Naturally
Growing up on a farm, my father taught me that alfalfa loves snow. A thick blanket of snow increases the chances of alfalfa surviving winter. The alfalfa was smiling. On my way to church, I saw the white flashes of three large flocks of snow buntings, a flock of Lapland longspurs and many small groups of horned larks in my first three miles. I hadn’t seen many of these birds this winter because there was a lack of snow cover. They feed in the fields until deep or ice-encrusted snow covers their food and chases them to the roadsides where weed seeds and spilled grain are snagged by the gravel. They show up when the snowmobiles do. I saw a couple of rough-legged hawks later in my drive. I called them Christmas hawks when I was a precocious child (or was it a pestiferous child?). The roughies nest in the Arctic and have feathered pants with feathering to the base of their toes and small bills. Their feet are smaller than those of red-tailed hawks, which allow roughies to perch at the tip-top of small branches.
I watched a red fox tiptoe through the yard at daybreak. They typically weigh 8 to 15 pounds. Squirrels use the cheerful sounds of birds to infer the absence of predators. Gray and fox squirrels are scatter hoarders, which means they hoard food in scattered locations to access later.
Later, a murmuration of starlings weaved and dipped across my field of view. Airplane pilots wish they could do what those flying birds do. Crows in the distance looked like apostrophes perched in a gray tree. We’re getting winter in winter. No surprise. Some consider winter a bully, but I find the world big enough for both winter and me.
I saw an opossum in the yard. Pink ears and tip of tail indicated frostbite. Pogo (and creator Walt Kelly) said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” The local opossum might consider winter an antagonist.

LRGV
On one of my first jobs in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, I flew into Harlingen, picked up a rental car and motored to the Valley Nature Center in Weslaco. It was small enough for me to roam about in the time allotted. The place was lousy with birds. I was greeted by green jays, great kiskadees, clay-colored robins (now clay-colored thrushes), golden-fronted woodpecker, buff-bellied hummingbirds and plain chachalacas. They are common birds at this small oasis, but they were a red carpet rolled out to me.

CBC
I found a pair of American white pelicans on the water on a Christmas Bird Count of December 31. My first instinct was that one was injured (I couldn’t see any visible injury) and that its mate refused to leave it. They are serially monogamous and form pairs for one breeding season. Pairs form through courtship rituals once they arrive at the breeding colony. So why are the two still here? I don’t know. They have to be somewhere, I guess.

Kevin Carlson
I enjoyed visiting with Kevin Carlson via Zoom. It has been many years since I first visited with Kevin at his home in Cape May Court House, New Jersey. Kevin and Pete Dunne have written at least three books together, “Gulls Simplified,” “Bird Families of North America” and “Birds of Prey.” Kevin is a skilled photographer, a talented fellow and a good guy.

Q&A
“Would an owl lay eggs in an eagle nest?” A great horned owl might because the bald eagle pair wouldn’t be present at the time of the owl’s nesting. The fierce great horned owls don’t build nests, preferring to appropriate the stick nests of hawks, crows, ravens, herons, squirrels and occasionally, eagles.
“Where do juncos spend winter nights?” They prefer to roost in conifers at night, but will use tall grasses and brush piles. They return to the same roost locations regularly. I see them frequently in cedars and arborvitae. I love hearing the junco’s “tew-tew-tew” call, which is reminiscent of the sounds of a ray gun in some old, cheesy sci-fi movie at the drive-in.
“Do we have butterflies that overwinter in Minnesota as adults?” Yes, they include commas, tortoiseshells and mourning cloaks.
“I was in northern Minnesota in January and saw some waxwings. How can I tell which species they are?” A Bohemian has a reddish tinge on its face and is grayer overall than a cedar waxwing. A Bohemian has chestnut coloring under the tail, while a cedar has white. Bohemian waxwings have yellow and white wing markings lacking on cedars.
Thanks for stopping by
"There's nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend."—Bob Ross
“Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness.”—Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Do good.

©Al Batt 2022

My yard is crammed with Common Redpolls and I couldn’t be happier. It’s as if I’d driven the entire yard to a gas station and said, “Fill ‘er up with redpolls,” which is impossible because there are no full-service gas stations anywhere in my realm. Photo by Al Batt

My yard is crammed with Common Redpolls and I couldn’t be happier. It’s as if I’d driven the entire yard to a gas station and said, “Fill ‘er up with redpolls,” which is impossible because there are no full-service gas stations anywhere in my realm. Photo by Al Batt