Naturally
I shouldn’t have been surprised when a fox squirrel fell from the roof of the house onto a window feeder held in place by suction cups. The result was, as would be expected, the squirrel and the feeder both crashed to the ground, creating a blizzard of fleeing songbirds. Why I shouldn’t have been surprised was that the weather forecast had called for strong winds, rising temperatures and falling squirrels.
I saw many red-tailed hawks as I drove about the region. This hawk has a football shape when perched. I stopped in a small city and watched house sparrows eating street food. It was food on an actual street. Your doctor might not approve of that diet.
Crows and jays demonstrate bird identification skills, as evidenced by their mobbing of a great horned owl in the yard. I put peanuts in the shell into a bird feeder. Like a great magic act, the peanuts disappeared and were replaced by blue jays.
My favorite conspiracy theory
From their official site: “The Birds Aren't Real movement exists to spread awareness that the U.S. Government genocided over 12 Billion birds from 1959-2001, and replaced these birds with surveillance drone replicas, which still watch us every day. Once a preventative cause, our initial goal was to stop the forced extinction of real birds. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful, and the government has since replaced every living bird with robotic replicas. Now our movement's prerogative is to make everyone aware of this fact.” The creator is joking.
Q&A
“I’m seeing flies in my house in the winter. What are they?” They could be cluster flies, sometimes called attic flies. This fly is large and sluggish, with golden hairs on the thorax. Their larvae feed on earthworms. They snuck into your home last fall, congregated in the walls, found openings in window frames and appear on warm winter days. They like the southern exposure of a home. The other possibility is the blowfly, which resembles a housefly, but may be shiny green, blue, bronze or black. These metallic-colored flies are called blow or bottle flies. They gather around windows and produce a buzzing sound. They lay eggs in decomposing organic matter, like garbage, animal manure, decaying vegetables, dead animals and grass clippings.
“Everywhere I go, I see downy woodpeckers. Are they in every state?” I hope you’re not seeing them everywhere you go, as that would be kind of creepy and would drive your dentist crazy. They are in all states but Hawaii. You won’t find them in the deserts of the southwest. Males feed more on small branches and weed stems during the winter, and females feed on larger branches and trunks of trees.
“What eats milo?” Milo or sorghum isn’t a favorite food of birds. Wild turkeys, pheasants, pigeons, Eurasian collared-doves, cowbirds and cows may feed on it. I think grackles might eat some and I’m told some western quail species will. Milo is a waste of money as food for wild birds.
“I didn’t see many cardinals when I was a child, now I see them. Why did they move north?” Their breeding range has expanded northward for several reasons. A warmer climate has led to a reduction in snow depth and greater winter foraging opportunities; suburban growth has increased suitable edge habitat; and backyard winter bird feeders have provided food.
“Why are juncos called snowbirds?” They are characteristic of our winter months. They probably got the moniker because they appear not long before the snow. It’s as if they arrive early to get things ready for the snow. The juncos become more visible against a blanket of snow. Both juncos and winter could be described as having leaden skies above and being snowy white below.
“What’s the difference between a dove and a pigeon?” There’s no difference between a pigeon and a dove in scientific nomenclature, but colloquial English categorizes them by size, with doves being smaller.
“How strong is a great horned owl?” That owl’s strong, clenched talons require a force of 28 pounds to open. I’ve also read that the grip strength in those feet is 200 to 500 pounds per square inch and up to six times stronger than the handshake of a bodybuilder, but I don’t know where those numbers come from. Sorry. Hold a bathroom scale between your hands, its face toward you and with your hands on the side of the scale, squeeze as hard as you can. Divide that number by the square inches of your palm and it will give you your grip strength.
Thanks for stopping by
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”—William James.
“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”—Meister Eckhart.
Do good.
©Al Batt 2022
I just heard a chickadee singing it’s fee-bee song. “Spring’s here,” it whistled. I love the tiny bird’s optimism. Photo by Al Batt
Today, I’ll dream of electric socks and think warm thoughts while listening to Hawaiian music. Tomorrow, I’ll try to get rid of the Don Ho earworm.
During times like these, it’s important to remember Minnesota’s state motto: It could be worse.
Every year, I ask for world peace. My wife gave me a can of world peas.
Joey Batt (#1) scored 18 points (4 assists & 3 steals), Rylee Menster 12, Emily Russo 11 (6 rebs.), Molly Ihle 10, Destinee Bursch 10 and Maddy Olson (#10) added 6 rebounds and 6 assists to lead Minnesota State to a 84-70 win over MSU Moorhead.
Minnesota State defeated Northern State 85-76. Destinee Bursch (#14 in photo above) led with 26 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Joey Batt (shown passing) scored 14 (plus 5 rebounds and 3 steals), Tayla Stuttley 14 pts., Mikayla Nachazel 10 with 5 rebs. and Taylor Theusch 10.
Minnesota State defeated Northern State 85-76. Destinee Bursch led with 26 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Joey Batt (shown about to splash a 3-pointer) scored 14 (plus 5 rebounds and 3 steals), Tayla Stuttley 14 pts., Mikayla Nachazel 10 with 5 rebs. and Taylor Theusch 10.