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Favorite Website
Okay, so my new favorite website besides “W 7th is where the cool kids hang out” is moumn.org. Twenty-two years of birding and I never have been connected to this group for current bird sightings. I have for the Audubon Society, but the moumn.org has an incredibly active group.
April 16, I went down to the Old Cedar Bridge because there had been sightings of a white-faced ibis. And dang, it was still there, plus, other birders with telescopes. The ibis was cooperative. Just hanging out, preening, and taking a drink. Days earlier there was a black necked stilt there but we could not see it today — that did not mean it was not there.
There were flocks of green-winged teals, blue-winged teals, northern
shovelers, coots, great and lesser yellow legs, bald eagles, Canada geese, turkey vultures, flickers, cardinals, robins, great egrets, phoebes and swallows.
Warbler migration is beginning and it is early. The yellow-rumps have been here a few weeks already.
Look overhead in the morning and in the evening and watch the great-blue herons. They go out fishing everyday from the rookery on the Mississippi.
One of my favorite books is Richard Wright’s Haiku: This Other World.
#90
How the rain washes
Wrinkled skins of writhing worms
To a tender pink!
Worms that are not native to the U.S.A. But they exist and the robins love them.
#78
An apple blossom
Trembling on a sunlit branch
From the weight of bees
We need to protect our bees. They are struggling with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and losing their food sources. Can you imagine a life without honey?
#435
Look, look, look!
These are the violets
Left by last night’s rain!
I have Canadian violets and purple violets this year, fuller than ever and I love them.
I am slowly transitioning to native plants. No store-bought seeds for my birds. No-Mow Lawns by Evelyn J. Hadden.
Send me some of your haikus for summer.
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Favorite time of year
Motorcycles, muskrats, warm sunshine, snakes sunbathing, croaking frogs, red winged blackbirds, mosquitoes, active eagles’ nests, bicycles, dogs running, babies swinging, ice receding toward center, take a breath. The earth opening up after a long sleep, faint hues in the treetops, yellowy willow buds, double-breasted cormorants hanging on deadheads, and great blue herons soaring, a blast of spring. It’s here. But, alas, the maple syrup is not. It never got cold enough, long enough at night for the sap to run. Not so sweet.
This is my favorite time of year, mostly because of bird migration. It’s been an explosion, almost overnight with the early arrivals. Killdeers are here already.
Have you ever noticed how black the robin’s head is in spring? Most males have brilliant feathers for mating and the dance. Aw, spring. Fresh and anew.
American robins are another of my favorite migratory birds, a thrush, one of the first to return. Although, many do not even leave because of open water. I love their even song. Least we not forget the other early thrush, the most beautiful eastern bluebird, which I saw on March 10th.
I rode my bicycle down along the Mississippi at Kaposia Landing, in South St. Paul; it is a great bike path once you get there. The landing site is lush all around and the birds are thick. It is rather industrial down there. The juxtaposition is pretty good. Railroad tracks, boxcars, graffiti, warehouses, metal castings, birds of prey, song birds, waterfowl, gulls, herons, shorebirds, frogs, snakes, and bugs. A symphony of songs until you pass under the 494 bridge.
Just south of Pig’s Eye Lake, at Kaposia Landing, (read the historic marker) on the east river bank of the Mississippi is a heron rookery. At one time it held claim to having the most black-crowned night herons in the country. If you look up on the cliffs you will see a small domed church, above the railroad tracks, and the rookery is straight across the river. If you look long enough you will see birds flying in and out of the trees — it is like an airport. At peak it has great blue herons, great egrets, double-crested cormorants, green herons, and of course the black-crowned night heron, and it is very noisy when the chicks are born.
There was also a flock of either ringed-billed or herring gulls — they were too far away to identify. These are two of the three breeding gulls in Minnesota. All the others are migratory. These are considered nuisance birds by the Department of Natural Resources. Well, they do like K-Mart parking lots. I mean really. Sea gulls they are not, call them by their rightful name. The frigatebird would be a sea bird.
There are many groups holding all kinds of birding gatherings. You can check birding-minnesota.com and mntrails.com to see what might interest you. Choices include nighttime American woodcock mating displays in April, in Wadena, MN; just contact Kent at rshceer@charter.net for a reservation. And, the bird festival in Detroit Lakes, May 17-20 is unique in that three ecosystems come together there, making for a wide variety of fine birding. The festival hires buses for day trips, and experts who give talks, share stories, and have telescopes. YEAH!!!
E-mail me if you would like to go out birding during migration: halleofalvey@gmail.com.
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Night lights and bird flights
Night lights and bird flights, the Upper Mississippi Flyway is very important. It is a freeway, with stars as mile markers, and the moon as a guide. So I firmly believe.
Because birds of prey fly during the day, most birds that fly overnight are migratory songbirds. They begin their flights just after the sun goes down and fly until early morning. These birds rely on the stars as their mile makers. Night city lights appear to be stars and confuse the songbirds. So, they end up flying into the light and crashing into buildings. They react like moths. They are not likely to fly back into the darkness. Many that are stunned cannot get their bearings to get up and fly out of the city, so get scooped up in the trash. If you add in fog or rain with low cloud cover, the birds will fly at lower altitudes with more confusion, and more deaths. There are millions of birds that die in this way every year across the U.S.
Fatal Light Awareness Program, FLAP is an organization that has volunteers whose mission is to work to safeguard migratory birds in the urban environment through education, research, rescue and rehabilitation. Their vision is to create a 24-hour collision-free urban environment for migratory birds. See lap.org. Toronto is in a legal battle just about this very thing.
Our governor, Mark Dayton, signed a bill in 2011, authored by State Senator Sandy Rummel that requires structures owned or leased by the state to turn out the lights after midnight during spring and autumn migrations. There are energy savings and the fact that we as urbanites can see more stars. It’s healthy. So, adding soccer lights in Victoria Park is not a good idea.
Have there been any sightings of snowy owls yet in the hood? They are virtually pure white. Fledglings are grey puffs with a white face and are covered in dark bars in their first years. They are the official bird of Quebec, summering 60 degrees north latitude, in the Arctic Tundra. They are the most recognizable, with yellow eyes and a black bill. Although they are one of the largest and heaviest owls in North America, they are the most agile.
Snowy owls like to perch in open areas, sitting and waiting for their meals. As do all owls, they eat their prey whole: bones, teeth, fur, scales and all. Their stomach juices digest the flesh, and the rest is compacted into oval pellets that the owl regurgitates a day later.
Owl pellets are really cool to find in the woods. If you do, please be respectful, and not hang around long, because that is most likely where the owl lives. They get nervous around people and may abandon their nest, or you may disturb their owlets. But if you find any owl pellets you can dissect, sometimes there may be bones of a prior meal. When my son Myles was in fifth grade, one science project required them to dissect owl pellets. He found three femurs.
The reason we have snowy owls down here on 44.95 degrees north latitude is because of the fluctuations of food sources. Snowy owls prefer lemmings, which are small rodents that do not hibernate. Their populations fluctuate every seven years or so. And then the warmer weather is also a factor. So they must fly south for food.
Migration begins soon in Minnesota. I have heard many birds are back already, but I wonder if some just never left. The robin is my favorite.
What are your favorite spring arrivals?
No bird grows faster in North America than the bald eagle. Go down to see them starting at Red Wing, MN, Colville Park, or all the way to Wabasha to the Eagle Center. Plus, there have been flocks of coots hanging around longer — eagles’ favorite food.
E-mail me if you would like to go out birding during migration: halleofalvey@gmail.com.
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January in Minnesota
January in Minnesota, warmer than normal, and no snow. I would have been on my cross country skis at least ten times by now. Unfortunately, I have not been once. I am going to the state of Wyoming to find snow because they have it!
Nova Classical charter school arises over the mud and muck with remarkable grace and speed sometimes silhouetted by the evening rise of the crows.
Have you noticed the crows over in Victoria Park? Every evening they gather in a murder before going off to roost for the night. But what are they doing just hanging around. Have any of you walked Victoria Park? It is a venture to get there right now — nothing is posted. One has to find the road underneath the railroad tracks. You can see intentional development. The space is slated as a soccer field not as a park.
Four soccer fields, actually, with a berm overlooking the Mississippi River. I have mentioned before, the Mississippi River is actually the “Upper Mississippi Flyway.” Well, that means when birds migrate, they use the Mississippi River and also the Minnesota River, which flows into the Mississippi River just above the proposed Victoria Park. Well, the birds use these rivers as roads to go back and forth to their respective summer and winter homes. Migrations of birds are in the spring and autumn. Soccer teams gather to compete in the spring and autumn and need lights to play. Many birds migrate at night. This would not be conducive to night travel for migratory birds.
I will be investigating this further; night migratory flights and bright, shiny lights. I would much rather have access to a really cool park that overlooks the river, that I can use all year long versus four soccer fields with limitations and a lot of traffic.
What do you envision for your neighborhood here in the West End? For Victoria Park? Let our legislators know. Let your council member, Dave Thune know. Let Mayor Coleman know for sure. As the development of the river comes forth, we have the most undeveloped land. So, there will be the biggest changes here in the West End. Speak up!
I know Andrew Hine and I are wondering what happened to our beloved juncos. They showed up in November and now with all this warm weather, they are gone. Has anyone banded any of these little buggers? Where are they anyway?
The dark–eyed juncos are two tones of grey, with a white underbelly. They have beaks like sparrows. They like to eat off the ground, dirt or snow, they don’t care. They love backyards in winter that have seeds and even dried fruit on the ground.
Also, look out for the Snowy Owl, there have been sightings already. They are coming down for the winter.
And check out the Eagle Center in Wabasha, the eagles are hanging out.
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Trumpeter Swans
Trumpeter swans were on Lake Phalen last week; they looked like big hunks of snow. It was a peculiar sight, surreal, like snow sculptures. As I neared I could see Canada geese too, but the white blobs had no head. I drove by again two hours later and the white blobs were all up; it was so cool to see them, resting before Brownsville, Minnesota, eh!Lots of birds stay for the winter. One in particular, the (feral) pigeon, originally bred for food, fancy, and racing. (They escaped and multiplied. Gazillions.) These birds are rather annoying, they bow a lot, walk, eat litter, poop, but their cooing is similar to the beloved mourning dove.We see them everywhere, hanging out on concrete. My son Myles and I saw thousands of them in London, in Trafalgar Square. These feral pigeons are generally blue, gray, and white with two dark wing bars. There are hundreds of species of pigeons and doves around the world. Fancies were bred to be pretty. Some are just beautiful, like the Victoria crowned pigeon of New Guinea and the Wompoo fruit dove of the east coast in Australia.Today, their natural predators are humans and birds of prey. Peregrine falcons love to eat them. We trap them and/or shoot them. In 1957, my father moved our family of four to Chicago to eradicate pigeons; his title was “Pigeon Piper.” I remember pigeons in the back of the station wagon. That is where we children sat too.Pigeons can find their way home. They do not like to go anywhere, though. They carried messages in both World Wars. They helped Charles Darwin with his theory of evolution. They are the favorite food of the peregrine falcon. They were the first airmail carriers — Auckland, New Zealand to the Great Barrier Island. They are members of “Project Sea Hunt” (saving people lost at sea). They recognize the ABCs, really, all 26 letters. They can pass “the mirror test” (recognizing themselves). And they can pick you out of your family photograph (with a reward of course). They like flying games, like Triganieri, something to do with lofts, birds flying in and out, and occasional gunpowder (1328 CE). It must be a guy thing. I don’t understand it. Throughout history, pigeons have flown from lofts and played games for humans.Passenger pigeons became extinct in 1914, when Martha, who lived in captivity most of her life, died in her cage in the Cincinnati Zoo. They lived in vast flocks. John James Audubon reported seeing one billion in the Kentucky sky, in 1813. They were exterminated as the buffalo were in America with the advancing settlers. The gigantic colonies darkened the skies so the settlers took it upon themselves to eradicate them. It is a sad story, but they may not have survived limited space. The term “stool pigeon” comes from live passenger pigeons, eyes sewn shut, which were used as decoys to lure other pigeons to their death.Homing pigeons are still alive and well and played with regularly. How can we use our pigeons? They are really intelligent, and learn quickly. There are so many of them in the world. Let’s green up our pigeons.back to top
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Bird food for winterGet your last dust bath in, so the birds say. Lovely November, a repeat of lovely October, too much an Indian Summer. HA! I’ve been watching the sparrows — there must be 30 of them in my backyard. ARGH!!! Does that call for open season on them? They are creatures of the universe, I know. And they are really cute taking a dust bath. Have you ever noticed birds taking dust baths?Why do they do that? Feather maintenance, mostly; the dust soaks up moisture and oil and parasites. Taking a dust bath may even help birds cool down on hot day — it was 50 degrees today, and the sparrows were in a frenzy, like it was 90 degrees. There’ll be no more sand available by the time this goes to print.Bird food for winter.I was down at the Wabasha Eagle Center a few weeks ago. (And I say go, go, go — it’s beautiful and has a lot to offer for all age groups and varied interests in eagles.) I bought a few books while I was there, one being “Cooking for Birds” by Adele Porter. (My son, Myles, the boomeranger, was like; “You’re cooking for birds now, what about the rest of us?”) Anyway, Adele has a great website wildaboutscience.com. The first thing I made was the zebra-striped suet-sicles. They are really cute, and easy to make but terribly time consuming. It’s the Zen thing, finding new ways to slow down. Anyone interested in cooking for birds, join me at my house on December 13, 6:30 p.m. Contact me by email if you are interested: halleofalvey@gmail.com. Birds eat a variety of foods; cardinals eat different foods than chickadees for example. Here are some good foods for birds this winter. Black oil sunflower seeds, suet, peanuts, nyjer seed, dried fruit, millet, salt, mixed seeds and cracked corn. We have a great bird store in Highland Park, Wild Birds Unlimited. You can ask the staff about what foods attract the types of birds you would like in your backyard.When purchasing your bird foods or ingredients you want to consider good quality, nutritious, high caloric content. This will give the birds energy to build up their fat reserves for their overnight sleep. You may encounter a few squirrels at the feeders so you may need some devices to keep them away. Consider doing the 112th Christmas/Holiday Bird Count, which will begin on December 14. Go to aubudon.org/bird/cbc/index.html. Snow, the beautiful, white ground cover limits the birds’ search for food and water. Feeding the birds can be a delight all winter long.back to top
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Lovely OctoberLovely October, 2011, I saw a few woolly bear caterpillars on the bike path on Shepard Road. I had to pull over and get off my bicycle to check them out, because I think they are so cute and they move across the path slowly. Woolly bears? They are crossing sidewalks, asphalt trails, and dirt road in the autumn, looking for some bark or a log to crawl under. They hatch in spring. Maybe you’ve seen them. These caterpillars have black bands with orange/rusty middles. Legend has it they predict the length of winter by the length of their middle strip. Narrow stripe, mild winter; wide stripe, long winter. These caterpillars turn into Isabella Tiger Moths, which are rather innocuous yellow and green moths.We’ve also got garter snakes slithering under rocks, burrowing into their winter homes. I watched one slither up from the alley over the basketball court in the backyard. I have a lot of garter snakes. This spring I lifted up a rock and found a momma with four babies all would up on each other. It is good ecology to have snakes in an urban garden. My neighbor, Geri, hates them. She was always calling on my son, Myles, to get them out of her yard. Ha!!! Like that is going to do any good.Many birds are still migrating (Tundra Swans are just starting). Some birds are a little later this October with the 80-degree weather we have been having. Last week there were a lot of warblers in the hood. A flock of robins stopped over in my yard for about a week.I was at the opening of “1968: The Year That Rocked the World” at the History Museum; there was a kiosk of Minnesota history outside the entrance. The loon was there. Can you guess? It is our state bird. It’s also the provincial bird of our neighbors in Ontario.We have the common loon in Minnesota but there are several species in the north, northern America. The arctic loon, the yellow billed, the white billed, the black-throated, and the red-throated loon. And the chicks ride on their parents backs until they learn how to swim. Loons have four distinct calls. A wail, a hoot, a yodel (the most recognizable) and an aggressive maniacal laugh. They are built like a torpedo, diving to depths well below 30 feet in pursuit of dinner (some reports say they go as deep as 250 feet). We have more loons than any other state except Alaska.Here is a late autumn suggestion. Take a trip down to Brownsville, Minnesota on Highway 26 (the Great River Road) to see thousands of Tundra Swans. They are lying over until early December when they head further south. Make sure you stop in Winona at the Eagle Center too.back to top
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Migration | 10.11The other day I was standing in my side porch, looking out, when I saw a rush of dreaded English sparrows fly into the bridal veil bush. A Cooper’s hawk flew out of the bush with an English sparrow in it talons. I blinked in astonishment. It was like, what just happened? I did not see the Cooper’s hawk fly into the bush. It took a moment for my brain to register what my eyes had just witnessed, as I watched the hawk land on my neighbor’s roof. Cooper’s hawks typically hunt with a short dive through dense cover using their tail like a rudder to stop and turn and snatch their prey. They can be seen running on the ground, half flying, and half running after their prey, and they are relentless.Cooper’s hawks frequently visit my yard and sit on the fence, especially in winter. I also see a lot of them hanging out on the steeple of St. Frances de Sales Catholic Church (Osceola and James). They share the roost with peregrine falcons and a multitude of crows.The Cooper’s hawk is a bird of prey, an accipiter, also known as the chicken hawk. They like to eat birds, along with small mammals, lizards and snakes. There are many categories of hawks: buteos, accipiters, kites, harriers, falcons, even eagles, and you could throw in an owl or two. The Cooper’s hawk is a smaller hawk (14-18 inches) with shorter, rounded wings and long (striped) tails which make them agile hunters. They have red eyes, a black cap, blue-grey wings and a white breast with flecked reddish bars and a white underbelly. And they are seen more often at bird feeders in the city. They are bigger than their look-alike, the sharp-shinned hawk, which are 9-12 inches and more blue. It can be hard to tell them apart. Just like the hairy (9-11 inches) and the downy (6-7 inches) woodpeckers.Well, the migration will be in full force by the time you read this article. A drive up to Hawk Ridge in Duluth may be in order—see hawkridge.org.You could do it in a day trip. Migration can start early in August for kestrels (a falcon) and go through mid-December with broad-winged hawks (a buteo). Thousands of birds of prey fly over Hawk Ridge. There will be a lot of movement in the sky, especially along our Upper Mississippi Waterway. Notice the honkers in v-formation.back to top
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Who Cooks For You | 9.11
I am in woods right now, with no contact to the media world, unless I leave the lodge, which I have done a few times to swim, visit folks, or check in. I like it up here alone. Even with the huge pile of bear scat along the road near the house. I hear the barred owl every night. It is one of our more common owls in the Upper Midwest.But first I saw the owl on the road and was not sure what it was until later from other accounts the same evening.Ten at nightMassive bird wings startle meGrazing my windshieldOn the gravel road detourAdrenaline rushWhat was that I say?MidnightBarred Owl magistrateHerbster WITaking the roadHalting travelersNow aware“Who cooks for you”“Who cooks for you, who cooks for you” is one of its many calls. The owls are about 20 inches tall with grayish brown crossbars on their feathers and giant, yellow talons. They like to live in the woods, with a lot of pines, and a lot of water. They like to fish. They stand in the water to fish. That would be a sight to see, I must say.Barred owls mate for life but they live alone after the owlets leave the nest. They like to live in old crow or squirrel cavities and they have four or five eggs in the nest.Owls swallow their food whole and regurgitate the bones and hair. You may find owl pellets on the ground. If you dissect them you can tell what they had for dinner. When my son, Myles, was in fifth grade, they got to dissect owl pellets in science class. It was his most favorite thing ever. We had to order a couple for a project at home. Geez, that was like when I found the dried up newts as I was vacuuming earlier that year.Notice the bird songs are less but they are still hanging around. I have planted some native plants the past two years, and I am delighted the goldfinches stay all the time now. They love the green coneflowers for sure.
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Baby bird babbling | 8.11
I was having breakfast with my friend, Wendy, at Day by Day Café, out on the beautiful patio. When all of a sudden we have a fledgling, right next to us, like two feet away on a branch, practicing new songs. It was one of those cute, sweet, tiny, acrobatic, agile birds. A half ounce of fluffy, downy feathers. Black and not so white, undetermined bib distinctions with grayish baby cheeks, just hanging and singing three of its songs.Baby bird babbling.Just like human babies babbling.A whole new world of songs. Sometimes singing only one note, or a sub song, they are practice songs. Babbling. We were presented with a medley for the whole time we were there. We did not see either parent, but I’m sure they were near by. These fledglings stay about one month with the parents.Have you guessed? It was a baby chickadee. There are seven different kinds of chickadees. In our region it is the Black Capped Chickadee. The chickadee is part of the titmouse family. In the 14th century, “tit” was anything small, and “mose,” mouse, applied to any small dull-colored bird of that time period. Chickadees sing their name and they must learn their songs from their parents, for unlike most songbirds it is not in their DNA. Their song is the first sign of spring. Chickadees have what is considered the most sophisticated means of communication, with over 13 distinct classified vocalizations and over 5,000 alarm calls. Chickadee dee dee…. More dee dee dees when predators are around, up to 23 “dees” have been documented. “A so yennee” – what?! They say that too.Chickadees are in the nest for about two weeks, and with their parents for one month after they learn to fly, before they literally vanish one day. Researchers have not found out when or why that happens. So, anyway, they do not have a lot of time to learn. When they fly the coop, the chickadees do find another group to live with and stay there. Some loosely organized groups. Some other family groups. But not their own. Protecting the species, eh!!! The Cherokee Indians believe the chickadee is the bird of truth. Truth and knowledge.And then, I saw our theatrical killdeer in the neighborhood. It is named for call, like the chickadee. The killdeer will feign a broken wing to keep predators away from their nest. It is a plover, which is a shorebird, only they live in the city, they like rooftops, fields, and pastures. They stand tall with a robust body and thin legs with two wide black rings around the neck and breast.I saw a baby killdeer at the compost heap on the east side of St. Paul. I was worried for its life because there was so much traffic there. I wanted to rescue it and bring it home. It was the darndest, cutest, lankiest, little thing. Almost a miniature, but with really, really long legs. Its call was tiny — babblings of killdeer. It would just stop and look up at me.Notice: Doves, taking their fledglings for a walk down the alley ways. Cute too. Coooo, cooo, coo, co.On a personal note, my fledgling has moved back home: thank goodness he is not babbling. back to top |
English sparrows, starlings and grackles | 7.11English sparrows, starlings and grackles. Argh!!! I have been hearing stories of these invasive species wreaking havoc at bird feeders and in gardens. I also heard a rumor that the English sparrow population is declining in England. We should trap them all and return them to their native land, as far as I’m concerned. The sparrows have taken over my spirea; the bridal wreath, and it looks like crap!!! It is thin, from broken, chewed branches; late blooming, from too much bird poop; and has very few flowers, compared to my other spirea, the Grefsheim, which they’ve left alone. That is very healthy, with fabulously, alarmingly, full blooms. The starlings are the bullies at the bird feeders. It’s a hostile takeover. The songbirds bolt. There are a few things you can do to deter them, like taking the bird feeders down for a few weeks, so the starlings look elsewhere, changing the placement of the bird feeders, or changing the food. So, while I was riding my bicycle to Mississippi Market and coming along the empty lots with tall flowering weeds, like thistle, I saw that the grackles are plentiful there. Parents and the little mucky gray chicks that were full-size already were shooting up out of the weeds like missiles, straight up, hundreds of them. Making lots of annoying noise. The grackles may even be more prolific than the sparrows. (And I have heard that the English and the house sparrows have up to five clutches. Let’s see 5 x 3 would equal 15 new birds just in my yard alone.)But we have indigo buntings on the riverbeds. I found several when I was riding along Shepard Road, between Randolph and 35E. I was not sure of the first one’s identity because of the glare from the sun, but I saw two more just before the 35E bridge. And we have an osprey nest near 155 Randolph, just across the street. I have not seen any osprey chicks yet, but I might with a telescope. The parents are actively working it.I think May and June are the most beautiful, lush, green months of the year. Everything looks so brilliant up above. Oxygen. So, we have to listen more right now with the thickness of the leaves. We just won’t see the birds much. I received “The Singing Life of Birds” last month and I am just able to start learning about the art and science of listening to birdsong. Thanks, Jean-Marie.Notice the sounds of the birdsongs. Many birds have up to five different songs or alarm calls. Notice the night birds: the owls do not have the monopoly on evening dinner. Get in touch by emailing: halleofalvey@gmail.com
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Notice the Birds | 6.11May 13, I was up in Grantsburg at a friend’s cabin on the St. Croix River. I saw so many wildflowers blanketing the hill and the river bed. It was so exciting and beautiful beyond compare. Jack in the pulpits, skunk cabbage, trout lilies, Solomon’s seal, trillium, wild ginger, violets, wood sorrel, wild strawberries, wild raspberries, and ramps, to name a few. It was a great, quiet, reflective walk. I did my tick check, went into the sauna, and thought I was safe. But Sunday night I felt pain in my head and a bump, and there was a female deer tick.May 14, I was sitting outside in the evening, drinking a glass of wine, and I heard the common nighthawk a bit early. Nighthawks are not actual hawks; they are related to the whip-poor-wills. Unfortunately, their population is declining. They come out late afternoon and fly all night. They like to catch flying insects, like mosquitoes, moths, and other night fliers. They have a short “peet” sound, and their wings make missile type sound when flying downwards. They are very distinctive, kind of flat, with grey and white fluffy feathers with white bars on their wings, almost like circles. They have a wide face with a huge mouth, with fringed bristles … “A flying insect trap.” Ancient lore has it that these birds fed on goats’ milk all night long since they were hovering near the goats all night long. Hence, their other name “goatsuckers.”May 15, I met with the Friends of Lilydale, at Lilydale Park, early in the morning. I saw a few friends there too. It was great. We saw or heard more than 40 different birds and ducks. The entry at Annapolis and Highway 13 has several trails and a great vista for sunsets. I would highly recommend a walk. Below, you can see Pickerel Lake and our neighborhood, plus downtown St. Paul. Pickerel Lake is also great for boating, kayaking, or fishing this time of year — not too buggy or weedy.May 16, I heard a flock of chimney swifts outside of Mississippi Market, little black cigars flying around. We have many along West Seventh. They never stop flying; they cannot perch, constant motion. They are among the fastest fliers, too. They also like flying insects, mosquitoes, gnats, and small flies. In past years I have seen them flock up and swoop down into chimneys at dusk. Their populations have declined by 50% in the past 40 years. You can help chimney swifts, if your home was built before 1960, and you have a brick chimney that is not in use and squirrel proof. Or you could build a swift tower. There is a chimney swift sit each fall. Contact the Audubon Society for information: mn.audubon.org.Notice the night birds: the owls do not have the monopoly on evening dinner. Get in touch by emailing: halleofalvey@gmail.com
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Very Exciting Time for Birding | 4.11I have been preparing for my upcoming installation with the members of the leadership circle from Self-Advocates Minnesota, and the members of Advocating Change Together who are assisting me, so I have not written a lot, but this is a very exciting time for birding. Especially living along the Upper Mississippi Flyway. I am awaiting the arrival of our neighborhood red-winged blackbird. As I listen to the evening song of the robin. And notice. Hearing all the bird songs.The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union hotline for bird sightings is 763-780-8890, or you can go to moumn.org for all kinds of interesting things about birds and migration.This will be an exciting month. The first turkey vulture was sighted last week in southern Minnesota. On my way back from Faribault on March 16, I saw a flock of pelicans flying over Buck Hill on I-35. That was very exciting. And the robins have been singing their evening songs for about a week now.A few migrants who have returned are the tundra swan, cackling goose, northern pintail, American widgeon, ruddy duck (with its cool blue bill), common loon, great blue heron, American coot, eastern meadowlark, rusty blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, common grackle, northern flicker, and the eastern bluebird (one of my favorites), which can always been seen at Carpenter Nature Center just north of the confluence of the St. Croix River and the Mississippi, 12805 Saint Croix Trail S., Hastings (651-437-4359 or carpenternaturecenter.org).
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Snow Fleas | 3.11On February 13, it was 48 degrees. I went down to Fort Snelling Park, in search of springtails, more commonly known as snow fleas. I thought they might be out because of the warmth, and the sticky, wet snow. That brings them up from the ground below. When it warms up, usually in March, the springtails climb up plants to the snow surface and feed on decaying matter. Plus, it is their mating season. Snow fleas are no more than one tenth of an inch long, (they are not bugs, they are insects), and they look like ash from a campfire sprinkled on the snow, only the ash is hopping. They actually do not move with their legs and wings. They have abdominal appendages held under their body that spring when released.Larry Weber, naturalist, and author of the “Backyard Almanac,” describes it as “pepper jumping.” Alas, I saw not a one. They must know it will be cold again very soon. So in March we can be assured of finding them. Probably not in our backyards. We will have to travel a bit: Crosby, Fort Snelling State Park or Battle Creek and certainly out of the cities. Just look around for a lot of black specks, and notice, they will probably be moving.Then after the snow melts the snow fleas hang out on the leaf layer of the earth. Although, this year, they may have to burrow down low. The Army Corps of Engineers predicts that there is an 80% chance of flooding in St. Paul. We have the confluence of the Minnesota and the Mississippi Rivers at Pike Island, in Fort Snelling State Park. Whoa, that’s a lot of water converging. March 17, there will be a press briefing about the state of the rivers. You can follow the projections at nws.noaa.gov/htm, or you can look up dnr.state.mn.us.html. Savage is the place to start for our predictions.The flooding will bring many changes to the wildlife on the river. As far as the birds go, most will not be affected. The waterfowl will love it. And we will see a lot more ducks. But the ground feeders, like the robins, juncos, cardinals, blue jays, nuthatches, and brown creepers, will be looking for new places to feed. So, you may want to consider hanging out a bird feeder this spring or having more bird food available. March and April are critical months for birds anyway, since their food source becomes sparse. I remember the 2001 flood. I had so many more birds at my feeders. It was a delight. The birds will go back for nesting when the water recedes. Migration will start next month — so soon! Look for birds traveling on the Upper Mississippi Flyway. They may even layover and fatten up in your backyard before heading further north. We have a male red-winged blackbird that rests on our block every spring for about two weeks. Happy Birding!back to top
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Omnivores | 2.11
New Years Eve I was at a party where we had a “White Elephant” exchange. I think it’s a new rage for an old game. How do we entertain ourselves on little or no money? And how do we get rid of stuff?
Well, I ended up with the “Omnivore’s Dilemma.” It is a book about how we eat. Humans are omnivores. So are crows, ravens, and many other birds, like wild turkeys. Since I have been seeing them around town a lot in the past year in particular, I thought I would write about them this time.
Wild turkeys have no predators. Their normal habitat is in hardwood forests with scattered openings and swamps. They like to sit up in the trees. Being opportunists, they left the forest for suburbia; indeed, as many have. Bored there, looking for organics, they ventured into our urban landscape.
As omnivores, we will eat anything we can find. Oh, I mean “them” – the wild turkeys. Insects and salamanders in summer, for protein. Corn, one of their favorites, especially in dirt along railroad tracks. Acorns, seeds, fern fronds, buds and berries in summer.
Right now you see them moving up and down the river corridor and hanging around in your back yard. They live fairly undisturbed. We have a lot of green space here and large trees where they roost for the night.
The Department of Natural Resources says, DON’T FEED WILD TURKEYS. They become very territorial, messy, and aggressive. Plus, a huge conflict can ensue. Turkey lover versus turkey hater.
Wild turkeys are considered Minnesota’s greatest conversation story. There are more than 30,000 in Minnesota, where once there were only a few to be found.
I want to encourage you all to listen for the Black Capped Chickadees this coming month. They will be singing a lot. They have many songs that have different meanings.
Their most common song and their namesake is “Chickadeedeedeedee.” There is a gargled “tseedleedeet” (for aggressive encounters) and a contact call, a simple, short, hissing sound of “tsit.” My favorite “see saw”, and “fee beeee” or “fee beeyee,” and the alarm call is a “teeteeteeteetee.” These birds are so cute and the most friendly of them all. They will come to your hand to take seed.
The Great Backyard Bird Count for 2011 occurs on February 18-20. Go to gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/checklist/ to get details. Come meet me one hour before dusk, February 19, 4:45 p.m. at Crosby Farms, by the fire pit, we’ll go counting.
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A Flock of Robins, a Murder of Crows, and a Gaggle of Geese | 1.11 Just before the first big snowfall in December, I was amazed to see robins everywhere. They form large flocks and gather in trees to roost or eat berries in winter. I had a large flock on Arbor Street too. Since there are no fruit-bearing trees, I put out some dark raisins and Goji berries for them. They love to eat berries and worms. What a diet. The robin migration seems never ending these days. It occurs later and later in the year.
Have you seen your murder of crows (a group of crows) hanging out? The term comes from 15th century English lore, and the negative attitudes that developed as crows lost their habitat to the new agrarian lifestyle. Crows congregate during winter, foraging and living in communal roosts. Upward of 1,000 crows per night.
Love them or hate them, crows are by far the most intelligent of all the birds. They communicate with a wide range of messages through their calls, varying the “caw, caaw” in many ways. Crows sound the alarm in the forest. They are inquisitive, mischievous, and brilliant innovators. They make their tools and use them. They devise solutions to problems, notice unusual sources of food — they eat anything. Crows thrive around people. Unfortunately, crows succumb to the West Nile Virus more than any other bird, dying within one week.
Then amid the frozen snow and frigid temperatures, a gaggle of geese flies overhead. It was really weird to hear them this late December evening, honking their way along their winter route, maybe stopping along the Mississippi River. Just where they were coming from or going to I could not tell.
Pretty soon the tundra and trumpeter swans along with the snow geese will be heading for Wabasha, Minnesota, resting there and fattening up for the next flight. It’s pretty awesome. Then you get all those eagles flying around checking out their annual intruders. Saying “There goes the neighborhood!” So, I am going out on the bird beat — looking forward to hearing from you.Editor’s note: last month Halle wrote about robins, chickadees, nuthatches, and downy woodpeckers. Each bird has its own behaviors that are really important when identifying the birds. We mistakenly edited out the chickadees, which flit around, while robins hop on the ground. This might have caused the reader some confusion.
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