Al Batt: Minnesota goodbye vs. other goodbyes

By Al Batt

For the Birds in the Caledonia Argus

Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Zoom Meeting 

I was having a great day until it happened.

What happened?

My good luck horseshoe fell and hit me on the head.

Driving by Bruce’s drive

I have a wonderful neighbor, named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive, thoughts occur to me, such as: My wife gave me some smoked almonds, books and two underarm deodorants for Father’s Day — Old Spice original scent and Dove Clean Comfort. I had eight of those deodorants before the recent gifts, not counting the seven I’d shared with family members. All of the deodorants had been gifts from my bride. I’ve gotten the hint.

From one clinic to another

People wandered by. Fancy footwork was required to keep a social distance from other patients. I was at a big clinic, one of my regular haunts. Someone asked me, “What do you wear to an enema?” No one admitted to having had chicken soup or milk toast. A doctor threatened to give me an apple to keep me away. I was poked and prodded.

In the oncology department, I saw a guy wearing a “Repaired in Rochester” T-shirt. I have one of those. I met friends there. I’m always happy to see them, but wish it were elsewhere. They were in good spirits, which was uplifting.

I had a dental visit a few days later. I had to do that in person, too. My dentist doesn’t do Zoom appointments.

Nature notes

I saw fledged starlings, pale brown to the point of appearing gray. I think starlings are beautiful. An eye can find beauty in most things. I visited with Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of “Mozart’s Starling.” Her book explores the remarkable bond between bird and human. Lyanda has a pet starling, just as Mozart did. Lyanda’s bird is named Carmen, from the Latin word for song. Starlings are amazing mimics.

Stable flies attacked my ankles. They look like small house flies and have bayonet-like mouthparts used to pierce skin and suck blood. They’re sometimes called dog flies because of an appetite for canine blood. Their bites (both sexes bite) cause cattle to stamp their feet. Stable flies breed in moist, decaying organic matter.

The Minnesota goodbye

An Irish goodbye refers to a person ducking out of a social gathering (Remember social gatherings?) without bidding farewell.  A Minnesota goodbye is different. Once I decide to leave, I visit for an hour before walking to the front door, where we talk forever before walking and talking to my car where my hosts talk to me through my car window for another hour.  When I do finally drive off, I yell goodbye to my hosts who shout in return, “Come back when you can. Watch for deer.”

Naturally

The signs spoke of rain. If birds fly low, then rain we shall know. The local atmosphere had sprung a leak. I moved under a large tree in an attempt to stay dry. I shifted slowly around the trunk as the rain tracked my current location. The mosquitoes were tolerable.

A red-eyed vireo sang incessantly. In 1952, Louise de Kiriline Lawrence counted the number of songs sung by a single red-eyed vireo on territory north of Toronto. He sang 22,197 songs in 14 hours. The “preacher bird” either repeatedly asks and answers its own question, counts the leaves, or says “look-up, over-here, see-me, up-here.”

A red-bellied woodpecker fed on a feeder. The first confirmed sighting of this species in Minnesota was in the late 1800s. 

A Eurasian collared-dove fed below the feeder. This dove was introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s, made its way to Florida by the 1980s, and then rapidly colonized most of North America. It has prominent white patches on the tail, dark-tipped wings, a black collar at the nape of the neck, and is chunkier than a mourning dove.  The collared-dove’s mournful koo-KOO-kook call is shorter and more frequent than the mourning dove’s. The Eurasian collared-dove’s species name, decaocto, comes from Greek mythology. Decaocto was a servant girl transformed into a dove by the gods to escape her unhappy treatment. They like millet. Studies on interactions between collared-doves and other species haven’t yet shown a negative impact on populations of mourning doves. 

Baby robins were on the lawn. Females build the nests and incubate the three to five eggs for 12-14 days. The male has no brood patch. The nestling stage is 13 days and they’re able to fly in 14-16 days. 

They have two or three broods each year. They typically build a new nest, but if the first nest was successful, she’ll often build a new floor for that nest to raise another brood.

Q&A

“What do hummingbirds feed their young?” Tiny insects and spiders. They also feed nectar and pollen to the young birds.

“When can I expect to see baby mud turtles?” Painted turtles begin laying eggs in late May into early July. The eggs hatch in 72-80 days (late August into September). Some of the hatchlings overwinter in the nest and emerge next spring. Studies have shown that about 80% of the nests are destroyed by predation and only 5% of turtle eggs hatch.

“I saw a great blue heron kill and eat a chipmunk. Is this common?” I’ve seen them eat chipmunks, pocket gophers and a young muskrat. Their diet could be described as “varied.” An interesting aside on that heron, when one catches its limit of fish, it has to stand on one leg. It’s a requirement of its fishing license.

“How many birds are there in Minnesota?” There are 313 regular species, those seen here 9 out of 10 years. Around 240 species nest here and the total number of species documented in the state is 446.

Thanks for stopping by

“Just as it is important to listen to one another, it is important to listen to the birds.” — Al Batt

“99 percent of all statistics only tell 49 percent of the story.” — Ron DeLegge II

“All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.” — Blaise Pascal

Meeting adjourned

“Peace begins with a smile.” —Mother Teresa. Be kind.

Do good.

©Al Batt 2020