Naturally
A swallow whispered past.
Accompanied by the droning of bumblebees, the flitting of cabbage white butterflies and the darting of dragonflies (the first I see each spring are common green darners and variegated meadowhawks), I stooped to enjoy a closer look at spring ephemerals. The plants are familiar neighbors. I greeted them as if they were long-lost friends. Fiddleheads, the tightly coiled tips of ferns, proliferated. They’re named for their resemblance to the curled decoration at the end of stringed instruments.
I’ve been out turning over rocks, so to speak. Good numbers of palm warblers led me down a trail. Yellow-rumped warblers were busy in every other tree. An orange-crowned warbler and a hermit thrush were here and there. Ruby-crowned kinglets used megaphones to produce their loud sounds. Spotted sandpipers were numerous along the water’s edge. My father called them teeter-snipe because teeter-snipes sounded wrong. Forster’s tern calls of “ki-arr” came from all directions. Mudflats were occupied with pectoral sandpipers and both species of yellowlegs. I walked with Bob Janssen of Golden Valley. Bob is the godfather of Minnesota birding. We watched a Cooper’s hawk (the “chicken hawk” of my youthful years when I tried to make millions by raising exotic breeds of small chickens) harassed three turkey vultures with menacing flight maneuvers and a lengthy series of cak-cak-cak calls. A Cooper’s hawk was on the ground in my yard, hiding in the tangles, hoping to ambush a bird. I saw a solitary sandpiper at the edge of a cow pasture and a green heron at a lakeside park.
In the yard, white-crowned sparrows and Harris’s sparrows joined the flock of white-throated sparrows and a single fox sparrow dancing on the ground. The whistling white-throated sparrows turned the yard into a whistle-athon. There were many purple finches and pine siskins (I love this tiny bird’s tameness). There was but one eastern towhee, but its number was impressive.
I saw pelicans fish communally on the lake. The birds in the back of the feeding group flew to the front to get a better place in the buffet line. The pelicans leapfrogged and fished.
As I drove, I found it impossible to ignore the chartreuse color of weeping willows. I watched a red-tailed hawk dive from on high at a northern harrier hunting close to the ground. There was no contact, but the harrier fled the scene. That was a good idea.
Multi-colored Asian lady beetles have found my garage to their liking.
Astonishments
I dreamed we were birds. I told my wife she looked like an M when she flew. The longest known shorebird flight—about 7,000 miles nonstop—is by the bar-tailed godwit during its migration from Alaska to New Zealand. Before departing, godwits binge eat to more than double their body weight. Fat comprises up to 55% of that weight.
Willow bark has been used as a traditional medicine for headaches and toothaches. Just a pinch between cheek and gum brought relief. An active agent within willow bark is salicin, which later formed the basis of aspirin.
Why did Michelangelo paint a tarpon instead of Jonah’s whale on the Sistine Chapel?
The names of the full moons are January Wolf Moon, February Snow Moon, March Worm Moon, April Pink Moon, May Flower Moon, June Strawberry Moon, July Buck Moon, August Sturgeon Moon, September Harvest Moon, October Hunter’s Moon, November Beaver Moon and December Cold Moon.
Q&A
Tom Ehrhardt of Albert Lea wondered where the goldfinches are? Goldfinches are nomadic by nature. They prefer to feed as a group and might not find a feeder attractive if it has a low level of food. Check the seed for dampness after rains. Shake the feeder to make sure the seed is dry and loose. Smell the seeds for mustiness.
“Is the dandelion native to Minnesota?” No, it originated in Europe and Asia. European settlers brought dandelions to America in the mid-1600s and cultivated dandelions as food sources and for medicinal uses.
“Why do feeders get busy before a storm?” Birds have an inborn barometer. Storms are associated with falling pressure and birds have difficulty getting food during a storm. The sooner they know a storm is coming, the more time they have to fuel up.
“What would eat the heads of chickens?” The primary suspects are owls and raccoons. Other candidates include cats, hawks, dogs, foxes and coyotes. The head of a chicken is an easy target, the brain is high in protein and essential fats, and the head can be carried away when the whole chicken is too heavy.
Thanks for stopping by
“A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.”—Jerry Seinfeld
"The plants adapt, the people adopt." “In some Native languages the term for plants translates to ‘those who take care of us.’”—Robin Wall Kimmerer
©Al Batt 2021
A dapper chipping sparrow. This tiny bird frequently raises the babies of a brood parasite, the brown-headed cowbird. Photo by Al Batt
A wonderful gift for that coloring book artist who is also a birder.
