A spring azure. That would be a great name for a high school baseball/softball team.
Skippers are skipping from one flower to another.
The skunk’s motto: Always leave them smelling.
Just as it is important to listen to one another, it is important to listen to the birds.
Woodpeckers have been working on a huge and dead grapevine. Such vines were the Tarzan vines of my dear boyhood.
Stop and look down now and then. Toad you so.
From out of the past. A book.
From out of the past. A book.
It’s a beautiful summer day here in Hartland, Minnesota, the entertainment capital of my world. A summer warbler (Yellow Warbler) is a featured performer.
Looking ahead to late July or early August in the yard, I’ll be hoping to see soldier beetles and crescent butterflies on the butterfly weed.
Nature by the yard
I see a lot without going anywhere but outside.
A pileated (either PIE-lee-ay-tid or PILL-ee-ay-tid is correct) woodpecker called. The call is similar to a flicker's, but a flicker sounds like a soloist and a pileated an entire choir.
The light show begins in June and continues into August, as fireflies flash in search of mates. Each species of firefly has its own flash pattern. I think of their numbers peaking around the 4th of July, but that's not exact. Eastern tiger swallowtails, bluet damselflies and widow skimmers (dragonflies) move about. Hummingbirds fed on a four parts water to one part white sugar mixture.
A walk in our woods show shady plants are doing well. The Virginia bluebells have gone, but wild ginger, jack-in-the-pulpit and Solomon's seal delight. Flowers move from the spring ephemerals growing in the woods before the leaves blocked the sun to those growing on the edges of woods to the summer flowers growing in the open.
Among the multitude of events canceled this year was the wonderful Henderson Hummingbird Hurrah. Although the Hurrah has been shelved, the Hummingbird (and butterfly) Garden in Henderson is open and is well worth visiting. Volunteers maintain its magnificence.
I like most everything, but stable flies didn't make my list of things whose company I enjoy. They cause me considerable discomfort. Chiggers and buffalo gnats (black flies) didn't make that list either. I've copied the list to Santa Claus. Their common name is stable, dog or biting house flies, and they target dogs' ears, the legs of cows and horses, and me. Stable flies resemble small house flies and both males and females bite hard. I've heard them referred to as ankle-biters, a reference to their favored feeding site — my ankles. They're fast fliers, usually biting low on the leg, feet and ankles, although any bare skin is fair game. Their bites cause cattle to stomp or kick and my shins have felt the misdirected anger of a cow. Decaying organic matter such as grass clippings, compost piles or bedding straw are ideal breeding areas.
A chickadee makes me smile without doing anything more than being. The chickadee is in my birding sweet spot. In 2017, I spent too much time in the hospital. Freed from that confinement, I found walking difficult and birding nearly impossible. I decided to count chickadees, with 1000 being my goal. I didn't care if it was the same chickadee repeatedly, if I saw it, I counted it. I told no one, holding my own soft celebration upon achieving that minor goal. I counted 1000 chickadees again this year. They added up much quicker in 2020.
Q&A
"How can woodpeckers hammer without getting headaches?" They have reinforced skulls structured to spread the force and brains cushioned from repeated impacts. Despite that, woodpeckers are susceptible to fatal window collisions.
"What do swans eat?" Trumpeter swans eat aquatic vegetation — leaves, seeds, roots, tubers and rhizomes. Swan parents use their feet to stir up food for cygnets. Invertebrates in the sediment with the tubers and rhizomes provide protein to cygnets and adults. Swans eat grains leftover from harvest.
"Is it true that red squirrels emasculate other squirrels?" I've heard red squirrels castrate their competitors, but no reliable observations have been documented. I grew up reading naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton (I still have one of his books) and he noted that a species of parasitic botfly preys on squirrels, laying eggs in their groins. The hatched grubs burrow into the skin and consume the host animals’ testes or ovaries. I'm not certain of the veracity of the previous sentence, but botflies do parasitize tree squirrels and chipmunks, with the larvae leaving protruding boils called warbles on a skin. This makes for a lumpy squirrel. Adult male squirrels lacking testes have been cited as evidence of the emasculating abilities of pugnacious red squirrels. It's an old man's tale that arose from the fact that males have testes that shrink and retract after the breeding season.
"Have coyotes ever killed a human?" Historical records show two documented incidences in the U.S. and Canada of people being killed by coyotes. Typically, 30-50 people in the U.S. die from dog bites annually and deer-related car collisions are responsible for about 200 deaths each year. Coyotes are omnivores and small-game hunters. They feed on rodents, fruit, rabbits, turkeys, geese, woodchucks, carrion, pet food, garbage and fawns (primarily up to 20 days old). They'd eat a cat and adult deer hit by cars. Mesopredators (such as coyotes, foxes and raccoons) are mid-ranking predators of a trophic level, which typically prey upon smaller animals.
Thanks for stopping by
"Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are." — Mason Cooley
"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do good.
© Al Batt 2020
A female ruby-throated hummingbird. A male wouldn’t have white tips on his tail. Photo by Al Batt
Baby American Robins pack up all of their stuff and leave the nest when they are about 13 days old.
Fledged starlings trying to remember each other’s names.
A faded rainbow, a fading rainbow and not a single treasure chest.
And now for something completely different: A Fox Squirrel eating an avocado.
A collective noun for starlings is a chattering, affliction, murmuration, scourge, or constellation.
There were lifeguards on duty as the robin took a little dip.
The nest of a house wren. Jenny wren.
Life is a bed of roses. You have to expect a few thorns.
I love catalpa trees. I could never see enough flowering trees in Minnesota.
Hey, Monarch Butterflies, the Associated Milkweeds of Minnesota are on the way.
Scrabble can be a wonderful thing after a long visit to the clinic.
I took a short but inspiring walk near St. Olaf Lake in Minnesota. A Great Crested Flycatcher called me a creep. The 10 most common names for lakes in the Gopher State are Mud, Long, Rice, Bass, Round, Horseshoe, Twin, Island, Johnson and Spring.
Young starlings looking all directions at once.
James Russell Lowell wrote, “The Bluebird, shifting his light load of song, from post to post along the cheerless fence, a Spring habit which has delighted many.”
From the poem “Why if It’s Not” by Ja Ja, “A killdeer is not roadkill That’s just absurd It really is A wading bird.”
It can be shy, but either PIE-lee-ay-tid or PILL-ee-ay-tid is correct for this lovely woodpecker.
A nuptial tubercle is a sign of maturity for both male and female American White Pelicans.
The ticks in Minnesota are even larger than those in Texas.
A groundhog (woodchuck, whistle-pig) doesn’t ever look for his shadow this time of the year.
Things are looking up for at least one Mallard.
Another Tree Swallow falls for the old fake tree trick.
An unintended ATV seen at The Archway in Kearney, Nebraska.
Naturally
American goldfinches sang merrily in the yard. At least it sounded like that's what they were doing. They haven't begun nesting yet, so they're the young and nestless.
It's been said if a person knows only three species of birds, one will be the crow. Are the birds in a large flock of crows called velcrows? The crows cawed. It was late. I feared they'd go to bed angry.
There was a gorgeous kaleidoscope of birds at the feeders — goldfinch, indigo bunting, catbird, brown thrasher and cardinal.
I see a skunk in the yard occasionally. It's being stalked by a strange cat. It's like a Pepe Le Pew cartoon with the interaction of Pepe and the cat reversed. It will not end well. I hope they go to the cat's home yard. The cat was a trespasser, so I cheered for the skunk. I guess I'm scentimental.
Chipmunks love tomato juice and eat holes in the bottom of tomatoes to get it. Pups develop quickly and leave the nest by 4 to 6 weeks of age to make their way in the world. I told a young rabbit not to worry, be hoppy.
Paul Godtland of Rochester said he watched an indigo bunting land on a dandelion stem and ride it to the ground where the bird fed on the seeds.
I visited the good folks at the Albert Lea Seed House who needed to install an electric fence to keep deer from browsing heavily upon plants for sale.
Some people practiced No Mow May in an effort to promote pollinator-friendly habitat.
On a visit to Myre-Big Island State Park, I heard a sora, stretching out a "sorry," call, a skunk bird, a bobolink, trying to sing too many songs at once, and saw a prothonotary warbler. In 1948, Alger Hiss, a government official, was accused of being a Soviet spy. The trial hinged on whether Hiss knew Whittaker Chambers, a former member of the U.S. Communist Party. Chambers claimed he'd talked to Hiss about birding and reported Hiss's excitement after seeing a prothonotary warbler along the Potomac River. That sighting linked the two people and eventually led to Hiss's conviction.
A friend loves doves, but dislikes pigeons. Dove is a brand of soap. Maybe he'd like pigeons if there was a soap named, "Pigeon."
Audubon shot birds and posed them to replicate the behavior he witnessed in the wild before he painted them. He said, “I often say that if I shoot less than 100 birds a day, they must be rare.”
Roadside-nesting cliff swallows have evolved shorter, more maneuverable wings, which may help them evade oncoming vehicles.
Q&A
"How do I keep raccoons out of my yard?" Secure the trash, bring in pet food, cap the chimney and get an alligator. Alligators eat raccoons.
"Why do grackles dunk food in our birdbath?" To soften the food, especially when they have nestlings. I've seen grackles do this with dog food kibble.
"What's the smallest bird in the world?" The bee hummingbird of Cuba, which weighs less than a penny.
"What duck is capable of diving the deepest?" I reckon it's the long-tailed duck, which is able to swim as deep as 200 feet to forage.
"How many eggs does a cowbird lay?" Brown-headed cowbirds are brood parasites and usually lay an egg each day for six days in different nests, pause for a few days, and repeat the process. They may lay as many as 41 eggs per season.
"What's the world's heaviest flying bird?" It's the great bustard or the kori bustard, which edge out the trumpeter swan.
"Do black bears hibernate?" They aren't true hibernators. Ground squirrels, woodchucks and chipmunks enter true states of hibernation. Their heart rates, body temperatures and metabolisms decrease to such low levels that life is sometimes barely detectable. Black bears sleep in a less vegetative state. Chipmunks store foods in underground pantries and awaken every few days to eat.
"Why does a hawk call while hunting?" Not to alert prey, which would become motionless. A hawk vocalizes to announce its presence, defend territory or communicate with mate or young. Fledglings call when demanding food.
"Is it getting hotter?" The world’s five warmest years have occurred since 2015 with nine of the 10 warmest years occurring since 2005, according to scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. NASA found 2010-2019 was the hottest decade ever recorded. According to the DNR, Minnesota has warmed by 2.9 degrees between 1895 and 2017, while getting 3.4 inches wetter annually.
Thanks for stopping by
"Birdwatching is something that we do for enjoyment, so if you enjoy it, you are already a good birder. If you enjoy it a lot, you are a great birder." — Kenn Kauffman
"For the mind disturbed, the still beauty of dawn is nature's finest balm." — Edwin Way Teale
Do good.
© Al Batt 2020
A ring-billed gull is happy when it’s down in the dumps. Photo by Al Batt
Blue Flag Iris attracts bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and me.
Young starlings waiting for a food delivery service.
A young starling grew a white tail feather. That might indicate it’s the future king or queen of all starlings.
A Wood Duck dressed for a party.
A Widow Skimmer is a dragonfly or a “mosquito hawk” that eats mosquitoes and other flying insects.
A Great Egret presents an elegance.
A Black-capped Chickadee found a feeder the perfect place to take a sunbath.
A starling parent has a lot of mouths to feed.
A Brown-headed Cowbird has never had to take out a nest loan.
A Common Grackle feeling pretty good about himself.
I listened to a House Finch sing today. It was an uplifting moment.
When it’s not sampling suet, the Brown Thrasher sings a series of doubled phrases that would seem endless if they were not an Ode to Joy to me.
Kissing cardinals. A moment dripping in sweetness.
I love hearing the song of the Indigo Bunting, “Fire; fire; where? where? here; here; see it? see it?” as I push the confounded lawn mower around on a hot day.
The Indigo Bunting is generally abundant here. I am invariably elated about that. His blue color is a trick of light performed by a feather structure that turns black to blue.
Oxeye Daisies are big fans of June.
A young Fox Squirrel is amazed by everything and hopes it’s all edible.
The lockdown called nesting can be hard on a Hairy Woodpecker.
Fishing without a license.
A Pileated Woodpecker starts a new job.
A hummingbird drinks deeply.
Lovey-dovey Eurasian Collared-Doves.
Birds are there. Why waste any time not looking at them? Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
This Black-bellied Whistling-Duck wasn’t just whistling Dixie.
Mourning Doves in the afternoon.
It was only a year ago when I was dancing with a flamingo in Kansas.
Is every Chipping Sparrow a chip off the old block?
A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak is cuter than a newborn, speckled piglet.
Naturally
Birds teach me to listen.
I heard geese. Canada geese too young to breed, along with those that lost nests early in the breeding season, undertake a molt migration in late May and early June. They fly to northern and subarctic areas where they molt their flight feathers and spend the summer. They migrate back In September and October.
I ran outside to fill the bird feeders. I scurried like a carhop hoping for a big tip. I checked the nyjer seed feeders. Goldfinches love this seed (once commonly called thistle seed) native to Ethiopia. It's sterilized by heat treatment to deter the germination of noxious weeds. This shortens its life, making the seed vulnerable to spoilage. It spoils like milk. Nyjer contains natural high-calorie oils. When the oils dry, the seed loses food value and flavor, and is shunned by birds. Replace nyjer seed every month if it's not being eaten. Nyjer seed stays fresh for as long as three months, so buy it in amounts you'll use in that time.
A monarch butterfly polished my day. I love seeing monarchs any time, but they're particularly good to see in May.
I went for a walk. I listened closely. A noisy killdeer hobbled by on crutches. The killdeer feigned having a broken wing, dragging its bad wing while calling loudly. This display is meant to draw me away from its nest. Why would a hungry predator like me want measly little eggs when I could have a plump bird like her? The killdeer's nest was a scrape in the gravel. The eggs blended in with their background.
A yellow warbler called. The mnemonic is "sweet sweet sweet I’m so sweet." Collective nouns for this species are a trepidation or sweetness. A red-eyed vireo sang a series of slurred notes sounding as if it were counting the leaves. Perhaps it asks a question and then answers it. We've all done that.
I watched a ditch mallard stand on one leg. That probably felt good after a long day and isn't unlike me putting my feet up on my desk.
A red-winged blackbird launched a vigorous attack on a crow. The crow was likely relieved its attacker wasn't a great horned owl. Owls and crows make the Hatfields and McCoys look like best friends. I found a headless crow years ago. An owl probably ate the head. Brains are nutritious and are relatively easy to get at through the thinner bones of the skull. The juncture between head and body on birds is a weak one. The head can be removed quickly, leaving an opening into the upper torso, and allowing easy access to organ meats without needing to pulling off many feathers first.
Q&A
Donna Stolaas of Glenville asked how common scarlet tanagers are in Minnesota. They're a regular breeding resident and migrant. They are broadly distributed, but are most abundant in the north-central region of the state where they utilize mature upland forest habitats.
"How about some bird movies to watch?" The most famous is Alfred Hitchcock's classic horror story, "The Birds." It's not my favorite. "The Big Year, "Rare Birds," "The Birder," "Winged Migration," "March of the Penguins," "The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos," "Ghost Bird," "A Birder's Guide to Everything," "The Bird Men," and "The Love God" starring Don Knotts as a publisher of a birding magazine. I didn't include series like "The Life of Birds" or animated films.
"Do you know of an online store offering birding binoculars? I'm not interested in cameras." Redstart Birding at https://redstartbirding.com. Phone: 833-262-1568. Email: info@redstartbirding.com
"Why don't you capitalize bird names in your column?" A yellow warbler might make a case for capitalizing bird names. There is a species named the yellow warbler and there are yellow warblers, which are warblers that are yellow, but any confusion can be handled with careful writing. Capitalization is generally determined by the style of the publication. Some find capitalizing every common name gives a text a cluttered look. Capitalization in academic papers fits the purpose. An argument can be made for each side, but the AP Style doesn't capitalize.
Thanks for stopping by
"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common — this is my symphony." — William Henry Channing
"I think if you listen closely In the sweet, glad days of spring, With the song of the brook, the breeze and the birds, You can hear the flowers sing." — Helen Isabel Moorhouse
Do good.
© Al Batt 2020
A great blue heron is incapable of biting off more than it could chew, but it will attempt to eat more than it can swallow. Photo by Al Batt
A chickadee can make me smile without doing anything but being.
The Eastern Kingbird, Tyrannus tyrannus, was tops in its assertiveness training class.
It’s said that the Field Sparrow sings like a bouncing ball, but it’s much prettier than that.
You catch more flies with a dead armadillo than with honey.
The Orchard Oriole is the smallest of the North American orioles.
“Take your umbrella, “ my mother advised. We laughed. We didn’t own an umbrella. Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
The goldfinch not only got wet, it was wearing its good feathers.