Naturally
Lovely leaves slipped through the fingers of the trees. Colorful leaves make it impossible not to notice nature. Lemony yellow-colored grape leaves demand attention. No season makes any promises, but most of ours deliver wind. Aeolus, the god of the winds in Greek mythology, gave a bag of wind to help with Odysseus’s sailing. Today, we have politicians doing much of that work. Watch for storms when clouds are more wide than tall.
A long, twisting flock of blackbirds traveled across a field. The cacophonous flock could contain red-winged blackbirds, grackles, starlings, cowbirds, Brewer’s blackbirds and/or rusty blackbirds.
I watched a red-bellied woodpecker take a position at one end of a platform feeder and a pair of blue jays at the other end. It was a showdown. One jay flew first. The woodpecker grabbed as much food as it could and left. I’m sure the remaining blue jay declared itself the winner.
Q&A
“Do blue jays mate for life?” Blue jays are monogamous and pairs may mate for life.
“What is a group of vultures called?” A group of turkey vultures on a carcass is called a wake, a group roosting in trees is called a committee, venue or volt, and a group that is soaring is called a kettle.
“What is determining the age of trees by counting their rings called?” The science of dating events and variations in the environment by the comparative study of growth rings in trees and aged wood is dendrochronology.
“Can a great blue heron swim?” I’ve seen them swim with apparent grace and comfort despite the lack of webbing between their toes.
“Why are vultures sometimes called buzzards?” When the early European colonists saw vultures flying high in the sky, they noticed a resemblance to the broad-winged, dark-feathered birds of prey from back home—buzzards, which are members of the genus Buteo. In America, Buteos are hawks, with the red-tailed hawk being a prime example.
“How do squirrels find the acorns they have buried?” They use a combination of landmarks, cues, memory and a sense of smell to narrow their search. They are good at locating buried foods.
“How many birds do wind turbines kill?” Estimates vary, but according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, wind turbines kill 140,000 to 500,000 birds in the U.S. annually. Cats kill between 1.3 and 4 billion birds annually. Buildings and glass kill 365 to 988 million, vehicles kill 89-340 million, electric lines between 8 and 57 million, and oil pits kill 500,000 to 1 million birds each year.
“Why do turkeys spend so much time on the roads?” Wild turkeys use roads and roadsides as courtship areas in late winter and flocking areas before spring breakup. Juvenile and adult hens use roads most frequently in early spring because green forage, seeds and insects are more abundant in open, sunny habitats. Some turkeys, especially in spring and early summer, choose to stand, walk or pace back and forth on busy highways, dodging vehicles and blocking traffic. The reasons for this peculiar behavior aren’t fully understood. Highway turkeys aren’t easily dispersed. Turkeys of a feather flock together in the fall. Hens live in flocks with their female offspring, sometimes in large numbers. Hens that weren’t successful at hatching chicks may form smaller flocks with other lone hens. Male turkeys also form flocks, which might be segregated by age classes. Young male turkeys (jakes) band together and older males (toms) form their own flocks. In the fall, all these groups are drawn to the short-cropped grass and food that is left over for them. Grain and other seeds often collect on the graveled roadsides.
Jennie Sorensen of Fairmont saw a bald eagle do a barrel roll and wondered why it does such a maneuver. Eagles flip as part of a mating ritual, to make a sudden dive when they spot food lurking beneath the surface of the water, to pirate (steal) a fish from another bird or as an act of aggression.
“How can I tell a dragonfly from a damselfly?” When perched, a dragonfly's wings stick straight out, perpendicular to its body like an airplane's wings. A damselfly's wings fold back in line with its body, giving it a more sleek, slender appearance. The name Odonata, the order of insects containing the dragonflies and damselflies, derives from the Greek, meaning tooth, referring to the strong teeth found on the insects’ mandibles.
“What is a jayhawk?” The term Jayhawk combines two birds: the blue jay, noisy and quarrelsome, and the sparrowhawk, a stealthy hunter, according to a University of Kansas website.
Thanks for stopping by
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.”―Emily Bronte.
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”―F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby.”
Do good.
©Al Batt 2022
The dark-eyed junco is called a snowbird because it seems to bring snow as it migrates. Photo by Al Batt
The birds and the bees on the radio.