Al Batt: First sign of juncos signifies first snow chance

Published by rkramer@bluffco... on Mon, 12/23/2019 - 1:06pm

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AL BATT

It was a calm day. Geese seldom migrate against a strong wind. They wait for the wind to blow from the right direction and go with it.

I watched juncos, often called snowbirds, feed on the ground. Some people consider this bird a harbinger of winter. That's a miserable responsibility for a lovely, little bird.

Snow had given my world a natural texture. December and January are typically our snowiest months. Red squirrels tunnel under and through the snow. They are much more likely to do so than are gray or fox squirrels. Weasels (ermine) tunnel through snow in search of voles, mice, and shrews.

Deer, turkeys and squirrels dig through the snow for acorns. I sampled acorns when I was a boy. I had to. I was a boy. The acorns weren't tasty. They needed frosting.

It was a real pane

I feel terrible when a bird hits a window of our house. "That's it!" I say to my long-suffering wife, "We're moving to a cave."

The temperature had fallen below zero as my wife and I rang bells for the Salvation Army. I heard the demoralizing thud of a bird crashing into a store window.

My wife spotted a female house sparrow that had fallen to the concrete. I held the bird in my closed hands. The warmth helped. I opened my hands and the bird flew off. I felt good about having a tender soul. Later, I heard house sparrows chirping. I hoped that bird was one of them.

The winningest birds

Ranker rated the most successful pro teams with bird nicknames from the most successful down to the least: Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Seahawks (I'm not certain what kind of bird that is), Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Hawks, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Pelicans.

Q&A

"Where do juncos nest?"

Dark-eyed juncos breed in forests across much of North America, including northeastern Minnesota. The female chooses the nest site, typically on or near the ground in roots, moss, or grasses — occasionally nesting off the ground.

"Do bears need to eliminate waste during hibernation?"

Scientists don't agree whether or not bears are true hibernators. Some people of science maintain bears enter a sleep-state called torpor.

Torpor, like hibernation, is a survival tactic used to survive the winter months, and is triggered by colder temperatures and decreased food availability.

Torpor involves decreased breathing and heart rates, and lower metabolic rate, but not the dramatic decrease in body temperature often associated with true hibernation.

No matter what it's called, do sleeping bears need to use the little bear's room or do what bears do in the woods? Bears are able to sleep 100 days without passing waste. Bears avoid eliminating metabolic wastes by recycling them. Bears lose fat and may gain lean muscle mass while sleeping. They need to do an infomercial.

"What towers kill the most birds?"

It would be the tall structures like the radio and TV towers that have guy wires. The guy wires can be treacherous for flying birds. The lights on those towers can confuse birds in foggy weather, causing them to fly into the guy wires. Self-supporting, shorter towers are less of a problem because they lack guy wires. Studies have found wind turbines are murder on bats.

"Do trees have feelings?"

It depends upon how you’d define of feelings. I think they do, but when I see a dog lift a leg to one, I hope they don't.

Echoes from the Loafers' Club Meeting

I got my wife an earring for Christmas.

Just one?

There will be other Christmases.

Christmas comes but once a year

I waited so long to become an adult, only to discover that I'm not good at it.

"When are you going to put up the Christmas lights?" my wife asked.

"It’s too cold," I replied, "I’m waiting until summer."

"Then it will be too hot."

"OK, I’ll do it next fall," I said.

"Fine! Don't put up any lights this year."

It was her idea.

Shivering is a Christmas tradition

I was a shivering boy from a combination of excitement and frozen socks. It was Christmas and I’d found thin ice on the Le Sueur River and fallen into its gelid waters — again. It was a blessing — an unintentional tradition that left me thankful I didn't do it more often.

One year, I wanted and I got Silly Putty. It came in an egg and was a popular stocking stuffer. I didn’t know or care what kind of chicken laid the egg.

I’d press the putty on a newspaper comic and the image of the cartoon character came off with the putty. It stretched and it bounced like a rubber ball. It was silly, but it was like putty in my hands.

Echoes from the hardwood

I once told a basketball team, "They're bigger than us and they may be more talented than us, but they are going to be surprised when we beat them."

It was my Knute Rockne speech. Rockne was the football coach for Notre Dame when he gave his "Win One for the Gipper" speech to his players at halftime of the 1928 Army game.

Rockne was trying to salvage something from his worst season as coach at Notre Dame. To inspire the players, he told them the story of the tragic death of one of the greatest players ever for the Fighting Irish, George Gipp.

Historians doubt Rockne's version of Gipp's last words was true, but it supposedly went like this, "None of you ever knew George Gipp. It was long before your time, but you know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame. And the last thing he said to me, 'Rock,' he said, 'sometime, when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock,' he said, 'but I'll know about it and I'll be happy.'"

Anyway, Notre Dame did win the Army game and my team won its game. I shared my line with a friend who is a college basketball coach. He used it for a halftime talk when his team was trailing by a bunch. His team won. Have a great Christmas. Do it for the Gipper.

Nature notes

Some trees hold fast to their dead and dried leaves. This leaf retention is called marcescence and is common in some oak species and ironwood.

Marcescence is most common with smaller trees and the reduced sunlight when growing beneath taller trees might slow abscission (the natural detachment of the leaves).

The understory leaves might continue the photosynthetic process as upper leaves fall. Some speculate the retained leaves deter browsing animals, such as deer, by concealing the buds.

Perhaps by holding onto their leaves, trees are able to retain and recycle nutrients.

Meeting adjourned

“May the song of Christmas be music to your ears, a symphony of love that resounds throughout the year.”—Joy Bell Burgess

In the words of Richard Lederer, "Knock, knock. Who’s there? Eyewash. Eyewash who? Eyewash you a Merry Christmas."

Thanks for stopping by

"I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. — Fred Allen

"The best Christmas trees come very close to exceeding nature. If some of our great decorated trees had been grown in a remote forest area with lights that came on every evening as it grew dark, the whole world would come to look at them and marvel at the mystery of their great beauty." ― Andy Rooney

Do good. Merry Christmas.