Naturally
A red-breasted nuthatch nearly landed on me while I filled a bird feeder. There are two nuthatches seen regularly in Minnesota and both species of nuthatches have dark blue-gray upper sides, short tails, sharp bills and black crowns. The white-breasted nuthatch has a white face and white in the breast that tapers to a grayish belly and chestnut undertail and the red-breasted nuthatch has a bold face pattern with a white eyebrow above a thick black eye line bordered underneath by more white. The rest of its underparts from its throat to its undertail are peachy-orange. Both species produce nasal calls, with the red-breasted’s sounding distinctly higher-pitched than the white-breasted’s. The red-breasted nuthatch is just over 4 inches long and the white-breasted nuthatch is 5.5 inches. Nuthatches have a habit of clinging upside down on tree trunks and limbs. By creeping down a tree, they’re able to find invertebrates undiscovered by woodpeckers or other birds moving up a tree. Like chickadees, they don't linger at a feeder. They grab a seed and go. White-breasted nuthatches are found year-round in wooded areas throughout Minnesota, favoring deciduous trees over conifers. Red-breasted nuthatches prefer conifers and are common in the northern half of the state. Red-breasted nuthatches are partial migrants, meaning they are seen in the southern half of the state after the breeding season.
Picnic wasps (yellowjackets) are responsible for most “bee” stings during outdoor dining events. Honey bees are fuzzy. Yellowjackets are not. Yellowjackets feed insects to their young. Many of these are harmful insects that might damage trees or crops. They devour many houseflies. Shakespeare wrote in “The Taming of the Shrew,” “If I be waspish, best beware my sting.” Pope Paul VI said, “Anger is as a stone cast into a wasp's nest.” In the Bible, God said he would send hornets to pursue the Canaanites and drive them from the Promised Land. He might have been willing to call upon swarms of stinging wasps or have been speaking symbolically for a plague of another kind.
Flower flies mimic bees and wasps, and don’t sting. Flies have only two wings. Bees and wasps have four membranous wings.
Dark-eyed juncos are lovely little sparrows that flash white tail feathers in flight. A crow thinks it is something to crow about.
Q&A
Vicki Lauruhn of Mankato asked what could be done to keep birds from flying into windows. Here are some suggestions. One-eighth-inch-diameter nylon cords that dangle about 4 inches apart on a window’s exterior. Insect screens are effective at reducing the reflectiveness of glass and offering a buffer between the bird and the glass. A bird screen designed to go on the exterior of windows and prevent bird collisions. A curtain of taut monofilament lines spaced 3 inches apart on a window’s exterior. Dot stickers applied to the outside of windows in a 2-inch by 2-inch grid are effective and our eyes quickly adjust to them. Translucent bird tape applied directly to the glass, produced by the American Bird Conservancy. Solyx Bird Safety Window Films applied to a window’s exterior. Use a highlighter to draw a grid on the interior glass or a bar of soap to draw a pattern on a window. Paint the outside of the glass with tempera paint. Decals (it doesn’t matter if they’re shaped like hawks), liquid or coated glass that reflect ultraviolet light. White window chalk. Close window shades or blinds and turn off lights at night. Plastic owls don’t work.
“How long do hummingbirds live?” Most hummingbirds die during their first year, but the average lifespan is 3-5 years. According to the Bird Banding Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, the oldest banded ruby-throated hummingbird was at least nine years and one month old.
“Do both male and female chickadees incubate the eggs?” Both members of a pair excavate a nest cavity, but only the female black-capped chickadee builds the nest and incubates the eggs.
“What percentage of cardinal nests raises young?” Cardinals have a low rate of nesting success. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, less than 40% of their nests fledge at least one young.
“We forgot to take down a Christmas wreath on a door we seldom use. Birds nested in it. What kind would they be?” The house finch is famous for doing that.
“How can I keep wasps out of my mailbox?” Bar soap rubbed inside a mailbox can cause wasps to look elsewhere. It also works in a nest box. The soap creates a slippery surface difficult for a wasp nest to stick to it.
Thanks for stopping by
“I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness—it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude.”―Brené Brown.
“When we heal the world, we heal ourselves.”–David Orr.
Do good.
©Al Batt 2022
Purple martins leave Minnesota in September. They roost and migrate together on their way to Brazil for the winter. Purple martins begin returning to Minnesota in April. Photo by Al Batt.
This woodpecker packed a punch.
I miss the hummingbirds. I hope they will drop me a postcard from warmer climes.
The low temperatures might have wiped out the white-faced meadowhawks here for this year, but I often see this dragonfly into November.
A fritillary seen in Colorado.