Naturally
My yard is unlike any other place on earth. So is yours. So is your favorite park. My yard is a place where I go to forget the clock, to forget the calendar. The secret is to notice things and have the willingness to be amazed by what I notice. I try to take in the view and be astonished by what I see or hear. What lies beyond the horizon provides less interest to me. Where I am is beyond the horizon for others. There were so many blackbirds, each had to take a number before landing. I listened to the sounds of construction—woodpeckers at work. A brown thrasher recycled his songs, singing exuberantly, trying to wring its repertoire dry.
A shaking branch showed a pair of crows had flown from the scene. One crow and a male red-winged blackbird double-teamed a red-tailed hawk. They attacked from above to avoid the raptor’s talons. It was the Justice League in action. After the hawk left the scene, the red-winged blackbird turned its anger on the crow. Little birds mobbing bigger birds. It’s the law of the jungle.
Q&A
Bev Jackson Cotter of Albert Lea found 46 eggs in a wood duck box. None had hatched. She wondered what was going on there. The normal brood size for wood ducks is 6 to 16 and the extra eggs result from egg dumping or intraspecific brood parasitism, which occurs when a female wood duck, frequently a first-year breeder, follows another hen to nest sites during the egg-laying period. The visitor is stimulated to lay eggs in the nest of the other hen. The expression, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” applies here. A hen whose nest has too many eggs may abandon it.
“Do skunks have poor eyesight?” I’ve never seen one wearing eyeglasses, but a skunk has poor vision and combined with a dark coloring and crepuscular activity leads to many skunks becoming victims of automobile collisions. Their eyesight is limited to about 10 feet of sharp vision, but they have excellent hearing and smell. I talk to skunks I encounter in my yard. By speaking, it allows the skunk to gauge my location and avoid me.
“Do ducks migrate at night?” Most waterfowl migrations occur at night. Studies indicate migratory movements intensify shortly after sunset, peak in the middle of the night, and decline thereafter. The result can be an impressive increase in local waterfowl numbers overnight. Most waterfowl fly at speeds of 40 to 60 mph, with many species averaging roughly 50 mph. With a 50-mph tailwind, migrating mallards could travel 800 miles during an eight-hour flight. Studies found a mallard needs to feed and rest for three to seven days to replenish the energy expended during this eight-hour journey.
“Is a dog’s mouth cleaner than a human’s mouth” According to the American Kennel Clubthe answer is no.
“Am I seeing a white-throated sparrow or a white-crowned sparrow?” A white-throated sparrow has a white throat patch and a yellow spot between the eye and the bill that a white-crowned sparrow lacks.
“What’s the difference between a birdwatcher and a birder?” I’ve heard often that a birdwatcher looks at birds and a birder looks for birds. You can be either one or both. You define it the way you want. I’m both.
“Do I need to add red color to my hummingbird nectar?” The best and least expensive solution for a hummingbird feeder is a 1:4 solution of refined white sugar to tap water—that’s ¼ cup of sugar in 1 cup of water. Bring the high-octane solution to a boil and let it cool before filling a feeder. You can make a larger batch and refrigerate it. Bring it to room temperature before refilling the feeder. Red coloring isn’t necessary. There is no reason to add red dyes to sugar water as natural flower nectar is clear. The red dye is a waste of your trust fund money. Nectar-producing flowers that exhibit color in the warm ultra-violet spectrum (yellow, pink, peach, orange, red and purple) yield nectar with a sweetness level of 19 to 21 percent. Many hummingbird feeders have red caps, bases or floral decorations more than sufficient to attract the birds, but the color has less attractiveness than what is put into the feeder. Don’t use brown sugar, honey, molasses or artificial sweeteners. In hot weather, the feeder should be emptied and cleaned twice a week. In cooler weather, once per week is enough. It’s a swell idea to have feeders that are easy to clean.
Thanks for stopping by
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”—Marcel Proust.
“Every moment is a new opportunity to be amazed.”—Jonathan Colman.
Do good.
©️Al Batt 2023
The white-faced ibis is a rare regular in Minnesota. It has a long decurved bill, which makes it difficult for the bird to smile. It appears black in subdued light, but has iridescent green and reddish tones, with a white border on a reddish face, red eyes and reddish legs. Photo by Al Batt.
Every tree has a story. Branch direction can serve as a compass. Leaves with a pale, central streak mean that water is nearby.