A mourning dove called, its voice sounding sad and distant.
Naturally
A mourning dove called, its voice sounding sad and distant. An eastern kingbird, Tyrannus tyrannus, patrolled the yard. A chipmunk raided the grape jelly feeder. It looked like a chipmunk clown with its red lips.
I enjoy hearing the sleigh bell-like sounds on summer evenings (July to frost). Snowy tree crickets make the sounds but are perhaps best known as nature’s thermometer because the rate of their chirping correlates with temperature. The formula (depending on whom you ask) is to count the number of chirps in 13 seconds, then add 40 to find the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. The insects get the name “snowy” because of their pale coloration.
Hover flies (or flower flies or syrphid flies in the family Syrphidae) are common and important natural enemies of aphids and other small, slow-moving insects. The adults resemble bees or wasps and are often seen visiting flowers, hovering over the flowers and darting about. I’m seeing cicada killer wasps. I love seeing them and had a chuckle when I saw them described as “satan’s nightmares.”
Q&A
“What birds in the US are brood parasites?” Many birds occasionally lay eggs in the nests of other birds, but our only obligate brood parasites are the brown-headed cowbird and the bronzed cowbird. They don’t build nests. The European cuckoo of Europe and Asia (winters in Africa), lays eggs only in the nests of other birds and they make the call featured in cuckoo clocks. It’s doubtful that the brown-headed cowbird once followed the great bison herds. The cowbirds are territorial and aren’t likely to travel much during the breeding season.
Vicki Lauruhn of Mankato asked for a good place to see sandhill cranes in southern Minnesota and wondered when the colts can fly. Sandhill cranes lay eggs in April, incubation takes about a month and a colt takes its first flight when it’s 65-75 days old. The young remain with their parents for 9-10 months, accompanying them in migration. There are three (not all in Minnesota) wonderful places to see them. The wetlands at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, a 30,700-acre refuge north of the Twin Cities, provide prime habitat for 50 pairs of nesting sandhill cranes and in September and October, thousands of cranes gather at the refuge before migrating. Thousands of greater sandhill cranes gather at Crex Meadows near Grantsburg, Wisconsin, in October and early November, where they feed in the crop fields during the day and roost in the sedge marshes at night. The International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, is the only place in the world where visitors can see all 15 species of cranes. It’s open from May 1 to October 31.
Ryan Rasmussen of Clarks Grove hasn’t seen many toads this year and wondered why. Toads watch the weather reports and pay particular attention to the temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and barometric pressure. Toads love to come out in the rain because they prefer a wet, dark environment. After a steady rain, the area is usually cloudy, cool and moist, the right conditions for a traveling toad. It’s also a good time to find food as earthworms are plentiful after a big rain. Water puddles can be refreshing for toads. In some areas, many small woodland ponds dried up this year and that likely led to fewer toads. Toad populations are localized.
Mark Sauck of Truman wrote that he’d stepped on a cricket and a black parasitic worm almost half the size of the cricket crawled out. He wondered what it was. It was a horsehair worm, an internal parasite of crickets. Adult horsehair worms are free-living in fresh water and damp soil. Parasitized crickets seek water because they are thirsty and this allows the horsehair worm to emerge from the insect's body and swim away in the water. Horsehair worms squirm and twist in the water, knotting themselves into a loose, ball-like shape resembling the "Gordian Knot." Another name for the horsehair worm is a gordian worm. These internal parasites of insects don’t parasitize other animals or plants and are harmless.
Annie Mattson of Albert Lea asks how many times robins nest. While a robin may nest three times in one year, only 40% of nests successfully produce young, and only 25% of fledged young survive to November. Only about half of the robins alive in any year make it to the next. The oldest robin known lived to almost 14 years of age, but the average 6-month-old robin has only 1.7 years to live.
“Do deer have stomachs like cows?” Like other ruminants, deer possess a four-compartment stomach (rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum). They chew their cuds just as cattle do.
Thanks for stopping by
“We're all just walking each other home.”—Ram Dass.
“Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts.”—Madame de Stael.
Do good.
©Al Batt 2022
The scientific name Tyrannus means “tyrant, despot, or king” and refers to the aggressive behavior of the eastern kingbird. Photo by Al Batt.
A cellphone photo of the night sky turned into a painting.
And he’s not even a relative.
My favorite tractor. It was the first one upon which I was unleashed as a solo driver.
A rural school where the three “R’s”—reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic were learned. The stove kept the brains thawed.
A rural school where the three “R’s”—reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic were learned. The stove kept the brains thawed.
A rural school where the three “R’s”—reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic were learned. The stove kept the brains thawed.
I’ve just started reading this book and I’m enjoying it. Tim has a winner here.
A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is hanging around Albert Lea, Minnesota for the second year in a row. Or to put it in the vernacular of a sports broadcaster, the second consecutive year in a row. Photo by Al Batt.
Spotted bee balm (horsemint) tolerates dry conditions and amorous soldier beetles. Photo by Al Batt.