Each bird is a rare bird

Naturally


 Chipmunks scurried about as if they had misplaced their lists of things to do today. Perhaps their behavior was a result of the time and place creating a birder’s paradise, as that combination does every day of the year.
 I stared at each bird as if it were a rare bird, because each bird is.
 Woodpeckers drummed. They banged out love notes in Morse code or a woodpecker code on resonant limbs. Wild strawberry leaves were lovely to see. The leaves stay green over the winter. 
  I poured water into a small basin for the birds. Does that make it a beaker?
 Winter is over. Meteorological winter is December, January and February. Meteorological spring is March, April and June. Welcome to spring. Astronomical spring begins later. The spring equinox (also called the vernal equinox) marks one of the two instances each year when our sun and the Earth's equator align. The spring equinox falls on March 20 or 21 (and occasionally on March 19 in a leap year). In 2025, the day is Thursday, March 20. That means we get two springs. Yay us. Life is good. 
 Robins are singing, and red-winged blackbirds are flocking together, which is a wing-wing situation and a win–win situation. Red-winged blackbird males return before the females show up here. They hurry back to compete for choice territories. They must be aware to survive, so they travel in flocks, which offer more eyes to spot predators and food. Their arrival is a harbinger of spring. Arguably, the red-winged blackbird could be the most commonly seen bird in the Gopher State. The females, with streaky brown plumages, don’t need to rush as they know there will be males to welcome their triumphant arrival. The males sing “Look-at-me” at full throttle.
 I keep an ear out and hear sandhill cranes give voice to the call that stirs the soul. Aldo Leopold wrote this about that sound, “High horns, low horns, silence and finally a pandemonium of trumpets, rattles, croaks and cries that almost shakes the bog with its nearness.”
 Male goldfinches begin molting from their muted, drab plumage into their vibrant mating colors in mid-March. Keep an eye on that state bird of Iowa, and you’ll see some splotchy feathers on goldfinches during the in-between stages of a molt.
 Canada geese pairs, on territory, honk belligerently at perceived intruders. They’re like callers to sports talk shows—always yelling angrily about something. Smile when you hear one, and be thankful for all that free fertilizer you’re getting.
 Pussy willows are budding. This native willow grows 8 to 15 feet tall and thrives in wet areas. They're an important food source for early-spring pollinators, including several bee species. The plant is host to the viceroy butterfly, whose caterpillar feeds on it.
 Squirrel and rabbit chases take place as part of the courting process. Gray squirrels mate twice a year, typically from December to February and June through August. Fox squirrels mate twice a year, generally from December to February and June through July. The eastern cottontail rabbit breeding season runs from March to September.
 For most of Minnesota, December is typically the snowiest month of the year. January is second, February third and March is the fourth snowiest month, but you never know.


Q&A


 “What do robins eat at this time of year?” There is fruit available. They eat crabapples, mountain ash berries, haws from hawthorns, winterberries, rose hips and hackberries, among other things. They likely become adventurous eaters when they first return. This species (American robin) was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 as Turdus migratorius, which derives from two Latin words: turdus, "thrush," and migratorius, "to migrate." The name robin has been used in North America since at least 1703.
 “When is the breeding season for opossums?” Opossums mate between January and May. The young aren’t fully developed at birth. The babies climb up the mother's belly and into her pouch. They remain there for 60 to 70 days. For a month after that, the young opossums climb in and out of the pouch, never straying far. When mouse-sized, they climb aboard their mother's back, where they spend their time until becoming independent.
 “What bird calls “Ricky”?” I don’t know if I know of one. I’d guess it might be a cardinal. Many ears hear it as “Birdie, birdie, birdie” and it wouldn’t be a stretch for it to be heard as “Ricky, Ricky, Ricky.” The ruby-crowned kinglet is often called “Little Ricky,” not because of its call, but because its four-letter bird banding code is RCKI.


Thanks for stopping by


 “A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest.”—Albert Einstein.
 “If you want light to come into your life, you need to stand where it is shining.”—Guy Finley.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2025

I love March, when the trees turn into red-winged blackbirds. Harbingers of spring, the redwings are among the earliest spring migrants, with the males arriving before the females to establish territories and engage in courtship displays. The males sing rowdy “Look-at-me” territorial songs and display their brilliant red epaulets to attract females.  Photo by Al Batt.

Life isn’t a Super Bowl commercial.

Naturally

  Life isn’t a Super Bowl commercial. I had a stroke.

  Now I have an excuse for not remembering someone’s name. I got up in the morning, walked to the bathroom and looked at the mirror. I smile at the mirror every morning. I figure if I can’t smile at my image, I won’t be able to smile at anyone else. A second benefit is that at least I’ll make one person smile that day. My odd reflection looked even odder than normal. One side of my smile had a serious droop to it. A trip to the ER and an ambulance ride to another hospital where I had to tell 73 healthcare professionals (each of whom was an angel) my full name (some spelling required) and birthdate, before they’d ask to see my smile. I spent a few days in the hospital (I highly recommend the aspirin suppository and the saline solution drip) and am now on the mend. The removal of the countless sticky EKG electrodes allowed me to get something off my chest—hair. I have moved from taking no prescription drugs to taking enough pills to put my piggy bank on a rapid weight-loss program. My smile has returned. I’m happy to see it.

  There was a lot of whining in the yard. No, it wasn’t all from me. It was the oft-repeated chi-call of a red-bellied woodpecker, which sounds kind of whiny. It’s a call for me to stop, look and listen.

  Acrobatic squirrels engaged in a merry chase of tag as a cardinal cranked up his spring song, a loud, whistled series of notes sounding like "cheer, cheer, cheer" or "birdie, birdie, birdie.” It’s smelling salts for the ears.

  Downy and hairy woodpeckers can be hard to tell apart. Downies are smaller and have short bills. Hairy woodpeckers have bills more like chisels. Nuthatches went around a tree trunk searching for food, as if they were stripes on a barber pole.

Q&A

  “What is estivation?” Hibernation or “winter sleep” is the state of inactivity or low metabolic process animals perform during winter. Aestivation (estivation) or “summer sleep” is the low metabolic process by animals in summer. There are reptiles and amphibians that estivate, including some tortoises, salamanders and frogs. Some land snails, insects and crabs do it.

  “Why do I see spiders in the basement one day and none the next?“ A few spiders around a home can keep away harmful pests and disease-carrying insects like ticks, fleas and cockroaches. Spiders provide free Halloween decorations for homes. In our houses during the winter, spiders move around searching for prey and water. Osage oranges (hedgeballs or hedge apples) aren’t effective and their use isn’t recommended to repel spiders.

  “Do birds have teeth?” Birds don’t have teeth, that’s why you’ve never seen one in your dentist’s office, and it’s not because they don’t floss. They may have ridges on their bills that help them grip food. Many birds swallow their food whole, and their powerful gizzards (a muscular part of their stomachs) grind up the food so they can digest it. Scoters and eiders swallow clams and mussels whole, letting their gizzards pulverize the shells. Bird beaks can sip nectar from flowers, filter food from water, tear flesh from bones, crack nuts, and pluck insects from the air. Mandibles in some species have evolved to look and act like teeth to help them handle food more easily. Mergansers and other fish-eating birds have saw-like serrations that help them grip slippery fish, while seed-eating birds have bill ridges, which help them cut through a seed’s outer husk. Some shrikes and birds of prey have a ‘tomial tooth’ on the upper mandible, which they use to sever a prey’s spinal cord. The double-toothed kite’s name comes from the two pointed tooth-like notches on its upper mandible, but those aren’t teeth in the true sense of the word. Baby birds have an “egg tooth” a small, sharp structure on the end of their beaks that they use to aid in hatching. A bird uses its egg tooth to pierce the air sac between the membrane and the eggshell giving them a few hours of air during the time they repeatedly force the egg tooth through the shell until they have made a hole big enough for them to leave the egg.

  “How fast can deer run?” White-tailed deer can run 30 to 40 mph, never once qualifying for a NASCAR event. They can leap up to 8 feet high.

Thanks for stopping by

  “Birds are wherever we are. They are our companions. Birds are mediators between heaven and earth.”—Terry Tempest Williams.

  “Birdwatching is something that we do for enjoyment, so if you enjoy it, you are already a good birder. If you enjoy it a lot, you are a great birder.”—Kenn Kaufman.

  I wish you good health. Do good.

 

©️Al Batt 2025

It’s not a rodent. It’s North America’s only marsupial. The Virginia opossum is the size of a house cat (4 to 12 pounds). It’s resistant to rattlesnake venom, is rarely rabid and can have 6 to 20 babies (joeys) twice a year. Granny Moses on “The Beverly Hillbillies” enjoyed possum stew.  Photo by Al Batt.

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NATURE’S LUMBERJACKS

Naturally


 February is a short month. Cold weather makes it seem longer. Everyone was wearing a polar ice cap. It was a good day to have a hat to hang on a peg. John Steinbeck regarded the desert as a place “to observe the cleverness and the infinite variety of techniques of survival under pitiless opposition.” I thought of his quote when I walked about on a -19 day. He could have been talking about Minnesota weather. 
 I saw a perched hawk in a faraway tree. The light allowed no color to be seen. How did I know it was a hawk and not a crow? In general, perching raptors sit upright, whereas non-raptors, such as crows, when perched, lean forward over their feet. 


Q&A


 “I saw geese that weren’t flying high in a typical V-formation. They were flying in a single file. What was going on?” It was a fire drill.
 Jim Mujyres of Mankato wrote, “I am trying to figure out where vultures nest in Southern Minnesota. Where would they build their nests? Can they be seen flying dead critters to their young ones?” Turkey vultures typically nest in a variety of sheltered locations, including abandoned buildings, rock crevices, caves, hollow trees, cliffs, burrows, fallen trees, old hawk or heron nests, on the ground and in thickets, often near river valleys. They don't build elaborate nests, preferring to lay their eggs on debris or the flat bottom of a nest site. Both parents feed the young by the regurgitation of carrion, either directly into a begging nestling's gaping mouth or on the ground next to the nestling. I’ve found nests in dilapidated barns. Vultures eat a lot of roadkill because it’s difficult to eat healthy when you’re on the road.
 “Why do beavers cut down trees?” Beavers need to stay busy because they are known for being as busy as beavers. They cut trees for food. These herbivores eat leaves, twigs, woody stems, new tree growth on branches and trunks, and aquatic plants. Beavers are second only to humans in their ability to change the environment they live in, according to National Geographic. Adult beavers weigh between 35 and 55 pounds, although they can be as heavy as 90 pounds. In the spring and summer, they eat clover, leaves, ferns, buds, fruit, marsh grass, roots from aquatic plants and berries. Beavers can remain submerged for as long as 20 minutes. In fall and winter, they eat cuttings from trees stored beneath the water. When a beaver cuts down a tree, it eats the inner, soft cambium layer just under the outer bark. This is the same layer that rabbits, deer, porcupines and moose eat. The cambium is a thin layer of tissue in a tree that produces new wood and bark. Once the bark is eaten from a branch, beavers use the sticks as building materials for lodges and dams. Beavers are nature’s lumberjacks, cutting down trees and using their excellent engineering skills to build dams and lodges out of them. 
 “Why don’t I see dead birds?” You rarely see dead birds because scavengers like other birds, insects and mammals usually devour them. When most birds are nearing the end of their lives, they tend to die in hidden locations, further reducing the chances of you seeing a carcass. As you walk around, you might spot a dead mouse or squirrel. On the highway, you regularly see road-killed raccoons, opossums, skunks and deer. Birds weigh little, are covered with feathers and most have hollow bones. If a dead bird is on the ground, tiny decomposers—bacteria and insects—quickly invade its body. A small bird decomposes and disappears in a few days, while a small mammal might exist in recognizable form for much longer. Raccoons, foxes, coyotes, vultures, crows or opossums will eat much of a bird but leave the inedible parts—the bones and feathers. Rodents consume the bones for the calcium, and beetles ingest the feathers, which are mostly protein.
 “Do we have walkingsticks in Minnesota?” Walkingsticks are long, skinny insects resembling sticks capable of walking. This type of camouflage is called crypsis. Minnesota has two species of walkingsticks: northern walkingsticks are found in the forested region and prairie walkingsticks in the prairie region. Northern walkingsticks feed on basswood, white oak and American hazelnut leaves.


Thanks for stopping by


 “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.”—Walter Elliot.
 “Birds are important because they keep systems in balance: they pollinate plants, disperse seeds, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the earth. But they also feed our spirits, marking for us the passage of the seasons, moving us to create art and poetry, inspiring us to flight and reminding us that we are not only on, but of, this earth.”—Melanie Driscoll.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2025

A female collects pebbles, clods, corncobs and dung, and places them beside her nest on open ground to form a paved area. Why? Ask a horned lark. No one else knows for sure. If you squint and have a good imagination, it resembles a walkway. It likely prevents nesting material from blowing away. Photo of horned lark by Al Batt.

Have you tried spatial chunking?

 Naturally


 The weather was civilized, but cold. It was giving me mixed signals. As I walked outside on that -15 degree morning (I knew right away it wasn’t July or August because I’m that sharp) and stepped onto the freshly fallen snow, I heard a “squeak” with every step I took, and it had nothing to do with my digestive tract. If I walk upon an accumulation of light, I hear the breaking of the snowflakes as a squeaking sound. When temperatures are warmer, there is more water mixed in with the snowflakes, which allows them to slide past each other instead of breaking. The temperature needs to be 14 degrees or colder to cause the squeak. Temperatures above that increase the water-to-snowflake ratio, making it quieter.
 A half dozen starlings, a mini-murmuration nearing its minimum, kept me company on my squeaky walk. A murmuration is a flock that keeps starlings warm, fed, protected, and able to survive without having cellphones. Starlings are handsome birds that aren’t welcomed by everyone, but then, who is? They can mimic other birds. On this day, puffed up against the cold, they appeared to be mimicking cold birds.
 Bill Knish of Waseca wrote, “I don't know if I am becoming more observant in my advancing years or what, but, in the last couple of days I have been seeing Eurasian tree sparrows at my feeders just outside of town.” You are a sharp-eyed fellow, Bill. I’m fortunate enough to have a couple of them hanging around with the house sparrows in my yard this winter. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says that in 1870, a shipment of European birds from Germany was released in St. Louis, Missouri, in order to provide familiar bird species for newly settled European immigrants. The shipment included 12  Eurasian tree sparrows, and the chestnut-capped, white-cheeked sparrows prospered in the hedges and woodlots of the region, ultimately spreading throughout northeastern Missouri, west-central Illinois, and southeastern Iowa—and Hartland and Waseca, Minnesota. Cornell said nothing about Hartland and Waseca, but I’m sure they meant to. Unlike its relative, the house sparrow, it isn’t a bird of cities, preferring farms and lightly wooded residential areas. Birds make the world beautiful and both bigger and smaller at the same time.


Q&A


 Dan Paczkowski of Glenville had five trumpeter swan cygnets on a pond last summer, and then they all vanished, leaving their parents cygnetless. He wondered what could have happened to them. According to the Trumpeter Swan Society, on average, about 50% of cygnets don’t survive the first three months after hatching, due to predation by snapping turtles, bald eagles, coyotes, mink, great horned owls, dogs, humans and other predators. Another 25% of swans may perish before they are three years of age.
 “I was reading about the owl irruption. Have you ever seen a boreal owl?” I have and count myself fortunate to have seen the tiny owl. It’s the approximate weight of a mourning dove.
 “Do both fox squirrels and gray squirrels cache foods?” Both species are scatter-hoarders, meaning they hide food in many small caches scattered across a landscape. Fox squirrels are the largest tree squirrels that are native to North America and are calmer than the smaller grays, which are more squirrelly. The agility and skittishness of a gray squirrel have given it the nickname “cat squirrel,” which I’ve heard it called in the South. The University of California at Berkeley published a study in the journal Royal Society of Open Science that found tree squirrels use a mnemonic technique called "spatial chunking" to sort and bury nuts by size, type and perhaps nutritional value and taste. They can remember where to find what they are hungry for. It’s a meticulous preparation needed to survive a harsh winter. One squirrel can bury up to 3,000 to 10,000 nuts in a season and has a tremendous spatial memory and an excellent sense of smell that allows it to retrieve 26 to 95% of the nuts it had squirreled away, depending upon the study. Central Connecticut State University research reported that an eastern gray squirrel engages in deceptive caching by digging a hole and pretending to drop a nut it was holding in its mouth into the hole, covers up the empty hole, and runs off to another secret-stashing place. They do this to fool other squirrels who might be watching. I’ve seen squirrels perform these covert actions many times in the yard. Caches are moved by the owners and by thieves. An interesting aside is that squirrels listen to the sounds of birds like robins, jays and chickadees, and use them as alarms or all-clear signals.


Thanks for stopping by


 “Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.”—Lovelle Drachman.
 “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”—John Muir.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2025

The red-tailed hawk is the most common hawk in the U.S. The red-tailed hawk’s average weight is 2 to 4 pounds. I typically see a pair of these hawks perched close together around Valentine’s Day. They usually maintain pair bonds until the death of a partner, and both incubate the eggs. Photo by Al Batt

The founding fathers used founding feathers

Naturally


 If I made a list of the birds I want to see each morning, the chickadee would be first on that list. A small flock of Canada geese flew over instead. 
 The founding fathers wrote the U.S. Constitution with founding feathers, the quills from geese. Some flamboyant writers preferred to use swan feathers for their scribbling. Quill pens date to the Dark Ages, when feathers replaced the hollow reeds used by the Romans. People sometimes used turkey or crow feathers. Thomas Jefferson bred special geese to keep himself in writing implements. Wing feathers were buried in hot, dry sand to harden the points. A penknife was used to cut the nib into a V-shape and to trim the nibs of worn quills. Britain imported 27 million quills a year from Russia. By the middle of the 19th century, steel nibs were on the way to overtaking quills. In the 20th century, the fountain pen, ballpoint and rollerball arrived.
  A caller from Florida said he was watching a softball game in Florida when a hawk caught an animal in the outfield and hauled it to a stick nest high atop a pole. He thought it was an osprey, but was told an osprey eats only fish. Ospreys possess a reversible outer toe, which is unusual among hawks, that allows them to grasp prey with two toes in front and two behind. Barbed pads on the soles of the feet help ospreys grip slippery fish. An osprey lines up its catch head first to lessen wind resistance while flying. Ospreys primarily eat live fish, but will prey upon small mammals like rats, mice, voles, squirrels, rabbits and muskrats when the fishing is poor. There are reports of ospreys eating snakes and small alligators. Ospreys begin nesting in South Florida in December. He had seen the world in a bird, as ospreys are found on every continent except Antarctica.


Q&A


 “How do squirrels survive winter?” Tree squirrels don’t hibernate. We respond to cold weather by putting on layers and staying indoors. Squirrels do the same, spending more time in insulated nests and putting on layers by fattening up. They also cache food for later and generate heat by shivering.
 “Do snowy owls come to Minnesota because they’re starving?” The snowy owl nests in the arctic tundra in northern Canada and Alaska, but during winters, this raptor comes south to hunt voles, mice and other small animals. Project SNOWstorm has studied this migration. They found that it’s common for some snowy owls to migrate south each winter. Every 3 to 5 years, hundreds to thousands of owls overflow into southern Canada and the northern United States. These large migrations are known as irruptions. An irruption is a sign of a baby boom, and was once thought to be caused by hungry owls flying south in search of food. Winter irruptions are usually caused by an abundance of food during the previous summer. Lemmings make up most of the owls' summer diet. An increase in lemmings produces a surge in healthy owl chicks migrating south. Far from starving, most of these Arctic migrants are perfectly healthy. Project SNOWstorm’s research has found that snowy owls in major irruption years tend to be fatter and heavier than those in non-flight years. Food shortages appear to prompt southerly movements of snowy owls (as happens routinely with species like great gray and northern hawk owls) only occasionally. Ornithologist Scott Weidensaul, who tracks the owls, said if they arrive in large numbers, the owls are mostly juveniles, in response to a productive breeding season. They hope to outdistance the competition. Not all the snowy owls that come here will survive. The mortality rate for young raptors is very high. Vehicle collisions, rodenticide poisoning and electrocution on power lines are three common causes of snowy owl death. Starvation is rare, and often the result of underlying causes.
 “How can wind farms protect bats?” Avoid sensitive areas. Monitor bat activity and mortality. Curtail wind turbine operation by slowing, stopping or changing the direction of blade rotation at the times when bats are likely to be present. Use deterrent technologies, adjust turbine blade angles and use algorithms.
 “What is the phantom of the north?” Blending in perfectly with the gray-brown bark of its perch, the great gray owl becomes one with a tree and earns it the nickname of the phantom of the north. This owl has large rings around its yellow eyes, two white patches near its beak that make it appear to have a snowy mustache, and lacks ear tufts. Its other names include phantom of the north or great gray ghost.


Thanks for stopping by


 “Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.”—Erol Ozan.
 “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”—David Brower.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2025

Each day brings gifts. They were here for the fruit—crabapples. The “cedar” in their name is a nod to eastern red cedar, which is an important source of winter food. The “waxwing” part refers to the waxy-looking red tips on their secondary wing feathers. Cedar waxwings also eat insects when raising young. Photo by Al Batt.

They are sharp hawks.

Naturally


 I haven’t gone through my usual amounts of birdseed this year because of two sharp-shinned hawks patrolling the yard. During winter, sharpies hunt wooded edges and bird feeders. They’re pursuit hunters, surprising prey on the wing by bursting out from a hidden perch, using cover and stealth to get close to their prey. They are adept at flying through thick vegetation, and typically take smaller birds, such as juncos. The menu of the small hawks consists of 90% songbirds, but also includes mice and voles. I watched a vole trying to hide under a few leaves. Without a snowpack, the rodent had no subnivean environment to provide safety and comfort. Sadly, one sharpie hit a window and died.
 I did have a handsome pileated woodpecker, about the size of a crow, visit my suet feeder.
 With all the fuss about Groundhog Day, it’s funny the mammal isn’t more popular in the team nickname arena. After all, Elvis sang, “You ain’t nothin’ but a groundhog.” Why don’t we have the Woodbury Woodchucks, Grand Rapids Groundhogs or White Bear Lake Whistlepigs? There is the Punxsutawney High School (PA) Chucks, the St. John (ND) Woodchucks and the Wausau (WI) Woodchucks, a collegiate summer baseball team in the Northwoods League. I thought the Washington Commanders football team should have been the Woodchucks. The Princeton WhistlePigs were a summer collegiate baseball team of the Appalachian League based in Princeton (WV), which folded in 2023. Whistle pig is another name for a groundhog. 
 The mosquito danger level was low, so I went for a walk on a blustery January day. A fellow walker asked me to identify scat along a trail. I told her it was from a dangerous beast. It was a nincom poop. 
 I looked at a painting by Les Kouba called "Blue-bills." I counted the ducks in the painting. It was hard not to, and there were only five of them, not 13 as I’d expected. Kouba was born in Hutchinson (MN) and specialized in painting waterfowl. He produced some advertising art: The Old Dutch windmill on potato chip boxes, Schmidt beer wildlife scenes, and the Red Owl grocery store's logo. He’s known for incorporating 13 elements into his drawings, usually flying ducks or geese. Kouba died on Sept.13, 1998, continuing his tradition of the number 13.


Q&A


 “What’s the coldest Minnesota has ever been?” On Feb. 2, 1996, a record low of 60 below zero was recorded in Tower, north of Duluth. Four days later, it was 48 above in Tower. I drove by ice shanties on a lake. There were a bunch of them—no fish was safe. I checked my car's thermometer—it was 55 degrees above zero on Jan. 30. That was outside. An old cowhand from Minnesota or a cowboy from northern Iowa might say, “That ain’t right, but it’s mighty fine.” I glanced at several thermometers on banks, schools, etc. They all showed a different number, but each was near 55. There’s little connection, but it reminded me of an old “Twilight Zone” TV episode in which the Earth was moving away from its usual orbit and gradually falling towards the sun. Food and water grew scarce. Sweaty people proliferated A radio voice warned everyone to remain indoors and be prepared for rampaging looters; it said they could cook eggs on the sidewalk and soup in the oceans. The thermometer surged past 120 degrees. The scene cuts to an apartment at night. In the frigid darkness outside, the weather was 10 below, and a blizzard raged. The protagonist is bedridden with a high fever and she was only dreaming that the Earth was moving closer to the sun. In reality, the Earth was moving away from the sun and would eventually glaciate. She concluded the description of her nightmare with, "Isn't it wonderful to have darkness and coolness?”
 “How many lakes are there in Minnesota?” According to Politifact, Minnesota has 14,444 lake/pond features of 10 acres or more, which is about seven-and-a-half football fields (including end zones). The DNR says Minnesota has 11,842 lakes of 10+ acres. Mower, Olmsted, Pipestone and Rock Counties have no natural lakes. The 10 most common lake names are Mud, Long, Rice, Bass, Round, Horseshoe, Twin, Island, Johnson and Spring. The motto “10,000 Lakes” has appeared on license plates since 1950.
 “Why do some red-winged blackbird males show more red than others?” They show varying amounts because they can control how much of a red epaulet is displayed. Males show red to assert dominance, defend territory or attract females, while hiding the red when feeling vulnerable or being off their territory.


Thanks for stopping by


 “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive."—Marcus Aurelius.
 “In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous.—Aristotle.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2025

Cows moo, dogs bark, pigs oink, cats meow and ducks quack. Right? When it comes to mallards, only the females quack. Some online nonsense claims a quack doesn’t echo. What would make a sound impervious to an echo? Nothing. A quack echoes. Photo by Al Batt.

The vole is the potato chip of the prairie, not of the house

Naturally


 The January day was headed to perfection, but it was a long trip, even if it knew a shortcut. It was -20 degrees and it was windy. That’s an invitation to stay indoors. My Mama didn’t raise any fools, so I waited until it warmed up to -18 degrees, a less than drastic improvement, before heading outside. I tried to do the right thing by my neighbors by feeding the birds. Birds are my neighbors. It was quiet as I trudged along briskly, if a person can trudge along briskly. Then, I heard the voice of a harbinger of hope. A white-breasted nuthatch sang its spring song—a rapid, nasal, “way-way-way-way.” The bird gave voice to an appreciation for a new day.


Q&A


 “How does a woodpecker keep from getting woodchips in its nostrils?” A woodpecker's nostrils or nares have stiff feathers around them. These feathers filter out woodchips and sawdust, and lessen the number of work comp claims. 
 “I heard you talk about an old saying about daddy longlegs helping farmers find cows. Tell me again.” If the cows are lost, find a granddaddy longlegs and say to him, “Granddaddy, granddaddy, where are the cows?” It will lift one of its legs and point in the direction where the cows are to be found. They don’t always tell the truth.
 Ken Nelson of Clarks Grove asked why there are so many mice in houses this year. There are two main things attracting mice to your house—food and shelter. Perhaps birds of prey have had an easier time catching mice with less snow cover for the rodents to use for hiding. A house is a safe haven. While house mice inhabit homes throughout the year, deer mice and white-footed mice prefer to dwell outdoors, and establish shelter within dwellings in order to escape the winter weather. A pest exterminator told me mice can enter through openings as small as a dime. Maybe mild winters have led to more resources, which resulted in more mice. One mouse leads to more mice because they detect the odors of food and other mice. Voles seldom enter houses. Voles, also known as meadow mice, are herbivores that eat grasses, sedges, herbs, seeds, grains, tubers, bulbs, fruits, tree bark and roots. They may be mistaken for another small mammal that does occasionally get into houses: the northern short-tailed shrew that eats voles, mice and insects. The subnivean zone is a hollow space between the ground and the base of the snowpack. It’s a humid winter habitat with a stable temperature of around 32 degrees. Voles and mice live there. They sometimes cache food. Shrews could live there and weasels might hunt the subnivean.
 “Why do I see more Cooper’s hawks today than in the past?” Called chicken hawks by colonists because they plucked poultry from farms, Cooper’s hawks were often shot before the 1940s. Logging and development diminished the hawks’ forest habitat, and pesticide use in the mid-20th century led to eggshell thinning, which further depleted populations. Pesticides such as DDT were curbed, and protections from hunters were initiated in the 1960s, causing populations of woodland avian predators like Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks to soar. These accipiters are drawn to birdfeeders.
 “Why are so many owls hit on the roads?” Some owls commonly forage at the same height as vehicles, making them prone to vehicle collisions. Spilled grain, bags of chips, half-eaten cheeseburgers and beverage containers litter the edges of our roadways. Rodents love to snack on discarded food scraps and grains, and the owls love to snack on the rodents that love to snack on those food scraps and grains. Once an owl zeroes onto a mouse or vole (the potato chip of the prairie) prey item, it doesn’t notice traffic. Owls hunt at low altitudes at night, flying close to the ground where vehicles are traveling.
 “How did barn owls get their name?” Barn owls were around before barns. Maybe barns were named after them? The barn owl's genus name is Tyto, which is Greek for “owl,” and the species name is alba, which is Latin for “white.” So, the translation is “white owl.” The common name refers to the barn owl's frequent use of barns and other manmade structures. Its nicknames are ghost owl, monkey-faced owl and sweetheart owl. 


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 “There are those who argue that everything breaks even in this old dump of a world of ours. I suppose these ginks who argue that way hold that, because the rich man gets ice in the summer and the poor man gets it in the winter, things are breaking even for both. Maybe so, but I'll swear I can't see it that way.”—Bat Masterson.
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”—Martin Luther 
King, Jr.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2025

The American tree sparrow is sometimes called a “winter chippy” because it has a rusty cap like the chipping sparrows that nest in Minnesota. American tree sparrows forage and nest on the ground, breeding at or above the treeline, migrating down to balmy Minnesota in late autumn. Photo by Al Batt.

If a robin couldn’t take winter, it wouldn’t have become Batman’s sidekick



Naturally


 Finding beauty in ordinary things is a fine idea at any time, but it is perhaps most appreciated when the weather is far from perfect. The coldest day of the year in Minnesota generally falls between January 21-25. On a cold, drab January day, I drove to donate to the Geneva Cancer Auction and delighted in the red stems of the red osier dogwood. Weeping willows grew close to the edge of the road. I suppose they needed a shoulder to cry on.
 There are signs of spring that some might call overly optimistic. Black-capped chickadees are singing “fee-bee” or “spring’s here,” and woodpeckers are drumming.
 I saw a robin stubbornly spending the winter here. They are tough. That’s why one of them became Batman’s sidekick.


Q&A


 “Which bird is the snowbird?” Someone asked if the snow goose was the snowbird. It’s not. Neither is the snowy owl nor the snowy egret. Snowbirds and snowflakes visit me. The dark-eyed junco is the snowbird, and the snow bunting is the snowflake. Juncos are said to bring the snow. I think junco is an acronym for “Just Until Nicer Conditions Occur.” The junco is easily seen against a background of snow, but the snow bunting shows more white than any other songbird. The snow bunting nests in the Arctic tundra. The song “Snowbird” by Anne Murray, in which she sings, “Spread your tiny wings and fly away. And take the snow back with you. Where it came from on that day,” was written by Gene MacLellan, who was inspired after by a flock of snow buntings on a beach in Prince Edward Island. “Snowflakes” describes the movement of a flock in flight. Naturalist John Burroughs wrote, “This is the only one of our winter birds that really seems a part of winter—that seems born of the whirling snow, and happiest when storms drive thickest. Its calls, coming out of the white obscurity, are the sweetest and happiest of all winter bird notes. It is like the laughter of children.” He also referred to a flock as being like snowflakes knit together. Frank Sweet penned this, “Which came first, the birds or the snow? Or was it together they fluttered down?”
 Don of Cannon Falls asked if the blue jays he feeds peanuts to in his yard could be the same ones he sees in a park 2 miles away? I’ve read about blue jays caching seeds up to 2.5 miles from the source. Blue jays are magnificent, big-brained birds that travel extensively in tight-knit groups and gregarious flocks in the winter with variable memberships and range. A dominance hierarchy reduces squabbling. The blue jay is also the mascot of the Waseca Schools. I learned that during the pandemic, people developed a great appreciation for the beauty and vibrance the jays brought to a day. They could be the same birds. Some jays migrate. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says that the number of jays that migrate is probably less than 20%.
 Micah of Mankato wrote, “I've noticed all the oriole nests I've seen, have been hanging on maple trees. Is there something to that?” Baltimore orioles often nest in American elms, but the population of elms dropped because of Dutch elm disease, so the orioles build nests in other trees, especially maples and cottonwoods.
 “How can I tell dog tracks from coyote tracks?” Coyote paw prints are generally narrower and more elongated with tightly grouped toes, creating an oval shape, while dog prints tend to be wider with spread toes, and appear rounder. Coyote trails are inclined to be straighter than the often meandering paths of dogs. 
 “How many seeds does a cattail produce?” Cattails reproduce by both seeds, with an average of 220,000 seeds in a single brown, hot dog-like seedhead, and vegetatively through clones emerging from a single rhizome. A single rhizome may produce up to 100 stalks in a single growing season. There may be a relationship between the abundance of cattails and the size of muskrat populations. In years when there are many cattails, the muskrat populations boom. Cattails get their name from the fuzzy, elongated seed heads reminding some of the tails of cats.


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 “You cannot begin to preserve any species of animal unless you preserve the habitat in which it dwells. Disturb or destroy that habitat and you will exterminate the species as surely as if you had shot it. So conservation means that you have to preserve forest and grassland, river and lake, even the sea itself. This is not only vital for the preservation of animal life generally, but for the future existence of man himself—a point that seems to escape many people.”—Gerald Durrell.
 “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.”—Kahil Bebran.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2025

Common ravens are members of the Corvidae family, which in Minnesota includes the American crow, blue jay, Canada jay and black-billed magpie. Ravens are permanent residents in northern forested areas. This common raven enjoyed visiting a McDonald’s in Juneau, Alaska. Photo by Al Batt.

When opossums travel in hay bales, they don’t go first class


Naturally


 I saw an old movie where a bald eagle was producing  the call of a red-tailed hawk. I suspect it was because the hawk’s call sounded fiercer than an eagle’s, was easy to dance to, and was undoubtedly more recognizable than the giggles and screams of a bald eagle.
 There is a legend of the bald eagle that says back when the world was new, the eagle had the voice of a symphony, an aria and a rock concert all rolled into one song. When the eagle sang, the world stopped to listen—mesmerized by the beauty of the song. The problem was when the eagle was quiet, the world became too quiet. The gods formed a committee, and after only 173 meetings, the gods decided the eagle's voice should be shared with all the other birds. Because lawyers had yet to be invented, the eagle had no choice but to comply with their wishes. One by one, every bird got a voice. After all the birds had received their own voices, eliminating the world's awkward silences, the bald eagle was left with its current vocals. It’s the voice that sounds as if it’s lamenting the loss of its powerful, enthralling song. And why shouldn’t it complain?


Q&A


 “My uncle told me that opossums came to Minnesota in giant hay bales. Is he correct?” Uncles are seldom, if ever, correct about anything. I know because I am one. Did your uncle ever travel in a giant hay bale? It’s no place for anyone suffering from hay fever, and there’s no first-class section. They don’t even offer those crummy, tiny bags of pretzels. I’ve heard that tale of opossums hitchhiking in hay bales a couple of times. The opossums allegedly caught rides on trucks hauling big hay bales northward to the Gopher State, where they would be served in school lunch programs to students serving detention. Something like that could happen occasionally, but it wouldn’t be a dependable means of travel for the mammals. Few opossums drove those trucks, as arcane laws make it difficult for opossums to obtain driver’s licenses. Why did a plodding mammal that is slow in processing information and not dressed for a Minnesota winter end up here? They don’t stockpile food or accumulate layers of fat. Farms and cities proliferated along the roads and rivers, offering easier paths for travel and free food for opossums. Cities added a bonus as they’re warmer because sunlight reflects off hard surfaces, and cities burn various fuels. Climate change likely played a role as Minnesota’s annual average temperature has risen since the 1980s.
 “When I visited Texas, I was told that everything in Texas either sticks, pricks, stings or bites you. Why is that?” You’ll find that particularly true if you insist on going barefooted. It’s the Texas version of the Welcome Wagon. Texas has a warm and welcoming climate that encourages year-round insect activity, fosters the growth of thorny vegetation and is hospitable to other high-strung things that fly, crawl, slither or swim.
 “What’s the difference between a rabbit and a hare?” Minnesota is home to one rabbit species (eastern cottontail rabbit) and two hare species (white-tailed jackrabbit and snowshoe hare). Hares are precocial, meaning they’re born furred with their eyes open and capable of locomotion. They require little parental care. Rabbits are born hairless, blind and helpless. Rabbits are smaller, have shorter ears than hares, and prefer to hide from predators rather than depending upon their speed to run to safety like hares. And hares are harder to pull out of a hat.
 “What drinks are named after birds?” Liquor: Wild Turkey, Old Crow, Redbreast, The Famous Grouse and Grey Goose. Cocktail: Passenger Pigeon, White Pelican, Blue Bird, Crow, Albatross, Bird of Paradise, The Bird is the Word, Cardinal, Swan Song and Flamingo. Beer: Warbler Ale, Nemesis Bird, Barn Owl Bitters and Old Speckled Hen. Wines: Burrowing Owl, Barn Owl Red, The Goose, Grey Duck, Cooper’s Hawk and Eagle’s Nest. The list is far from all-inclusive, and some names were given to me by a retired bartender I birded with in California. I’d think Prairie Chicken would be an excellent name for a bottled libation. The ghostly sounds produced by prairie chickens are reminiscent of the wind blowing across the top of a bottle.


Thanks for stopping by


 “Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.”–W. Somerset Maugham.
 “My faith demands – this is not optional – my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.”—Jimmy Carter.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2025

The Minnesota Breeding Trumpeter Swan Survey, conducted in 2022, estimated the statewide population at 51,860. Many of those swans winter in Minnesota, where they find open water and an abundant food supply. This photo showcases the difference in sizes between Trumpeter swans, Canada geese and mallards. Photo by Al Batt.

Canada geese flew over, sounding as if they were playing vuvuzelas



Naturally


 I whistled while I walked.
 Or it might have been caused by my breathing through the icicles that had formed in my nostrils.
 It was below zero as I tiptoed through the little remaining snow. There was a slight breeze that enhanced the winter experience for me. The weather folks used to toss out the term “windchill factor” to make us feel more uncomfortable in our minds than we were in our bodies. They don’t use that phrase much anymore, and I don’t miss hearing it. It brings back painful and cold memories. It’s true the weather doesn’t always agree with me, but it isn’t the weather’s job to agree with me.
 Canada geese flew over, sounding as if they were playing vuvuzelas. Other birds joined me on the raw January day. I heard no complaints from any of them, and I marveled at every feather I saw. Birds dare to be great. They need to be great in order to survive. I watched chickadees and blue jays cache seeds for the next day. Their preparations reminded me of “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” one of Aesop's Fables. That fable describes how a hungry grasshopper begged for food from an ant when winter came. The ant refused to share. The tale sums up moral lessons about the virtues of hard work and planning for the future. I’ve seen the food storage behavior often with those two, as well as done by nuthatches and squirrels. No matter. I love being surprised by the things I expect to see. This leaves me in a perpetual state of astonishment. It’s a wonderful state to be in.
 Back in the house, where there was a minor windchill factor, the bird clock did the call of the eastern screech-owl because it was 9 o’clock. Life was good.


Q&A


 This is a slightly edited version of what Mike Rucker of Lake Wilson had sent, “I have a bird feeder question for you. I picked up a new bird feeder and filled it two months ago. Not one bird has touched it yet, not even a sparrow, and we have hundreds of them. And you know sparrows, they're smart and opportunists when it comes to food. But no, they haven't touched it either. We don't have any finches, I think maybe they would use it. The old feeder is empty every other day, the new feeder has never been touched. Just curious to see what you think.” I advise everyone to give a new feeder 3-4 weeks to allow the feeder birds time to adjust to a new feeder, but your patience has far exceeded that. There can be several reasons for the new feeder being shunned: A lack of appealing food, a feeder with moldy seed, a blockage that restricts any food from being released, a poorly placed feeder exposed to predators, an abundance of natural food sources, or a change in the local bird population. Essentially, the birds might not find the feeder safe, accessible, or offering food they like. Because the other feeder is being patronized, I’d suspect the seed is the problem. Any seed that has gotten wet is no longer a draw. If there is any moldy smell, wash the feeder and replace the seed. Until the birds become accustomed to it, place only a small amount of seed in the feeder and change it regularly so it remains fresh. That amount can be increased once the feeder builds a regular clientele. You might try black-oil sunflower seeds if the feeder ports will accommodate them. The birds we like to see find that food enticing. I hope the feeder becomes a flourishing eatery. 
 “How many litters does a rabbit have each year?” An eastern cottontail rabbit has a home range of 5 acres or fewer and gives birth to three or four litters annually with four to six kits in each litter.
 “Do spiders often bite people, and do I really swallow eight spiders a year while I sleep?” Spiders don’t waste their time biting us. Unless threatened, such a hostile reaction would be pointless. A study found that of Southern California patients seeking medical treatment for spider bites, only 3.8% had actual spider bites. What are the chances of an eight-legged arachnid crawling across your pillow and jumping into your mouth while you sleep is unlikely. Spiders want nothing to do with us. Our open, moist mouths are unappealing to spiders. Snoring would frighten them away. The chances of you chowing down on spiders while you’re sleeping are like winning the lottery.  


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 “Stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”—Leo Tolstoy.
 “It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention.”—Mary Oliver.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2025

How do birds survive winter? They fluff up their feathers, trapping warm air between the feathers to create insulation. Birds could seek shelter in cavities, under the eaves of houses, on the protected sides of trees or in brush piles. Some eat more high-fat food to maintain their metabolism or lower their body temperature to save energy. Photo by Al Batt.

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Did the jay hit the finch with a snowball or was it Colonel Mustard?

 Naturally


 The bison is the national mammal, the rose is the national flower and the oak is the national tree, but we had no national bird. That situation has been remedied. The bald eagle is now officially our national bird after President Biden signed it into law on Christmas Eve. My gratitude goes out to many, but I’d like to give a special nod to a friend named Preston Cook of Wabasha, who was the driving force behind the bald eagle being able to fly to this lofty position. Preston had a vast collection of over 40,000 eagle items (from coins to belt buckles to hood ornaments to two 2,500-pound granite eagles) that he donated to the National Bald Eagle Center in Wabasha. Preston was inspired by Murray Burns, a character in the film “A Thousand Clowns” Preston saw in 1966, who said, “You can’t have too many eagles.”
 A female downy woodpecker tried to land on me twice while I stood peering through my binoculars as I counted American tree sparrows. Apparently, in my dotage, I’ve come to resemble a lanky bird feeder with numerous construction flaws. I was pleased to have been mistaken for something useful.
 Seeing and hearing birds is a gift. Crows are birds. Therefore, crows are a gift. The first bird I saw in the new year was a crow, and I hadn’t been that excited about seeing a crow since the last crow I’d seen.
 There are so many things to see. Bald-faced hornet nests, looking like a gray something or another between a football and a basketball, are seen dangling unoccupied from tree branches.
 Watch for birds pecking at goldenrod galls. Chickadees and downy woodpeckers find the galls a reliable provider of food in the form of larvae. Some ice fishermen use the larvae as bait.
 Great horned owl pairs engage in duet calling during courtship. The male has a lower voice. The great horned owl is a big owl, but the thick feathers for insulation from Arctic cold make the snowy owl North America’s heaviest owl, typically weighing about a pound more than a great horned owl and twice the weight of a great gray owl, which is North America’s tallest owl.
 I walked along the edge of a frozen lake and saw a mink cross the trail. A mink doesn’t change the color of its coat in winter, so it stood out like a sore thumb against the background of snow. Trumpeter swans linger wherever there is open water and blend in with the snow, but their sonorous bugling gives their location away.
 Cedar waxwings stripped the hawthorn and crabapple trees. Cedar waxwings have yellowish bellies, while Bohemian waxwings, which show up in northern Minnesota, have gray bellies.
 Willows and dogwoods become more colorful. Willow trees yellow, and dogwoods redden into perfect subjects for Christmas cards. I love seeing the redbirds on conifers gracing the front of Christmas cards. Cardinals used to be a southern bird, but have moved north thanks to bird feeders, human development and rising temperatures.


Q&A


 “Most winters, I see a muskrat wandering around. What’s going on there?” It's hard for a muskrat to forage for aquatic vegetation if its pond freezes all the way down or the mammal runs out of food in a pond. This forces muskrats to move overland on roads or trails to find food in deeper waters.
 “What do shrews eat?” Shrews belonged to an abandoned order called Insectivora, meaning "insect eater," but shrews are omnivores, eating whatever they can find. They remain active all winter, with a high metabolic rate that causes them to always be in a hurry because they feed voraciously night and day. They eat more than their weight each day and I’ve read that their metabolism is 60 times the rate of a human’s. They eat insects, worms, spiders, centipedes, salamanders, voles, mice, snakes, small rabbits, the nestlings of ground-nesting birds and even other shrews. Unique among mammals, the bite of the short-tailed shrew contains venom that paralyzes or kills its prey.
 “I see rodents scurrying across the walk. How can I tell if they are mice or voles?” Voles are rotund, and their tails are significantly shorter than the long tails of deer mice and white-footed mice.
 “When snowy owls come down here from the tundra in the winter, what do they eat?” Snowy owls prey upon mice, voles, shrews, rabbits, pigeons, weasels, muskrats, waterfowl (ducks and geese), gulls and other targets.


Thanks for stopping by


 "By the age of 70, he who doesn’t read will have lived only one life. He who reads will have lived 5000 years. Reading is immortality working backwards."—Umberto Eco.
 “Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”—Desmond Tutu.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

An American goldfinch wearing its winter disguise. The drab plumage didn’t prevent the finch from being hit in the face with a tiny snowball, likely thrown by a blue jay. Photo by Al Batt.

Never judge a day by its weather



Naturally


 The day was not strikingly perfect, but it was the best day available. Dick Van Dyke said, “We should never judge a day by its weather.” That’s good advice, but advice that’s not always easily taken.
 Three young opossums fed on snow-covered ground on a gelid day. Opossums are omnivores and eat eggs, grains, nuts, fruit, birds, snakes, frogs, mice, carrion, berries, garbage, insects, crustaceans, pet food and bird seed. Claims of them eating large numbers of ticks are dubious at best. A group of opossums is called a passel. I cracked open a window of the house and tossed an apple gently in their direction. The apple hit the frozen ground and took a big hop before rolling into one of the three animals. After being bumped, the opossum jumped into the air and, upon returning to Earth, scrambled off into the woods. The second opossum sniffed the apple and then ran away to safety. The third grabbed the apple with some of its 50 teeth and, smiling like an opossum eating an apple, ran off to that secret hiding place where it goes to eat apples. The three different reactions by the opossums remind me that not everyone wants the same present. None of the opossums wanted money or gift cards.
 I saw a muskrat. Muskrats don’t hibernate or cache food, so they feed all winter. They spend much of their time in a sleeping lodge, which they often dig into a steep bank with an underwater entrance. In early winter, muskrats create small shelters called push-ups by chewing holes in the ice and covering them with a mound of mud and plant debris. These mounds are often 3 feet high and up to 300 feet from the main lodge. Muskrats can stay underwater for about 10 minutes and use the push-ups to catch their breath out of the weather and away from predators. Muskrats have stiff fur around their back feet and toes, which works like webbing to propel them through the water. Their front feet are smaller, and they hold them under their chins while swimming.
 I had detected the hooting of owls during the night. A pair of great horned owls exchanging “Who's Awake? Me too” calls. A great horned owl doesn’t build its own nest and isn’t a significant remodeler of purloined nests. An owl can turn its head 270 degrees.
 I watched a rough-legged hawk balancing in the air. It was hovering. Rough-legged hawks are circumpolar birds that breed in the arctic tundra and have feathered legs that help conserve heat. Rough-legged hawks hover in stationary flight while searching the treeless tundra for prey and continue that practice when they show up here in the winter. They are similar in size to a red-tailed hawk but have smaller bills and feet. Red-tailed hawks can wind stall, remaining steady in the air by using an oncoming wind to accommodate hovering. Rough-legged hawks soar and glide with their wings held in a dihedral or “V” shape. If you see a hawk perched on the tip-top branch of a tree surveying the land for prey, it’s likely a rough-legged hawk. Red-tailed hawks prefer lower and larger perches for hunting. Rough-leggeds primarily prey on shrews, mice and voles during the winter.
 A sharp-shinned hawk hit the window of our house while pursuing a songbird. It didn’t survive the collision. Aptly named, its shins were sharp. The small accipiter had a square-tipped tail. Its yellow eyes identified it as an immature bird.
Getting to know your local birds is rewarding (sad in the case of that accipiter), but it’s good to look at birds while traveling. I watched ravens pulling discarded food items out of trash containers near a McDonald’s in Juneau, Alaska. One freed a paper bag filled with french fries. It was a nest of fries raided by a raven.


Q&A


 “Are ants found on every continent?” Ants are found almost everywhere. The only areas that don't host populations of ants are Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland and some island nations. What? No ants in Antarctica? Most ant species live in soil, leaf litter or decaying plants.
 “How can I tell the leaves of white oaks from those of red oaks? Red oaks have pointed leaf tips, and white oaks have rounded leaf tips.


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 “Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules, any clodhopper may say: Let there be a tree and there will be one.”—Aldo Leopold.
 “No one can look at a pine tree in winter without knowing that spring will come again in due time.”—Frank Bolles.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

Robins depend upon fruit and berries for food in the winter. They gather in flocks that don’t have frequent meetings with required attendance. A flock enhances an individual’s ability to find food and spot predators. Robins are hardy survivors that can take the cold as long as they eat right. They dress for a frigid day by fluffing their feathers. Photo by Al Batt.

Finding a cardinal feather in a place almost as good as on the bird



Christmas Naturally


 I remember being a Christmas tree wrangler. The tree had been hog-tied and brought home on the roof of our Pontiac. My job was to carry the conifer into the house and place it into a red tree stand with green legs. I tightened screw bolts to hold the tree’s trunk firmly in place. The stand also acted as a watering bowl to prevent excessive needle drop. “Excessive” meant it dropped every single needle. It looked like a rescue tree, but when it was tinseled and precious ornaments from the Ben Franklin store put in place, it’d be a beauty.
 I stepped back to admire my work, something done often by those who do little work worth admiring. It was then that I saw it. A red feather, tinged with gray, stood at attention as if someone had purposely placed it there. It was from a cardinal. We didn’t have a cardinal on the farm. We bought the tree from a tree lot, but I didn’t know where the tree had originated.
 The feather was a choir of angels singing without the choir of angels or the singing, but it was close.
 I can’t give all the credit to a single feather of a handsome redbird, but I can’t deny its complicity in making it a most memorable Christmas. I wish you simple pleasures. Merry Christmas.


Wabi-sabi pheasants and deer


 Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept that directs us to search for beauty in imperfection and accept the more natural cycle of life. Welcome to wabi-sabi winter weather.
 Rarely does a pheasant die of old age. Its average life expectancy is less than 1 year as a result of being a prey species. Pheasants Forever offered these figures: Survival Rate—Mild winter, good habitat: 95% survive. 
Survival Rate—Severe winter, good habitat: 50%.
Survival Rate—Mild winter, poor habitat: 80%.
Survival Rate—Severe winter, poor habitat: 20%.
 State Farm estimated there were over 1.8 million animal collision insurance claims in the U.S. between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. These states have the highest risk of animal collisions: West Virginia (1 in 40 chance of a driver hitting an animal in a year), Montana (1 in 54), Michigan (1 in 59), Pennsylvania (1 in 61), Wisconsin (1 in 63), Mississippi (1 in 65), Iowa (1 in 68), South Dakota (1 in 69), Virginia (1 in 73), and Rhode Island (1 in 75). Minnesota is 11th with 1 in 79 odds. The animals most often involved in animal collisions are deer, followed by unidentified animals (maybe Sasquatch). Most deer-vehicle accidents happen at dawn and dusk, between 5 and 8 in the morning and in the evening. The most dangerous months for animal collisions are, in order, November, October and December.


Q&A


 Ken Nelson of Clarks Grove asked when deer came to Minnesota. The white-tailed deer's original range was limited to the hardwood forests and prairies of southern Minnesota. In pre-settlement times, white-tailed deer were present throughout the wooded river valleys and woodlands of central and southern Minnesota, and most abundant in the hardwood forests (maple, basswood, oak). The cutting of the hardwood forests, the development of agriculture and year-round hunting following the rapid settlement of southern Minnesota were primarily responsible for the decline in deer populations. By 1880, deer had become rare in their original range. The state’s attempts to regulate hunting failed, leading to a ban on hunting in southern Minnesota in 1923. The conifer forests of the north were a haven for moose and caribou and unfavorable to white-tailed deer because the lack of undergrowth in there meant little food and cover for deer. When tree cutting flourished in northern Minnesota, so did deer. By 1950, deer inhabited all 87 counties.
 “When do owls nest in Minnesota?” Here are the nesting times of the three most common owls in the state. The great horned owl is Minnesota's earliest nesting bird, some laying eggs in January. Barred owls and eastern screech owls begin nesting in March. Only two of our Gopher State owls have brown eyes: the barred owl and the uncommon barn owl. A great horned owl weighs 3-5 pounds and has eyes about the same size as ours. If that owl were the size of a human, its eyes would be the size of oranges. Enormous eyes help owls see in near darkness, and one of its ear holes is higher than the other, helping it identify the source of a sound.


Thanks for stopping by


 “The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.”—Turkish proverb.
 Spider Grandmother’s Two Rules in Hopi mythology are: Don’t go around hurting each other. Try to understand things.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2024

This peregrine falcon has a second job as an education bird. It’s a teacher whose first job is being a peregrine falcon, which may reach speeds of 200 mph during a hunting stoop. The name derives from "falco peregrinus"—"pilgrim falcon" in Medieval Latin. Photo by Al Batt.

Don’t eat the blue snow

Naturally 

 Why did the chicken cross the road? To show the opossum it could be done. Opossums frequently sing ”On the road again.”
 Don’t eat the blue snow. When eastern cottontail rabbits eat buckthorn, they excrete a chemical from the plant in their urine that turns blue in sunlight. 
 Snow buntings look like snow drifting upwards. John Burroughs, a naturalist of the late 1800s, wrote: “The only one of our winter birds that really seems a part of winter, that seems to be born of the whirling snow, and to be happiest when storms drive thickest and coldest, is the Snow Bunting, the real snowbird, with plumage copied from the fields where the drifts hide all but the tops of the tallest weeds, large spaces of pure white touched here and there with black and gray and brown. Its twittering call and chirrup coming out of the white obscurity is the sweetest and happiest of all winter bird sounds. It is like the laughter of children. The fox-hunter hears it on the snowy hills, the farmer hears it when he goes to fodder his cattle from the distant stack, the country schoolboy hears it as he breaks his way through drifts toward the school. It is ever a voice of good cheer and contentment.”
 Pine siskins are charming winter residents that look as if they’re wearing pajamas. They resemble our winter American goldfinches but have streaky breasts. Goldfinch breasts are unmarked.


Q&A


 “Do we have crossbills?” I have some bills that make me cross, but if you’re referring to the birds, we have two crossbills in North America—the red crossbill and the white-winged crossbill. Crossbills have an overlapping arrangement of the upper and lower bills, with one bill crossing over the other. This odd bill is needed because crossbills are specialists in conifer seeds. A crossbill inserts its bill between two scales of a cone and uses the bill as a wedge, allowing the bird’s tongue to remove the seeds. Crossbills aren’t adept at eating food other finches readily eat, such as thistle seeds. The red crossbill has the larger and longer bill of the two and is more likely to feed on pine seeds. White-winged crossbills feed on smaller cones like spruce. Cone production is notoriously variable. Some years, cone production is negligible, which causes crossbills to wander in search of food.
 “Why do so many white birds have black feathers on the trailing edges of their wings?”    Gulls, pelicans, storks, geese and ibises are examples of those birds. The black feathers protect the wing from wear and tear. Black feathers contain melanin, which makes feathers stronger. Feathers with melanin have a tougher layer of keratin—the same substance found in human fingernails—compared to feathers without melanin.
 “Thoreau wrote about a ‘night-warbler,’ but he didn’t identify the bird. What do you think it might be?” Thoreau told Ralph Waldo Emerson about the unidentified bird. Emerson advised him not to try to identify the bird because it was essential to leave some mystery in nature. Those two gents didn’t let all birds remain unknown. Emerson's favorite bird was the black-capped chickadee, which he appreciated for its Yankee industriousness. I agree with Emerson. The chickadee is also my favorite bird. Thoreau's favorite avian critter was the wood thrush because it sang freedom. Hearing the thrush’s flute-like “Frit-0-lay” song never fails to thrill me. I’ve read a lot about the night-warbler and have seen speculation that the mystery singer was the common yellowthroat or the ovenbird. Unless we perfect a time machine that allows us to spend time in Thoreau’s company, that bird will remain a mystery. Perhaps that’s the best thing. It gives us something to wonder about.
 “What is the hawk they talk about in Chicago?” It could be the nickname of Ken Harrelson, called the Hawk because of his distinctive profile. Ken Harrelson spent 33 years as the play-by-play announcer on the Chicago White Sox broadcast. It could be Harrelson, but I doubt it. I suspect the "hawk" you’re hearing about refers to the icy-cold, damp winds that blow off Lake Michigan in the winter. It got the name because the bone-chilling winds are as fast as a flying hawk, and the biting cold is as sharp as a hawk's talons. Ken Harrelson said “dadgummit” often and was known for calling bloop hits that landed between fielders "duck snorts." He might have watched the TV show "The Real McCoys," starring Walter Brennan as Grandpa Amos, for whom "dadgummit" was his hayseed catchphrase.


Thanks for stopping by


 "To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold."—anonymous. Aristotle is often credited for this aphorism. I never heard him say it. I doubt he did.
 "When snow falls, nature listens." — Antoinette van Kleef.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

When you see a cardinal, it might take your breath away. A cardinal is said to bring hope or good luck. When you see a cardinal, it tells you that an angel is near. When you see a cardinal, it means you have just received a Christmas card. Photo by Al Batt.

Was Rocky the Flying Squirrel the size of a chipmunk?

Naturally 

 If you have a birdfeeder, watch for motionless woodpeckers, with their bodies held parallel to a tree or feeder, waiting for a predator to pass. That’s a red alert pose. I try to imagine what the bird is going through. I want to put myself in its feathers, but I can’t, but I keep trying. I anthropomorphize to demonstrate kinship. 
 Red or Norway pines have two needles per bundle. White pines have five needles per bundle, matching the number of letters in the word "white."


Q&A


 “Is there a conifer that loses its needles each year?” The tamarack tree, a Minnesota native, is a deciduous conifer with bright green needles that turn yellow in the fall and drop off.
 “Is a flying squirrel the size of a chipmunk, and how does it fly?” It has a membrane that connects its front and back legs called a patagium. Spreading its limbs allows it to glide, not fly, between trees. Minnesota has two species of flying squirrels, not counting Rocky. The northern flying squirrel weighs 2 to 4.4 ounces and is 10 to 12 inches long (tail included). The southern flying squirrel is 8 to 10 inches in length and weighs 1.6 to 2.2 ounces. Minnesota has two species of chipmunks. The least chipmunk is 7.2 to 8.5 inches long and tips the scale at 1.1 to 1.8 ounces in weight. The eastern chipmunk can be 11 inches long (including the tail) and weigh up to 4.4 ounces. So, yes, they are around the size of a chipmunk.
 “How far do bucks travel during a rut?” For three years, scientists at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute in Kingsville, Texas, tracked over 60 white-tailed deer bucks with GPS collars that recorded a buck’s location every 20 minutes from the beginning of November through the end of February, encompassing the peak of the rut in the South Texas study area. The analyzed data found that the home range of these deer during the 4-month monitoring period averaged 2,967 acres. Although home ranges of over 4.5 square miles seemed large, the smallest home range was 332 acres and the largest 13,648 acres. There was a general decrease in home range size as deer aged from yearlings to 3 years of age and then an increase for mature bucks. Daily movements in November averaged just less than 3 miles per day. That movement rate jumped to over 5 miles a day during December and over 6 miles per day at the peak of the rut. There was a great deal of variation amongst individual bucks. During December, daily movement ranged among bucks from 2.5 miles to over 8 miles per day. It makes sense that habitat and population density could have a significant effect on the movements.
 “I walked with you along a lake and you told me how to tell a dabbling duck from a diving duck by how they fly, but I can’t remember how.” A dabbling duck (mallard, wood duck and teal are prime examples) takes to the air more easily, springing straight up from the water like a rocket because of its larger wings. A diving duck (like canvasback, redhead and ring-necked duck) needs to run on the water’s surface to gain enough speed for takeoff because of its smaller wings and body designed for diving, requiring a longer runway to become airborne. Dabblers are slower flyers with feet centered on their bodies, which makes it easy to walk on land. Divers, with legs further back on the body and larger feet used for powering a dive, which makes them awkward when walking on land.
 “What can you tell me about crab spiders?” Crab spiders resemble tiny crabs, holding their front pair of legs in a manner reminiscent of pincers, and scuttle sideways, forward and backward. They come in many colors that help them remain camouflaged on flowers, and can change colors to match the background. A crab spider is an ambush predator that preys on insects. The goldenrod crab spider is the one most commonly encountered. 
 “Last spring, I heard some ducks on a lake that sounded like rubber duckies. What were they?” Some people call the American wigeon “baldpate” because of the male’s white cap and forehead. It produces a wheezy, high-pitched whistle that sounds like a rubber ducky in a tub.


Thanks for stopping by


 “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”—Jimi Hendrix.
 "You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you’re finished, you’ll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird… So let’s look at the bird and see what it’s doing - that’s what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.”—Richard P. Feynman.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

This black squirrel is an eastern gray squirrel. The black color in gray squirrels is called melanism. Some scientists have surmised that black squirrels thrive where it’s colder because their dark fur absorbs more heat from the sunlight, giving them an increased tolerance for the cold. Photo by Al Batt.

How many leaves could a squirrel chuck if a squirrel could chuck leaves?

Naturally

 The wild turkey hen in my yard chases squirrels, rabbits, crows and blue jays. She pursues the crows into the branches of trees. I figure the turkey is exercising in the hopes of losing weight before Thanksgiving.
 It won’t be long before cheery Christmas cards appear in our mailboxes. Many of them will feature a photo or a painting of male cardinals turning a conifer into a burning bush just by perching in it. I love those cards. A woman told me she was motoring down a highway when a bald eagle flew low over her car. She told me she’d ducked when the big bird went over. That image probably won’t make it onto a Christmas card.
New eagle nest to be on Minnesota DNR EagleCam
 A new camera will focus on the nesting behavior of a breeding pair of bald eagles that have successfully nested in the area for at least four years. You can watch an eagle soap opera (drama, humor and warmth) at the DNR website (mndnr.gov/eaglecam) or the DNR YouTube channel (youtube.com/channel/UCkibG4ONyUmGlnOR3F3qq6Q). Bring popcorn.


Q&A


 “How many leaves are in a squirrel’s nest?” They may look like haphazard clumps of leaves, but they have a complex construction with layers of different materials. Leaf nests (dreys) are made from twigs, leaves, mosses and other material. Green twigs (often with leaves attached) are woven together to create the floor of the nest. The squirrels pack soft and compressible materials like damp leaves and moss on top of the floor to reinforce the structure. The squirrel weaves a spherical frame of twigs and vines around the base, creating an outer shell to the insulated core. The final touches involve stuffing in leaves, mosses, shredded bark, twigs or things like paper to line the inner cavity. Squirrels take advantage of locations offering built-in support, like the fork of branches. Some squirrels build nests in tree cavities rather than high in branches. In his fascinating book, “Winter World,” Bernd Heinrich found many dreys were “piles of junk” and suggested they may have been fake nests built to distract predators. Others were well-engineered. He counted 26 layers of flattened, dried green oak leaves in one nest and discovered the multiple sheets of leaves served as watertight interlocking shingles because the nest was dry inside. To address your question, I don’t know how many leaves go into the making of a nest. Squirrels don’t rake the leaves into a pile first, where I might have the chance to count them. I’d say hundreds. I recall reading 500 somewhere, but I’m unable to find a source. I suspect that was a wild guess. Speaking of leaves, I caught three falling leaves before they hit the ground this autumn. Folklore says that if you catch a falling leaf, you will have 12 months of happiness. A leaf is good fortune tumbling from the sky. Corralling a dancing leaf brings good luck and might require good luck. Catch a falling leaf before it touches the ground and then make a wish. I did that after I caught the first leaf. I wished I’d catch two more leaves and my wish came true.
 “How can I stop the squirrels from raiding my backyard feeders?” The easiest way is to move the feeders to the front yard; then, the 800-pound gorillas disguised as squirrels will have no backyard feeders to raid. There is a 5-7-9 rule that could ruin a mischief-making squirrel’s day. The feeder should be 5 feet off the ground, 7 feet away from the nearest tree, and at least 9 feet below any overhanging branches. Squirrel baffles have proven helpful in my yard, caged bird feeders work, and bird seeds the squirrels don’t enjoy slow the onslaught (safflower, white millet and nyjer seed). Some squirrel-proof feeders can be challenging for the mammals, and providing food for the squirrels away from the bird feeders can lessen the crowd. I’ve had little success with seeds laced with cayenne pepper.
 “Why are three straight strikes in bowling called a turkey?” The feat is named a turkey because bowling alleys once offered a free live turkey to those who rolled three consecutive strikes.
 “What eats rose hips?” Tea drinkers, deer, squirrels, rabbits, mice, raccoons, bears and many species of birds, including grouse, waxwings, thrushes, blackbirds and others.


Thanks for stopping by


 “No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed, and love of power.”—P.J. O'Rourke.
 "As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see."—Vincent Van Gogh.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

I get many reports of this raptor hunting the bird feeders. This is an adult Cooper’s hawk. Adults are blue-gray above with pale barring below, and have orange to red eyes. Immature Cooper's hawks have brown backs with brown streaks on the breasts, and have yellow eyes. Photo by Al Batt.


A caws of crows

Naturally

 I love watching the snowbirds (dark-eyed juncos) with their white outer tail feathers that are indistinct when the birds are at rest but make for a prominent signal when they flash in flight. Those white feathers present a marked contrast to the dark ground.
 While on the subject of white feathers, keep an eye out for tumbling flocks of snow buntings foraging for seeds in fields and on roadsides. The restless birds flash white and black as they fly, and don't stay in one spot for long. They have feathers covering their ankles, and when the cold gets serious, snow buntings bury themselves in snowdrifts for warmth. They are bigger than a junco, but smaller than a robin. They are also smaller than an ostrich.
 There is a group of raccoons who hang around the yard, hoping to become emotional support raccoons. I shine a flashlight and catch a raccoon looking back at me with its reflective red eyes. The eyes of raccoons have a structure called a tapetum lucidum that reflects light, allowing them to see well in the dark. The reason raccoons tend to gaze at humans who are confronting them is probably that they are nearsighted. They have a remarkable ability to discern movement, as do many predators. Their eyeshine may be the reason I use gaze as the collective noun for raccoons. Gaze is a suitable moniker, but mostly I call them too many raccoons. 
 The odor of skunk spray hung heavy in the air. It was so strong, I could nearly hear it.
 A Cooper’s hawk took a house sparrow out to lunch. The Coop’s is a frequent flier in yards and hunts by ambush. Its tail is rounded at the tip. The sharp-shinned hawk looks similar, but has a squared tip of the tail, a smaller head and pencil-thin legs. The females of both species are significantly larger than the males.
 I heard an owl in the dark of night. At this time of the year, listen for the mating duets of great horned owls. "Who's awake? Me, too," they call, checking to make sure the other hadn’t nodded off. The males have a deeper voice than the females. They nest in January and February using old nests of other animals, tree cavities or the ledges of cliffs. So, if your name is Cliff, watch your step.
 Look for rough-legged hawks perched on posts and poles near fields and other open areas. The bird faces into the wind and hovers while scanning the ground in search of small rodents. The name “rough-legged” refers to the feathering that extends down to the base of the toes.


Q&A


 “Why is a group of crows called a murder?” Because there is probable caws. I call it a flock. The crow's association with death as a result of its tendency to scavenge on the battlefield probably led to the sinister term “murder of crows.” Another possible reason is the belief that crows come together to decide the capital fate of another crow. A caws of crows sounds better. A caucus of crows sounds, too, but crows aren’t much interested in politics.
 Jennifer, Lilly and Duncan asked why beetles die on their backs. There are several reasons insects like boxelder bugs or lady beetles go belly up. Boxelder bugs fold their legs as if someone had placed them in a casket. Weight distribution is a factor. Beetles are top-heavy and subject to the laws of physics. When one is dying or has died, it cannot maintain tension in its leg muscles and falls into a state of relaxation. Blood flow to the legs ceases, causing them to contract. A beetle is typically capable of righting itself should it inadvertently wind up on its back. A weakened beetle might be unable to flip itself over and consequently succumbs. It had fallen and it can’t get up. 
 “What is the difference between a deer scrape and a deer rub?” Deer scrapes are on the ground, where bucks court and hope to impress females by depositing urine and pheromones. Deer rubs are on vertical surfaces like trees, where bucks rub the velvet off their antlers. Some are aggressive rubs, made by a buck with an attitude, requiring an anger management class, and never visited again. Other rubs are signpost rubs, where bucks torment the same scarred tree to leave glandular scents from their foreheads, leaving olfactory-based text messages.


Thanks for stopping by


 “If you think the worst and get the worst, you suffer twice. If you think the best and get the worst, you only suffer once.”—Loretta LaRoche.
 "All my life I have risen regularly at four o’clock and have gone into the woods and talked with God. There he gives me my orders for the day. Alone there with things I love most I gather specimens and study the great lessons Nature is so eager to teach us all.” --George Washington Carver.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

Purple finches aren’t purple. House finches don’t live in your house. This purple finch male is cranberry- or raspberry-red, perhaps magenta. A house finch male is a brick-red. A young male purple finch has a whitish stripe above the eye, as does the female. The male purple finch has more red on its face than a house finch. Both species enjoy sunflower seeds. Photo by Al Batt.

Murmuring about murmurations and other things

Naturally


 I watched ribbons of blackbirds and murmurations of starlings traverse the countryside. Marvels of the universe.
 One of my favorite writers, John Updike, wrote this bit of poetry about a starling flock, “The Great Scarf of Birds.” “And as I watched, one bird, prompted by accident or will to lead, ceased resting; and, lifting in a casual billow, the flock ascended as a lady’s scarf, transparent, of gray, might be twitched by one corner, drawn upward and then, decided against, negligently tossed toward a chair: the southward cloud withdrew into the air. Long had it been since my heart had been lifted as it was by the lifting of that great scarf.”
 Jim Knutson of Hartland showed me a video of two bald eagles that had followed Jim’s combine during harvest. The eagles hunted the rabbits the combine rousted from the field. In the video, an eagle with bits of white on its head caught a rabbit, only to have the prey item pirated from it by a younger, browner eagle. The younger bird steals prey from another because it’s better at pirating than it is at hunting or fishing.
 A nomadic flock of cedar waxwings flew in to feed on the fruit of the yard’s hawthorn tree. Their appearances are irregular as they respond to the availability of fruits and berries, which are the mainstays of their diet, but they are also adept at catching insects. They nest late (mid-June to mid-August) to take advantage of the fruits and berries found on mountain ash, crabapple, dogwood, cedar, serviceberry and mulberry.
 In my house’s version of the wild kingdom, multi-colored Asian beetles abound. They eat soybean aphids. I wonder if they ever suffer from aphid reflux?
 The cloudiest months in Minnesota are November and December, with an average of 18 cloudy days. Thomas Hood wrote, “No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, no fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, November!” I find solace in the fact there is no cover charge. On average, November averages five days with clear skies and December averages six. Enjoy each one of them. I reckon the balance of days are partly cloudy.


A Chickadee-person


 Frank B. Linderman wrote this in “Plenty Coups Chief of the Crows.” "Listen, Plenty-Coups,” said the voice. “In that tree is the lodge of the Chickadee. He is least in strength but strongest of mind among his kind. He is willing to work for wisdom. The Chickadee-person is a good listener. Nothing escapes his ears, which he has sharpened by constant use. Whenever others are talking together of their successes or failures, there you will find the Chickadee-person listening to their words. But in all his listening he tends to his own business. He never intrudes, never speaks in strange company, and yet never misses a chance to learn from others. He gains success and avoids failure by learning how others succeeded or failed, and without great trouble to himself. Develop your body, but do not neglect your mind, Plenty Coups. It is the mind that leads a man to power, not strength of the body."


Q&A


 “I know buckthorn is a bad thing, but what’s bad about it?” It competes with native plants for light, moisture and nutrients, and reduces the species diversity of plants and songbirds in forests. This destroys wildlife habitat and limits fruit types for songbirds when other native foods have diminished. Buckthorn seeds remain viable for 6 years, and their messy fruits stain decks, cars and sidewalks. Buckthorn tolerates shade, full sun, drought and poor soils, and lacks any natural control by insects and diseases. It hosts crop pests—crown rust fungus and soybean aphid.
 “Do muskrats hibernate?” They don’t. Muskrats don't cache food for the winter like beavers, so must find food in the roots, stems and leaves of fresh aquatic plants (like cattails and bulrushes) under the ice, snacking occasionally on small fish, clams, snails and turtles. Muskrats build lodges out of cattails, rushes, grasses and mud for protection from predators and for shelter during the winter. They also construct push-ups at intervals from the lodge to a favorite feeding spot by chewing holes in the ice and covering them with a mound of mud and plant debris. Muskrats can stay underwater for about 10 minutes and use the push-ups to catch their breath. Trappers have told me they estimate muskrat populations by figuring there are five in each lodge.


Thanks for stopping by


 “And this, our life, exempt from public haunts, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.”—William Shakespeare.
 “In November the trees are all standing all sticks and bones. Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers. They know it is time to be still.”—Cynthia Rylant.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

At this time each year, I begin to miss seeing things like bluets, damselflies that John Acorn called “floating neon toothpicks.” Damselflies tend to be slimmer and smaller than dragonflies, with eyes on the sides of their heads like hammerhead sharks and wings held over their backs at rest. Perched dragonflies hold their wings out like an airplane. Photo by Al Batt.

What are rain owls and bottom owls?

Naturally


 Every day is a secret to be sussed out by observation and exploration, which leads to learning. It all adds up to awe.
 During the night, I was an earwitness, listening to an owl. In the morning’s light, there were purple finches in the yard. I expect pine siskins before long. These beautiful birds are fondly called winter finches. Their appearances are one of the best things about winter.
 Squirrels drank from the birdbath, probably because they couldn’t find any squirrel grey tea.
 There were at least three Eurasian tree sparrows hanging around with a flock of house sparrows, often called English sparrows in the past. This is because the first house sparrows released in the US (Brooklyn) in 1851 were from England. In late April 1870, a shipment of European birds from Germany was released in St. Louis to provide familiar bird species for newly settled European immigrants. The shipment included Eurasian tree sparrows, which prospered. Unlike its relative, the house sparrow, it’s not a bird of the cities, preferring farms and treed residential areas. 
 A bald eagle flew over the yard, drumming up support to become the official national bird. It is our national symbol and emblem, but not our national bird. This country doesn’t have a national bird. The American bison is our national mammal, the rose our national flower and the oak tree our national tree. The bald eagle would be perfect as our national bird because everyone has an eagle story.


Q&A


 Jennifer, Lillie and Duncan wrote, “Do we have any animals here that aren't found anywhere else?” I can’t think of any animals, but we have a plant, the dwarf trout lily, that’s endemic to Minnesota and occurs worldwide only in Rice, Goodhue and Steele counties.
 “What percent of birds migrate?” At least 20 to 40% of bird species worldwide migrate in some manner. Migration covers a spectrum that wanders from a long journey to a short meander. Most migrating birds fly, but some walk or swim. In North America, about 75% of birds migrate.  
 “How long does it take a ruby-throated hummingbird to fly across the Gulf of Mexico?” It takes 18 hours to cross the Gulf of Mexico if the weather is good and 24 hours if the weather is bad. Hummingbirds don’t fly very high during their migration, maybe up to 500 feet or so.
 “What bird flies the highest?” A Ruppell's vulture holds the record for the highest-flying bird in the world, reaching a height of 37,100 feet. The debate is whether this was a one-off or an occasional flight. Other high-flying birds include the common crane (33,000), whooper swan (29,000 feet), bar-tailed godwit, Andean condor, alpine chough, bar-headed goose, bearded vulture, black kite, greater white-fronted goose, golden eagle and mallard (21,000 feet). 
 “What is a rain owl and a bottom owl?” The barred owl is also known as the hoot owl, swamp owl, striped owl, eight hooter, round-headed owl, laughing owl, crazy owl, wood owl, old-folks owl and rain owl. I hear it say, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” It has at least eight known songs, calls and vocalizations, earning it the nickname of eight hooter. Why the rain owl? It’s because it calls loudly before or after a rainstorm. And every hoot brings rain—or not.
 I heard a man in Yuma, Arizona, call a burrowing owl the bottom owl. It made sense, as the owl nests in underground burrows and spends most of its time on the ground or on low perches like fence posts. It hunts close to the ground by swooping down from a perch, hovering over fields or walking and running along the ground before clutching prey in its talons. I’ve also heard burrowing owls called howdy owls because of their habit of bobbing up and down in a bowing motion, a behavior that allows them various viewpoints to determine distance.
 Knock, knock. "Who's there?" Owl. "Owl, who?" Owl be seeing you.
 “Where do Minnesota’s mourning doves migrate to?” The mourning dove likely gets its name from its haunting, mournful "hula, hoop, hoop, hoop" call. Doves have a unique structure in their throats, which they use to produce food for their young. It’s called pigeon milk or crop milk, which resembles cheese. In winter, most mourning doves migrate south, but some can be seen year-round in Minnesota, particularly in the southern part of the state. They take their understated plumage and strong whistling flight to winter in the Gulf Coast states, and south into Mexico and Central America.


Thanks for stopping by


 “You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society.”—Kurt Vonnegut.
 “If you want light to come into your life, you need to stand where it is shining.”—Guy Finley.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

A Eurasian tree sparrow is lower and to the left, and a house sparrow is upper and to the right in the photo. Male and female Eurasian tree sparrows look similar. The broken branch it perched upon makes it appear the male house sparrow should cut back on the junk food. Photo by Al Batt.

Who is that hollering, “Que-bec. Que-bec”?

Naturally


 Some of our fair-weather friends have flown. Birds, especially insectivores, must stay ahead of the weather in order to guarantee that food will be available. The residents and those migrating bring me joy with their company. Suet feeders and birdbaths are busy places. Robins, blue jays, sparrows and cardinals take dips. It wasn’t a feeding frenzy; it was a bathing frenzy. The wet birds flew from the water to a sumac, a hawthorn and an ash to dry. Trees give us beauty, depth and dimension. They give birds comfort and food. The robins fed upon the haws (berries) of the hawthorn. Each day, I’m given the gift of wonder.
 I watched one blue jay engaging in some form of strutting goofiness. I figured it must have been a male—one who thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips. Why do birds do what they do? Birds never have anything better to do.


The 26th Annual Winter Finch Forecast 


 Tyler Hoar compiles this forecast based on cone crops producing in cycles, with some years having heavier crops than others. What does this have to do with birds in Minnesota? Winter finches (purple finches, white-winged crossbills, red crossbills, redpolls, evening grosbeaks, pine grosbeaks and pine siskins) move according to this variable food supply. Essentially, if there isn’t enough food in Canada, they move south, and if there is ample food up north, they remain there. The cone crop in the boreal forest this year is mainly influenced by two important finch food sources: white spruce and tamarack. White birch and balsam fir also contribute to the food supply. One of those reporting on the cone crop said, “Basically, any plant with a berry produced this year.” Extensive areas of the boreal forest have an excellent berry crop for many species, including mountain ash. As the season progresses, significant winter storms and/or freezing rain events may be necessary to nudge some bird species out of the boreal forest this winter. 


A big bird book


 I keep “The Breeding Birds of Minnesota: History, Ecology, and Conservation” by Lee A. Pfannmuller, Gerald J. Niemi and Janet C. Green handy. It’s a shelf in itself at 11.5 inches by 11.5 inches and is a 2-inch deep, comprehensive, detailed, illustrated history of Minnesota’s breeding birds. It includes identification clues, color illustrations, location information and conservation commentary. Minnesota is unique among North American states, sitting at the convergence of four major ecological biomes: aspen parklands, prairie grasslands, deciduous forest and boreal forest. This book isn’t a field guide. It weighs over 8 pounds, which can be helpful for weightlifting. The book is based on data sampled from over 98% of the state’s townships and includes 9,100 10-minute point counts.


Q&A


 A reader asked what the noise was that she’d heard in her yard in the dark of night. She sent me a recording she’d made with her phone. Some people might feel the identity of the whateveritis is no one’s business other than the noisemaker and the dark, but I’m not one of those. It’s an immature great horned owl that fledged earlier this year and it’s screaming because it wants its parents to feed it. Henry David Thoreau wrote in “Walden,” “I rejoice that there are owls.” So do I.
 Mark Malepsy of Albert Lea asked how often a hummingbird’s wings beat. A ruby-throated hummingbird’s wingbeats are 50 to 80 beats per second in routine flight and up to 200 in a courtship display. It weighs .1 to .2 ounces, which is less than one large marshmallow. I had one land on my finger while I was puttering around the bird feeders. My finger felt lighter than it had before the bird landed. Its heart beats 250-1200 times per minute. If humans had the metabolism of a hummingbird, we’d need to consume approximately 150,000 calories a day. 
 “Why did the woolly bear caterpillar cross the road?” It was looking for a place to hunker down for the winter. A sheltered location found under plant debris fits the bill.


Thanks for stopping by


 “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”―Margery Williams Bianco, “The Velveteen Rabbit.”
 “The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”—Laura Ingalls Wilder.
 Do good.

©Al Batt 2024

Guinea fowl, native to Africa, are often referred to as guinea hens and make good “watchdogs” by issuing loud warnings when a stranger, the UPS guy or a walnut falling from a tree is spotted. The hen makes “buckwheat, buckwheat,” “put-rock, put-rock,” or “Que-bec, Que-bec” sounds. A group of guineas is called a mob, and the lovely polka-dotted feathers of pearl guineas are used for crafting, jewelry and fly fishing. Photo by Al Batt.

Don’t forget to look up.

And always remember to laugh when given the opportunity.