Naturally

 Mild days can lessen activity at the birdfeeders, but the yard offered a highlight reel of birds. As always, seeing a cardinal is a reason for a party.
 I noticed deciduous trees holding their leaves in the winter. It’s hard not to notice them. I saw young red oaks and sugar maples stubbornly hanging onto their leaves. Perhaps the leaves protect next year’s buds from browsing by deer and from drying winds. Ironwood and European buckthorn are smaller trees that cling to their leaves. 
 I watched purple finches at the feeders. They seem tamer than the house finches. Blue jays can shift winter strategies between migration and overwintering. The supply of acorns might determine that decision.

Bob Janssen 
 We all have heroes. Mine are mostly people I know. Minnesota is about 360 miles by 407 miles with 87 counties. One of my heroes is familiar with the roads and birdy places in each of those counties. Bob Janssen is that man. He’s a great guy, a great birder and the godfather of birding in Minnesota. Wherever I go, Bob has been there. He has seen a black-billed cuckoo in every county in Minnesota except Freeborn County. He asked me what the chances were of seeing one. I joked that there were so many in the county that the DNR was considering having a hunting season on the cuckoos to make room for other birds. That might have been a fib. They’re seen here, but not commonly. Bob made his way to my home. My wife fed him and I took Bob to a spot where I’d seen and heard the cuckoos. I had to leave for an important meeting. I wished Bob good luck and told him to take his time. He took all day. Bob is still without a black-billed cuckoo in Freeborn County.

Bird Watcher’s Digest
 For umpteen years, I was a regular columnist for Bird Watcher’s Digest and Watching Backyard Birds. These two wonderful magazines were the brainchildren of the beloved Thompson family of Marietta, Ohio. It was an honor and a pleasure to be associated with such fine journals. Both magazines have ceased publication. The deaths of principals and the pandemic were too much to overcome. I am saddened by the discontinuance of those wonderful pages, but I’m thankful for the many friends and memories I’ve made through my affiliation with those pleasing periodicals. 

Squirrel skirmishes
 Manley Olson wrote, “Years ago at a St. Paul Audubon meeting, a member shared he was live trapping squirrels and releasing them several miles away. At a subsequent meeting, another member said he had started doing the same thing. In the conversation that followed, he said he lived in Highland Park and was releasing in Como Park. This was greeted with laughter from the man who had brought the topic up at the previous meeting. He was trapping near Como Park and releasing in Highland.”

Q&A
 “Are there any bad birds?” No.
 “Do wild turkeys renest?” Yes. Hens that lose clutches to predation, human disturbance, or weather events often renest.
 “How do bumblebees spend the winter?” Bumblebees don’t maintain colonies throughout the winter. The last brood of the summer colony contains numerous queens. Each queen mates and then finds a safe place, a small hole in the ground or another protected spot, just big enough for her to spend the winter. Only the queen hibernates until spring. The rest of the colony dies.
 “Why do great horned owls nest so early?” Young great horned owls must learn complex hunting maneuvers involving trial and error. Early hatching means they’re ready to practice their flying and hunting skills when the weather is mild and prey is abundant, and have time to master their techniques before winter begins.
 “What birds drink sugar water other than hummingbirds?” Some birds with a sweet tooth that enjoy nectar are house finches, downy woodpeckers, warblers (including orange-crowned, Cape May and pine), mockingbirds, chickadees, thrashers and titmice.
 “How do birds stay perched while sleeping?” Recent research found a bird’s innate balance and the way its toes wrap around a perch are enough to keep a sleeping bird in place. Birds are built for what they do.

Thanks for stopping by
 “Whatever you do, always give 100%. Unless you're donating blood.”—Bill Murray.
 “You cannot begin to preserve any species of animal unless you preserve the habitat in which it dwells. Disturb or destroy that habitat and you will exterminate the species as surely as if you had shot it. So, conservation means that you have to preserve forest and grassland, river and lake, even the sea itself. This is not only vital for the preservation of animal life generally, but for the future existence of man himself -- a point that seems to escape many people.”—Gerald Durrell.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2022

In the House of Hoops, on Cancer Awareness Day, the Minnesota State basketball team remembered loved ones who had died from cancer and recognized cancer survivors. I am honored to have my granddaughter Joey (first row, third from right) hold a card bearing my name. These cards and others were prominently displayed on the wall at the Taylor Center during the games.

Words on birds, naturally, on the radio.

Minnesota State ran their record to 18–5 with an 80-72 victory over Augustana. Taylor Theusch scored 18, Joey Batt (shown twinkling the twine in a free throw) added 17 points and eight assists, Destinee Bursch tossed in 13 and Mikayla Nachazel had 10 rebounds.

Minnesota State (19-5) clinched the NSIC South Division title with a 91-67 win over Upper Iowa at Fayette, Iowa. Joey Batt (#1 playing tough defense) had 17 points & 6 assists. Rylee Menster scored 15 and both Tayla Stuttley & Destinee Bursch tossed in 10. Molly Ihle & Mikayla Nachazel each had 6 rebounds to the lead the team.

Not a real walrus, but a good reminder to floss regularly.

A Common Redpoll is uncommonly handsome. Photo by Al Batt