Nectar-sipping Tennessee Warblers

Did you know Tennessee Warblers drink nectar? I sure didn't. Prof Dan did. That's one of the greatest aspects of banding with a retired ornithology prof: the continual "cool!" moments when you learn something new (and for me, there's a lot of those).

The wild plum trees between our veggie garden and the meadow to the east were full of warblers last week. At first I thought they were picking the bugs off the blooms, but then I realized they were actually going from flower to flower and sipping the nectar. They'd stick their beak in as far as it would go, one after the other.

Of course, that meant go grab the camera and for the next half hour or so I was completely enthralled watching the birds as they hopped around. They'd hang upside down, stretch way up on their tippy toes - generally looking like they were in a Twister game, all for the nectar.

Several Nashville Warblers joined in the fun and games, too.

 

Periodically they'd switch over to our crab apple tree.

Judging by the spicier, almost muskier scent of the crab compared to the plums, I'm guessing it was to cut their sugar high.

Digital Warbling

It's amazing what digital cameras have done to make photography (or lack of) more accessible to everyone. Personally, I've always been fascinated by it, took photography classes, used a dark room for years; but until the purchase of my new Nikon earlier this year I'd given up trying to take a lot of photos. It was just too expensive.

Case in point? Warblers. Well, actually birds in general.

How many of you have shot tons of film only to have a couple good photos at best? Now, with my trusty camera, stoop sitting with a glass of wine during this year's phenomenal warbler migration is my favorite current pastime. (Well, not as much a favorite, kind of a cherry, not grape.)

And, to my utter amazement, I actually got a few warblers on camera. No, they're not good photos by any means, but the fact that I even captured them while manually focusing an older telephoto lens (had it from an earlier Nikon and don't have the budget right now to purchase a new lens) shocks me. Not to mention the fact that as I said, it's usually done with a glass of wine in hand. It's something I never would've tried with a film print camera.

Last Friday night, Friday the 13th actually, we had a phenomenal migration of warblers pass through the trees just 50' from our house. We counted more than a dozen species including magnolia, redstart, N. parula, Tennessee, yellow, chestnut-sided, Blackburnian, black and white, yellow-rumped, Nashville, mourning, Wilson's and Connecticut (at least I think it was a Connecticut).

This caused a flurry of digital warbling. Some passable:

And others not so much (but fun nonetheless):

I've decided the Northern Parula is the fastest moving warbler I've seen. It never sits still.

A couple Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are still around and joined in the party, too. 

Think this one is my favorite, simply due to the bird's funny position and how he seems to be moving with the branch:

So, a big THANKS to Nikon for bringing a new challenge to my world!

Canadian Wild Ginger

We have this patch of tiny, heart-shaped leaf plants that emerge ever spring under our pines. If you look real closely, you can see a funky shaped flower near the base of the plant. It's Canadian Wild Ginger and in addition to being an oddly attractive plant, it's also the larval host for the Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly (which is rarely seen in these northern parts).

When the plants emerge, it's this clustering of upright, green velvety leaves poking through the pine needles. They're beautiful on dewy mornings.

Wild Ginger should not be confused with edible ginger, even though the roots have a similar smell - they're not even in the same family. While it's been an herbal remedy for years, Wild Ginger contains a toxic acid (Aristolochic) that causes kidney failure and cancer. Unfortunately, since the plant was cited by Native Americans, Chinese healers and people in the Balkan region for everything from treating burns to using as a contraceptive, many people still use the plant in traditional medicine. In fact, just yesterday the FDA issued a stronger warning to discontinue all use of any botanical products containing Aristolochic acid.

Apparently the root can be carefully harvested and dried, then burned as an insect repellent, but I think I'll just enjoy it as a unique plant in my garden.

Pine Warbler

Timing is everything. I missed a photo of a brightly-colored towhee earlier but while walking back into my kitchen I spied a Pine Warbler on the suet feeder.

The first time I saw this activity was a couple years ago and I had to do a double-take because at first glance I thought it was a female goldfinch. I was glad I'd taken a second look since that was my first viewing of a Pine Warbler in the wild.

Now, every spring, I await the return of the Pine Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers since both flock to the suet feeder, making for excellent viewing.

Last week Professor Dan posted information on his blog about how the design of the Yellow-rumped Warbler's digestive system allows it to have a wider diet than other warblers; helping it survive the harsher weather conditions it faces as one of the earliest migrating warblers.

I'm guessing that the Pine Warbler's digestive system is similar to the Yellow-rumped since it is the only wood warbler whose diet consists heavily of seeds. Because of this, they're frequently seen in backyards (especially those with pines). In fact, it turned its beak up at the mealworms located just a foot away from the suet feeder today. Of course, during the summer they do consume primarily insects, but they're often found hammering away on seeds wedged into the bark of a pine tree much like a woodpecker or a nuthatch.

I always think if more people really looked closely at their backyard birds they'll see species they've not noticed before, and this is one of the prime examples - it just kind of blends in with your other birds.

Pasqueflower

Wow, who would've thought that there'd be so much misleading or contrasting information out there on Pasqueflowers?

Ours is just opening today and I thought it'd be interesting to learn more about the plant. I know it's a prairie plant and even can be found in tundra areas. I know it's the state flower of South Dakota and that it has medicinal properties. It's also the provincial emblem for Manitoba

And I know it's one of my favorite spring plants.

Other than that, it seems like there's a lot of misinformation out there. Wikipedia has it listed as Prairie Smoke, which I always thought was a different plant, apparently not? Wiki's never been a favorite source of mine, so I'll use the USDA and the MNDNR sites as references.

The medicinal properties affect the nervous system and were used by the Chippewa and Blackfoot tribes for everything from congestion, to arthritis to childbirth. It was also used to prolong sex due to the fact that it depresses the nervous system. Too much of it though, and it'll cause vomiting and kidney pain. Careful!

Back to the flower...

I love the light green furry foliage, out of which erupts these gorgeous large (4-5") purple flowers with bright yellow stamens. They just have a very unique appearance. Sometimes they look like flowers out of a fairy tale:

I believe this one is a cultivar since it's never reseeded or spread throughout the garden. Every year we get anywhere from 8-16 blooms, after which it provides attractive lacy foliage; a perfect backdrop for other plants.

This year the Pasqueflower is opening nine days later than last year, but only two days later than in 2009.

Spring is finally here!

A Downy and a Hairy Side-by-Side

I had a cooperative Hairy and Downy Woodpecker on the suet log the other day and snapped a few photos. I've learned if you have the opportunity to show them side-by-side you do it. So many people haven't seen them next to each other to get an idea of size comparison.

Hairys have a wide range of length: from 8-12." Downys on the other hand, rarely venture outside the 5.5-6.5" length.

In addition to the overall size of the bird, you can look for these two identifying features:

1) beak length.  A Hairy Woodpecker's beak will be nearly the depth of its head. It's very balanced in appearance. On the other hand, the Downy Woodpecker's thin, tiny bill looks small on its face; typically measures half of its head depth. I like to think that the Downy's beak looks like a little ice pick whereas the Hairy's beak is more like a true woodpecker's beak.
2) bars or spots on tail feathers. Here in Minnesota (and the Eastern part of the U.S.), Downy Woodpeckers have black dots on outer white tail feathers; Hairy Woodpeckers have solid white feathers. Oddly, in Newfoundland and in the Pacific Northwest (wouldn't you think they'd be closer geographically?), Hairy Woodpeckers often have the black tail markings of Downy Woodpeckers.

Spring Blooms...and snow

Just a few days ago this is what greeted me one morning:

This morning, it's a different sight. The pasque and crocus are completely buried under 2" of fresh spring snow:

I'm holding out hope that our forsythia will still open. Only once in the last 9 years have we lost the blooms due to cold weather, and that was on April 9, 2006.

The bright yellow of a male goldfinch is a welcome splash of color:

Even the deer came out to check out a downed tree:

Cricket Radio

Here in the frozen tundra of Minnesota, spring is slowly emerging. Tulips have broken through, crocuses and squills are blooming and, if you're quiet at night, you can hear the first frogs beginning to call.

For me, nothing speaks more of the northwoods and summer than the lively chorus of frogs, toads, crickets and other night insects.

Several weeks ago I enjoyed listening to an NPR broadcast focusing on all these sounds with guest author John Himmelman.

Himmelman's written a book titled "Cricket Radio" about the night's "nature sounds" and what prompts these critters to produce them.

The sounds swept me away with the promise of warm summer nights. Himmelman's voice detailing what I was hearing, and why I was hearing it, was perfect.

Here's the "Cricket Radio" site where you can listen to the NPR program and learn more about Himmelman's book.

Midwest Crane Count

Gather around Citizen Scientists:
The annual Midwest Crane Count is next Saturday, April 16.

Join more than 3,000 other volunteers as we record crane counts in six Midwest states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana.

To volunteer, just contact your county coordinator.


And, this morning on WPR at 11am (during Larry Meiler's show time) staff from the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wis., will talk about the upcoming count and how crane populations are doing here in the U.S. and around the world. Should be a fascinating program!

(for those not familiar w/WPR's online stream, follow the link and then choose the "Ideas Network" streams.)

Many thanks to WRC for the use of the juvenile Sandhill Crane photo.

Archived WPR stream (2nd one down, 11am on Tuesday, April 5)

Friday Coffeebreak

I haven't been to this site in a while, but the travel bug was biting so it's the perfect Friday coffeebreak:

NASA Astronaut photo quiz

Thanks, NASA!

At The Scene Of The Crime

Earlier this morning I noticed something flopping around on the edge of our yard. Turns out it was a sub-adult Cooper's Hawk with a catch.

It flew to our Norway Spruce to avoid the marauding crows and stayed there for over an hour. It took more than 15 minutes for it to consume its breakfast and then it simply hunkered down and enjoyed the rest of the morning.

Surprised that it'd take 15 minutes to devour a tiny junco or chickadee, I did what any good investigator would do. I went to the scene of the crime:

Alas, turns out breakfast was a cardinal. A pretty nice size meal in all honesty! Although why it couldn't take one of the dozen starlings that have been hanging around... starlings must not be tasty.

If you take a wider look at the scene, you can see the hawk actually struggled to pin the cardinal (must've been what all the flopping was about):

During the investigation I checked out the spruce where it had been sitting. It left behind a nice poofy nest of feathers on top of a mat of boughs, and these soft little ones clinging to the end of a branch. All that remains of a cardinal...

Is it Christmas?

Some things just have to be shared immediately.

After a long day I arrived home to Mtn. Man excitedly pointing to our Red Pine. A casual look for birds presented nothing super interesting, which probably revealed how frazzled I was from work.

Because a second glance showed what he was all giddy about:

The tree is decorated like a Christmas tree with hundreds of glittering icicles hanging off it.  Some are more than 8" long, it's breathtaking. What a simple but awe-inspiring sight. If you could see it in person you'd be amazed, it just glimmers. (Unfortunately my photography skills don't capture the beauty - how do you capture those sparkly glints? They just appear white in the photos... Sigh. You'll have to imagine thousands of glittery sparkles hanging off the tree.)

So I step outside, smell the spring air and absorb nature. Internal balance is restored.

Peppers to Warm a Cold Winter's Night

Oh, the lovely taste of freshly picked spicy peppers! Is there anything better than fresh vegetables? Especially in the winter.

Last night we stuffed and enjoyed 5 of our famous non-Gypsy peppers. They're smaller than usual, but their flavor was incredible!

We refer to them as non-Gypsies because the tiny plant was labeled a Gypsy pepper plant when we bought it two summers ago. After it bore fruit we realized it was in fact, NOT a Gypsy but our local greenhouse is seasonal and was already closed by then. They taste like a cross between a Serrano and a bell, but they're not Hungarian peppers. (we have those overwintering downstairs) So far, we've had no luck identifying them.

All in all, we've harvested peppers from all four plants this winter: Serrano, Hungarian Hot, tiny little Asian chilis and the non-Gypsy.

And, awhile back (on the solstice to be precise), I mentioned that we had started a few Roma tomatoes from seed and that they'd sprouted. I really wasn't sure what to expect, we're growing them without grow lights, but I'm happy to say that they've developed the first tiny little tomatoes!

The plants themselves aren't very strong. I discovered that people recommend directing a fan to blow on larger stemmed plants a few times a day as they're growing to help them develop a strong base. Note for next year!

Even if we don't pick tomatoes until May, it'll still be months ahead of our usual garden schedule. I can't wait for fresh tomatoes. Not only that, but psychologically it's great to have fresh green vegetable plants around while we're chomping at the bit for true spring to arrive.

Black and White with a Splash

This morning, as I glanced out at the gorgeous spring snowscape, it dawned on me that although the yard is filled with shades of black and white, the various shades and tones are quite striking.

Just consider the winter birds: chickadees, juncos, all the woodpeckers, shrikes and yes, the ever-present starlings: they're all black and white combinations. Even the finches are typically in their drab winter colors, now with just a touch of bright yellow flashing every now and then.

The red splashes of color found on woodpeckers and house finches seem to stand out all the more for the otherwise duotone landscape. The brilliant splash of a blue jay or cardinal, and the red breast of a robin, really adds an exclamation mark.

The flock of house finches that arrived last week looks like Christmas ornaments hung in the snowy trees today. Just bits of bright red scattered throughout:

And, below the feeders this morning, mixed in with the "usual suspects" was our first song sparrow of the year (far left):