want to go, but every day is a gift. Looking at birds is an excellent way to unwrap it. 
 A rooster pheasant crowed vehemently. Roosters crow loudly in the spring and summer, especially at dawn and dusk. Its crow is often followed by a loud, rapid beating of his wings that close ears can hear.
 There is a certain degree of everydayness to a house sparrow, but they are handsome birds. To a turkey vulture, every squirrel is an organ donor.
 Each year around this time, my mother reminded me that a robin needs three snows on its tail before it’s truly spring.
 The vinca bloomed early. It made me smile. I should have laughed. I’ve heard all my life, with only brief interludes of hearing other things, that the world laughs in flowers.
 I’d spent the night at a lovely place called the Little Bluff Inn in Trempealeau, Wisconsin. A car parked next to me was covered in bird droppings. If the vehicle had been a Honda, the birds would have done their Civic doody. Spring worried that I felt incomplete due to a near lack of winter. It went about remedying that situation. I stood along the backwaters of the Mississippi River in Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge as snow fell in the early light of the day, accumulating on my binoculars, and I listened to the sounds of trumpeter swans (sounding like a junior high French horn or trumpet player warming up), the bugling of sandhill cranes, the squeals and wheezy whistles of wood ducks and coots running on the water. I doubt the trumpeter swan's name will be changed to the French-horned swan. I marveled at the beauty of rusty blackbirds. 
 I remembered another day when the weather had emptied its files on me while I stood alongside another body of water. It was a foggy, rainy, snowy and eerily quiet day. As I listened to the silence, I saw something flying toward me out of the too-much weather. It was a pair of trumpeter swans. The silence was broken by the sounds of their wings flying over my head. I can close my eyes and still hear that. It was a beautiful moment.
See sandhill cranes from the comfort of your sofa
 Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon features spectacular views of the sandhill crane migration that occurs along the Platte River in Nebraska. The five-mile stretch of river covered by the camera is a densely populated roost with 100,000-200,000 cranes at the height of migration. 
https://explore.org/livecams/national-audubon-society/crane-camera

Q&A

 “How does a skunk smell?” With its nose, of course. The reason skunks smell bad is because of a gland under their tail that produces and sprays a stink. The spray is an oily liquid primarily made up of a substance called thiols, with a sulfur component that is the earmark of the signature skunk odor. Skunk smell is difficult to eliminate because the compounds in its oil reactivate the odor when in contact with water, causing the odor to resurface after you thought it was gone. Skunks are born with the ability to make and spray thiols. The spray is a defense mechanism and they spray if they are surprised or feel threatened. Skunks often give warning signs like stamping their feet or flicking their tails. I’ve heard the skunk’s smell described as a combination of rotten eggs, garlic and burnt rubber. Sulfur has a rotten egg scent that’s disliked by most, making a skunk's spray extremely pungent. The pervasive scent is powerful enough it can be detected up to half a mile away and can linger for weeks.
 “Are the sandhill cranes staging along the Platte River the ones that nest in Minnesota?” The most numerous species found there is the lesser sandhill crane. The greater sandhill crane comprises about 5% of those cranes and does nest in Minnesota, in the Great Lakes region and into Manitoba. The lesser sandhill crane is a traveler and nests in Canada, Alaska and Siberia.

Thanks for stopping by

 “Joy comes to us in ordinary moments. We risk missing out when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.”—Brene Brown.
 “Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time.”—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

The large shovel-shaped bill of the northern shoveler distinguishes it from other dabbling ducks. The bill has over 100 lamellae (fine tooth-like projections) along the edges for straining food from the water. This duck has several other common names, such as “spoonbill” or  “spoony.” Other colloquial nicknames include Hollywood mallard, smiling mallard, grinner and spadeface. Why Hollywood? Maybe it’s because they’re always smiling for the camera. Photo by Al Batt.

Why do raccoons wear masks?

Naturally

 A lively bird feeder entertained me. Under the feeder, a chipmunk scampered about. Chipmunks might be the epitome of scamperers. Squirrels are more into scurrying. Chipmunks don’t hibernate in the truest sense. They don’t put on much fat before taking a long nap. Some people refer to it as partial hibernation because the body temperature drops and the heart rate slows. But theirs is a waking sleep, and unlike deep hibernators, they wake occasionally. They usually don’t leave their dens, relieve themselves, have a snack and go back to sleep. Sound familiar? However, on mild days, they may wander from their underground burrows.
 Chipmunks love tomato juice, and when tomatoes ripen, chipmunks chew holes in the bottoms to get the juice. 
 While chipmunks were dining aboveground, a turkey vulture was way above ground, flying overhead in an otherwise empty space that rivaled that found in a bag of potato chips. A vulture that had migrated to the southern U.S. for the winter, maybe even farther south, was teetering and gliding its way back into Minnesota. Vultures migrate during the day.

Q&A

 “What’s the difference between a possum and an opossum?” An opossum is a possum that surprises you. Oh, possum! Merriam-Webster says, “Both possum and opossum correctly refer to the Virginia opossum frequently seen in North America. In common use, possum is the usual term; in technical or scientific contexts opossum is preferred. Opossum can be pronounced with its first syllable either voiced or silent.” The name opossum is derived from the Algonquian word aposoum, meaning “white dog” or “white beast." 
 “Why do raccoons have black around their eyes?” It’s an occupational hazard. It comes from working nights. The black rings help reduce glare from lights, making it easier for the little bandits to see during their nighttime escapades. It’s much like the black stripes athletes put under their eyes during sporting events, which absorb light and reduce glare. The raccoon gets its English name from the Powhatan word “aroughcun,” which means “one that scratches with its hands.” It gets the name trash panda or masked bandit from people who deal with them. Raccoons cover their eyes when they’re scared or trying to hide. Small children often exhibit this same behavior. When scientists studied this tendency in humans, they discovered that young children with their eyes covered acknowledged their bodies, arms, hair, feet and legs could be seen, but insisted they couldn’t be seen. Raccoons must have a concept of selfhood and a theory of mind.
 “How much help is it to feed birds in the winter?” A study published in the Journal of Animal Ecology found birds with access to feeders during the winter were able to maintain a slightly higher body temperature at night compared to those who didn’t have access. This indicates the feeder birds gathered enough energy to survive a winter night without needing to lower their body temperature as much.
 “Where do pheasants roost?” They roost in trees, dense shrubs, forested wetlands, farm fields, cattail wetlands, weed-grown fence lines, weedy areas like stands of giant ragweed and small farmland woodlots. Dense vegetation near foraging sites is necessary as escape cover. The pheasants that winter in my yard roost in evergreen trees. During extreme winter weather, pheasants can go up to two weeks without feeding by reducing their metabolism and energy. Yet, there is no “Diet Like a Pheasant” book on the New York Times Best Sellers list.
 “How good is a bird’s hearing?” It has to be good because birds can’t read lips and they have ears that don’t take well to hearing aids. Our range extends from a low of 20 cycles per second to a high of 20,000 cycles per second. The range of frequencies heard varies among birds according to species. Starlings hear nearly as well as we do at high to mid-range, but their hearing fails on the low end. While they may not hear as wide a range as we can, birds are about 10 times as sensitive to rapid changes in pitch and intensity. Birds hear shorter notes than we do. Where we hear one sound only, a bird may hear 10 separate notes. Generally, nocturnal birds, like owls, have more sensitive hearing than diurnal birds.

Thanks for stopping by

 “Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc., and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons.”—Douglas Adams.
 “You ever wish that fireworks were incredibly quiet and also didn't disappear so quickly and also you could keep them in your home and also you could hold them in your hands? Because if so, I'd love to introduce you to  flowers.”—Jonny Sun.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

Snow is the true March Madness. A starling told me. Photo by Al Batt

A robin searches the sky for a break in the snowstorm. The ones in my yard have been eating suet pieces that have fallen to the ground and millet. Photo by Al Batt.

I watched the Tanagers play basketball

Naturally

 It’s impossible not to be impressed by birds. One day last year, I watched a chickadee excavate a nest cavity. Its tiny bill had become a Swiss Army knife. Here’s an interesting fact: everything on Earth is either a chickadee or not.
 A party of blue jays appeared to be having a party. They were likely celebrating a hatch-day of one jay.
 I checked the lilacs. The buds had swollen, but I saw no sign of early bud break. Lilac buds are big, beautiful and tough. I think they’ll be fine.
 I watched the Vermillion (S.D.) Tanagers play basketball. That fine nickname led them to a state championship.
 I saw seven crows perched, one each on seven fenceposts. I suspect it was a board meeting, and I hope good things came from it. 
 I enjoyed seeing a northern harrier, a slim, long-tailed hawk gliding low over a grassland while holding its wings in a V-shape and showing a white patch at the base of its tail. If I’d been closer, I could have seen its owlish face, which helps it hear mice and voles. When I was a lad, it was called a marsh hawk as it hunted over agricultural land, marshes and shrubby wetlands. Its floating flight has given rise to the male’s nickname “gray ghost.”

Q&A

 “Is there a field guide that covers the great outdoors?” That would take a gigantic book. I recommend the “Kaufman Field Guide To Nature Of The Midwest” by Kenn Kaufman, Kimberly Kaufman and Jeffrey P. Sayre. This field guide helps you identify birds, mammals, trees, wildflowers, insects, reptiles, amphibians, fish, spiders, mushrooms, ferns, grasses, the sky overhead and the rocks underfoot when you’re walking in the woods, camping, hiking, canoeing or enjoying your backyard. This easy-to-use reference book is for nature enthusiasts living in or visiting Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.
 “Why are insects drawn to lights?” Insects aren’t drawn to the glow like moths to a flame. Rather than being attracted to light, researchers suggest artificial lights at night may scramble the innate navigational systems of flying insects, causing them to flutter in confusion around porch lamps, street lights and other artificial illumination. In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers showed that when the insects flew around a light source, they tilted their backs toward the light and aligned their bodies in that direction. By maintaining that orientation, the insects create odd orbits and steering patterns.
 “What is eating the bark of my maple tree?” It’s the time of year when we see scattered maple trees stripped of bark. Squirrels cause this damage in their pursuit of the cambium layer, just under the bark, which tastes slightly sweet from the sap. Smooth bark is easier for squirrels to chew, so young trees or branches with thin bark are more likely to be stripped than trees with older, furrowed bark.
 “I watched a rabbit eat its excrement. Does that mean it’s sick?” Rabbits are foraging herbivores, and a fibrous, cellulose-rich diet isn’t easy to digest and by the time their dinner makes it through their intestines, it still retains many of the nutrients the bunnies need. Rabbits, hares and beavers solve this problem with a kind of digestion called hindgut fermentation. They eat their own poop and digest it a second time. Bunnies produce two different types of droppings: Fecal pellets, which are small, round, dry and dark brown or black, and cecotropes, which are softer, shiny and usually lighter in color, often resembling clusters of grapes or mulberries. Rabbits often consume their cecotropes directly from their anus. This process is known as coprophagy, and functions the same a cow chewing its cud.
 “How many babies does an opossum have?” Opossums in Minnesota mate between January and May. She often bears two litters of six to 20 babies each year. A newborn opossum, called a joey, is half an inch long and weighs less than a penny. The opossum rarely hangs by its tail. It uses its long prehensile tail for balance, to grip as it climbs trees and to gather bedding.
 “In a nutshell, tell me what a walnut is.” Yes. Next question. Walnuts are the round, single-seed stone fruits of a walnut tree. 
 “How did the gyrfalcon get its name?” The name derives from an Old Norse word for "spear." A gyrfalcon was a medieval falconer's dream and reserved for royalty.

Thanks for stopping by

 “We should not be simply fighting evil in the name of good, but struggling against the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found.”—Tzvetan Todorov.
 “Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it.—Henry David Thoreau.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

The American robin is the state bird of  Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin. The male and female look similar, but the female is a bit duller in color. Robins exhibit a running and stopping behavior just like my first car. The comic-book Robin was inspired by Robin Hood or the American robin because he was born on the first day of spring. Often considered harbingers of spring, not all robins are migratory. Their “cheer up, cheer up, cheerily” caroling is welcoming. Photo by Al Batt.

It wasn’t "Love Train," a 1982 hit by the O'Jays

Naturally

 March 1 was the first day of meteorological spring. The golden-yellow of weeping willows is evident now. Want an adventure? Step outside. Go for a walk. I go outdoors and come back inside a different person. 
 What to my wondering eyes should appear—I saw only two bald eagles while driving to town and back. Eagles used to be something I didn't see every day. Now, someone could be heard saying this about an eagle, "That's something you see every day."
 I watched trumpeter swans. The DNR Nongame Wildlife Program collected swan eggs in 1987-1988 from Alaska. A couple of friends of mine, Carrol Henderson and Steve Kittelson, were instrumental in this endeavor. The eggs were incubated and the cygnets reared at Minnesota's Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area in Anoka County until they were two years old, and releases began in 1987 near Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge in Becker County. Releases would continue for over 20 years at Tamarac NWR and other sites. Swan Lake in Nicollet County, known as Manha tanka otamenda by the Sioux (“Lake-of-the-Many-Large-Birds”), is where trumpeter swans were first documented to be nesting in the United States. There is an estimated population of 65,000 adult trumpeter swans in Minnesota.

Jay or Jake?

 It wasn’t "Love Train," a 1982 hit by the O'Jays. What I heard were blue jays, handsome birds with substantial vocabularies. The vocal birds like to hear themselves squawk. What I heard were pumphandle calls or queedling. “Queedle, queedle.” The musical call has been likened to the sound of a squeaky clothesline, whistles or a complaining pumphandle. Jays learn the call of a hawk species that inhabits an area, and then mimic it when they near a feeding station. That often causes the birds at the feeders to scatter, allowing the jays to have their pick of the food. An aggressive blue jay uses its loud calls (“jay,” “jeeah,” “queedle, queedle”) to alert others to danger. It’s unknown whether jays develop this ability to warn others that a hawk is close or as a manipulative device. Many blue jays might be named Jay or Jake. The purpose of pump handle calls is to communicate distress or alarm. Blue jays emit these calls when they sense danger and when they want to alert other members of their flock of a potential threat. The nature of the call catches the attention of other birds and prompts them to be alert.

Q&A

 “Do birds have regional dialects?” Birds sometimes make mistakes when copying an adult. Other birds copy a mistake, and a local dialect develops. Dialects can also be created as birds adapt to a local environment. Birds that are heard better might find mates easier, meaning their song is more likely to be handed down from generation to generation.
 “Will this be a bad year for ticks?” Whenever there are warmer temperatures and less snow, it’s better for ticks. In Minnesota, adult ticks usually emerge once the snow has melted and they reach their peak during May. There’s a second period of activity in fall, before temperatures dip below freezing again. While a mild winter might mean more ticks, it may lead to fewer mosquitos due to a lack of precipitation and standing water. But that could change.
 “Is it really against the law to lock your car in Churchill, Manitoba, in case someone needs to escape from a polar bear?” If you Google it, there will be about 2,080,000 matches saying that’s true. It’s not. It’s not an official law, but most people do this. Roads lead less than 20 miles outside Churchill, so vehicle theft is not an issue. It’s customary for the inhabitants of the “polar bear capital of the world” to leave doors unlocked, but it’s not imposed by law according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. There is an estimated population of 935 polar bears in the western Hudson Bay area, where Churchill sits. As a response to the frequent bear visits, the town established a polar bear alert program. A team tranquilizes the animals if they enter town and takes them to a polar bear holding center, known by locals as the polar bear jail.

Thanks for stopping by

 “Without birds, nature would lose her voice and the planet its most engaging envoys. Birds matter precisely because they matter to us. Environment is a concept. Nature a label. Birds are real, elements that live within our sensory plane. They spread their wings and bridge the gap between our world and the natural world.”—Pete Dunne.
 “When life becomes heavy and worries pull me down like gravity, I simply look up and suddenly there, in the weightless free air, soaring like kites, flitting from branch to branch, unencumbered, my friends the birds release my soul and I am again free.”—Carl Schreiner.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

The American goldfinch is the state bird of New Jersey, Iowa and Washington. It’s sometimes called a “wild canary” because of the bright yellow plumage the male wears part of the year. Goldfinches are vegetarians and molt their body feathers twice a year, once in late winter and again in late summer. Its contact call, often given in flight, sounds as if it’s saying “po-ta-to-chip.”  Photo by Al Batt.

Vultures are driving over potholes

Naturally

 Small feathered things flew through the air before perching in my memory. The birds glided into the conspicuous and vibrant red veins of spring, the red-osier dogwood. The many-stemmed shrub is a favorite nest site of goldfinches and is also called red twig dogwood, red willow and redstem dogwood. Red-osier dogwood has pliable stems used in wicker baskets and furniture.
 Why is a dogwood tree called a dogwood? The possible origins are many and varied. In the 1500s, the trees were known in Europe as the dagwood because the small stems were used for dags, daggers, arrows or skewers. It might have been referred to as a dag or dagge in old English. It could have originated in colonial times because its fruit was edible but not fit for dogs. Another belief is that it’s called dogwood because a medicine concocted from its bark was used to treat dogs plagued with mange. Others suggest the name dogwood is a derivation of the word "daggerwood." Daggerwood sticks were sharpened and used to skewer meat for cooking.
 I’ve started watching for turkey vultures. Bald eagles soar with wings held flat and steady. Vultures have a rocking flight with wings held in a V-shape (dihedral). If they were automobiles, an eagle would drive on a new, smooth road and the vulture travel a road filled with potholes.
 European starlings attacked the suet with a fierce hunger. This bird was introduced into the U.S. and reached southeastern Minnesota in 1929. Within a decade, they were distributed statewide. 
 Thomas S. Roberts first observed a flock of house sparrows in Minneapolis in 1876. A resident had a dozen of the birds brought from New York and released in his garden in 1875. By 1877, the house sparrow was established as a breeding bird in the Twin Cities. The house sparrow will use plastic trash in its nests. Squirrels do, too. Discarded monofilament fishing lines become  a danger when wrapped around the beaks, wings and feet of birds.
 Minnesota’s favorite marmot, the groundhog, doesn’t appear above ground on its official day, Feb. 2. Its internal clock awakens it in March. It’s also called the woodchuck and whistle pig. Next February, celebrate Woodchuck Day, Whistle Pig Day and Groundhog Day.
 A newly molted male cardinal’s feathers are tipped with gray. Those tips wear away slowly during fall and early winter, revealing the brilliant red feathers the cardinal is known for. Research found cardinals reach peak redness by midwinter ahead of spring breeding season. The brightest red males are most attractive to females.
 I raised Araucana chickens. Most were rumpless (no main tail feathers), had feather tufts on the sides of the head and pea combs. They laid eggs with blue shells or other pastel colors, and the eggs were claimed to be higher in protein and to contain little or no cholesterol. No research confirmed that.

Kearney, Nebraska, and the Platte River

 It’s a natural wonder when over 500,000 sandhill cranes stage along the Platte River, with numbers typically peaking the third week of March. You can walk with the pioneers over the Oregon Trail by visiting the Archway. The Museum of Nebraska Art is in Kearney and Pioneer Village in nearby Minden, Nebraska, has over 50,000 historical artifacts, such as vintage cars, farm equipment and airplanes. 
You can find more information at:
 https://rowe.audubon.org
 https://cranetrust.org
 https://archway.org
 https://visitkearney.org

Q&A

 Glenda Batt of Albert Lea asked if deer change colors during the year. A deer's coat provides thermoregulation and camouflage. Summer coats are thin and reddish, allowing deer to better cope with heat stress. In the fall, deer begin a process of molting triggered by hormonal changes that reflect the changing seasons. The reddish summer coat turns a faded gray or brown color as the new winter coat grows. Coat color, regardless of the season, tends to be darker in forested areas and lighter in agricultural areas where deer are exposed to more direct sunlight.
 “What bird sounds as if it’s saying, ‘Ricky, Ricky’?” Cardinals sound like they’re singing, “cheer, cheer, cheer” or “birdie, birdie, birdie.” Birdie and Ricky aren’t that dissimilar. Other possibilities are tufted titmouse, black-capped chickadee, Carolina wren and ruby-crowned kinglet.
 “Are wild turkeys native to Minnesota?” There isn’t much evidence that they are, but if turkeys did occur in Minnesota, they were extirpated by a combination of overhunting, disease and unrestricted logging. The state released farm birds in the 1920s, 1930s and 1950s, hoping they’d adapt to the wild. They didn't. In 1971, DNR obtained 29 wild turkeys from the Missouri Ozarks and released them in southeastern Minnesota. The birds thrived and other reintroductions followed.

Thanks for stopping by

 “If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”–Vincent van Gogh.
 “Let us bless the imagination of the Earth.”–John O’Donohue.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

Often referred to as a subtle beauty, the female cardinal is striking. The difference in her coloration from the red male is called sexual dichromatism. Female cardinals are slightly smaller than males and are among the more vocal of female North American songbirds. She sings while on the nest to tell the male when to bring food and when to stay away. She sings back-and-forth with the male to reinforce pair-bonding early in the breeding season. Photo by Al Batt.