Breeding Birds

Today I decided to do some work on my breeding bird atlas project. I scoped out the northeast section by car. I stopped at four places. I saw rock doves, tree swallows, barn swallows (see above, courtesy of flicker), brown headed cowbirds, sedge wren, red winged blackbird, pileated woodpecker, mourning dove, a sharp shinned hawk, and red bellied woodpecker. I went to the bridge where the Rum River flows beneath County Road 7. I thought swallows might be nesting under there but couldn't see very well from shore. I wasn't able to confirm any species breeding. I wished I had a kayak so I could travel down stream and look some more. I went home and documented what I saw. What next? I said to myself in an Eeyore voice, "I suppose I might as well go and get some groceries." Somebody knocked at the door. Offspring #2 was here. "Want to do something?" I asked. Before he could change his mind I had the paddles and life jackets ready to go and we were hoisting that canoe on his car. We put in about the 16900 block and upstream we went. We canoed north to the Rum River Central Park before floating back down. There were barn swallows nesting under that bridge. Wooo Hoo! Barn swallows confirmed on the nest. I also confirmed Canadian geese when we saw a momma hiding her gosling behind some weeds as we paddled by. We saw only one turtle - a painted splashing off a log. We heard green frogs playing their loose banjo strings at each other. I love the shape of the silver maples that line the river bank. They form graceful arches over the water. Today was a great day for canoeing. I wish I could go canoeing as often as I get groceries.

Flowers In The Garden

Miles on the Motorcycle

I've put 250 miles on the motorcycle in the past two days. I had a couple of places to go on Friday. The weather was so perfect I just had to use the bike. Today I met a friend in Hugo and we drove northeast along the St. Croix. We took that awesome road (Washington County Road 4) into Marine on the St. Croix. We went north to Taylors Falls before crossing into Wisconsin. We continued north of St. Croix Falls about 5 miles when my friend turned into this very strange place. I had no idea where she was going. The driveway was gravel and there were two stone gargoyles on the posts by the road. We passed grapevines and approached a huge stone square fortress looking building with a flat roof. Outside there was a huge fountain with a woman's figure and other statues all around. Inside the first thing I saw was a suit of armor. Turned out this place is a winery. They sell wines and wine accessories plus paintings. Also for sale was an ice cold can of Diet Pepsi - sweet, fruity with a hint of citrus. That sure hit the spot because I was cooking in my black jacket in this heat. I can unzip the zipper a few inches and air enters the jackets forcing it to balloon outward and cool me off. That works great until you have to stop - then you're instantly hot again. We got back on the bikes motoring across the Wisconsin countryside. There is a lot of up and down action in the St. Croix river valley. I love going up and down hills but my absolute favorite is curvy hills. I saw four turkey vultures circling overhead. I can tell they're turkey vultures because they float on the air without flapping their wings and tip side to side once in a while. When I compared my arm span to a bird, I came out to the size of a turkey vulture (or an osprey) so I feel an affinity to them now. We saw lots of things today on our beautiful ride. The strangest thing I saw was just a few miles from my home. A strip mall on Hwy. 47 has several businesses - a sports bar/restaurant, a Subway, a vet, a karate studio, a chiropracter, a beauty salon and a dentist. Out in front of this strip mall was a man wearing a costume. He looked like a big, mustard yellow triangle. I thought he was a bad tooth at first. Then I thought he was one of the Subway slices of cheese - they always come in triangles. The yellow triange held a sign that told me different. It read, "One Free Cream Cheese Wonton." A walking wonton - that was a first for me.

Plant Identification Class

Last night I went to a plant identification class at Arcola Mill. Boy, am I glad I went! The class was free of charge plus they had giant cookies there. I had driven from Northfield. Because of construction on Hwy 494 I had no time to stop for dinner or even buy gas so that cookie really hit the spot. Arcola Mills is a lovely retreat used for education, art, and spirituality. They have many acres and a lot of shoreline on the St. Croix. We had three tour leaders. I went with a woman who is a botanist and a forest ecologist. Like all great teachers, she had a lot of enthusiasm. She would get all worked up about a fern. One of her goal was to teach us five ferns. We saw interrupted fern (the stem is interrupted), ostrich fern (tall, showy and majestic), lady fern (lacy and with hairy legs-she must not have shaved), bulblet fern (has bulblets underneath), and maiden fern (on black stems). She showed us all the silver maples in the flood plain; the hillside trees of basswood, ironwood, pin oak, and sugar maple; and the upland oak forest. The St. Croix valley has many springs and seep areas. We saw watercress and ferns and other wet and cool loving plants. The property is positively gorgeous. Sometimes I felt like I was on a movie set and Robin Hood would peek out from behind a tree. We walked up steep hills and looked down many deep ravines while listening to the scarlet tanagers sing. I thought I heard an ovenbird in there. We saw a giant chunk of "Hen of the Woods" mushroom also known as sheepshead or maitake. Several people asked if they could have it. This is a preserve so we weren't allowed to pick anything but invasive species. Volunteers on the site are working to eradicate the buckthorn. The poisoned, dead stalks of buckthorn held a wonderful surprise - a hummingbird nest located just three feet off the ground. Last night the moon was full, the weather was perfect, the mosquitoes were scarce, and I was with people in the woods who could answer all my questions. Circumstances just don't get any better than that.

Frogs in the Garden

Yesterday I cleaned out my pond. I have a plastic insert pond that is about 3 feet deep. The water was thick with slimy algae. Offspring #2 and I emptied it with buckets. I got down in there to empty the final amount of water with a soup can. I scooped out all the leaves, sticks, and swollen crab apples. Watery angleworms were everywhere in the muck. This was not a pleasant smelling task. I was standing in the pond finishing up when two frogs moved. One was a leopard frog and one was a green frog. Wow, did I jump! And scream! The frogs panicked at the sight of that. I decided there was enough room for all three of us and proceeded to work around them. When the pond was mostly clean, I left a stick propped so they could escape on their own time. I came back a couple hours later with a broom and a bleach/water mixture to scrub the green scum off the sides of the pond. Both frogs had escaped. After I emptied the pond of the bleach and water mix I refilled it. Today I worked on the garden to the east of the pond. I dug up all the perennials and arranged them so the garden appeared more organized. The daisies went in one spot, the black eyed Susans in another and the bluebells on the edge. While I'm working, the leopard frog appears. I keep working with my shovel, crowding the frog farther and farther from the pond. Eventually he jumps on my bare foot. Again with the jumping and screaming. I wish I could control that reaction - it's just a frog. Plop - he jumped back in the pond. I do not like the sight of a bloated dead frog floating in my pond. Every year I wedge a wide stick under the rocks and extending into the pond so frogs can climb aboard and escape. Lets hope he or she uses it.

Conference Day Three

Sunday was the last day of the conference. I got up early. I had a choice of either a bird hike or a mushroom hunt. I chose the mushroom hunt. Actually we didn't hunt. We sat and talked about mushrooms. The presenter was a quiet, short little lady with John Lennon glasses. She seemed so meek but once she started talking, my jaw dropped open. This lady was an EXPERT on mushrooms. She belongs to the St. Paul mushroom society. She is called in on cases of possible mushroom poisonings. She enjoys eating mushrooms but eating is not her main interest. I had to ask, "Why are you so interested in mushrooms?" She replied, "I enjoy taxonomy." Wow, she must really enjoy taxonomy. Some species can only be identified by their spores seen under a microscope. We had a good discussion and the hour just flew by. I know there are several safe species of mushrooms to eat but I don't think I would eat any unless someone looked at them for me first. At breakfast I bid on more silent auction items. I kinda went crazy. But the prices were so good! I couldn't help myself. We went to a class on prairie plant identification. Our last class of the day was on likable, lovable lichens. Lichens - that gray, green or orange stuff that grows on rocks and tree bark - is neither a plant or an animal. Lichens are a combination of fungus and algae and some include bacteria too. One person in the group loves lichens and learned about the many kinds found here in this state. Amazing how much there is to know about lichens. Before lunch I had to figure out how many items I won at the silent auction. I hoped I didn't win all that I bid on. (Off topic - my indigo bunting is back for the first time - he's so pretty!) I got a hand knitted hat very cheap. I got a wren house very cheap. I got a container of maple syrup for only $15. I got a shelf with cardinals on it for only $4. For $7 I got a trio of caterpillar photos in one frame. I got some birch sculptures for only $3. I took my bounty out to the car and paid my bill. I did go a little crazy on the silent auction but the prices were awesome. After lunch we intended to visit a tortoise farm near Granite Falls. We confused state highway 7 for a county road 7. Eventually we saw a sign that said South Dakota, 20 miles. Oh, oh, we knew we went the wrong way. We bought gas in Ortonville and headed straight east on home. What a great weekend. I can hardly wait for the convention next year. The learning was fun; the field trips were fun; but spending time with people with similar interests was the best part of all.

Convention Continued

After the organic dairy tour, our convention had dinner together. In a group of about two hundred, the organizer asked who the vegetarians were. I and one other person raised our hands. We had, by far, the better meal. Wow, it was delicious. Baked squash, peppers, onions and tomatoes in a layered pile with sauce and cheese - it was heavenly. The others had dry chicken, wild rice, green beans and rolls. After dinner we had a speaker who talked about Minnesota history while illustrating on rolls of paper tacked to the wall. He drew the head and shoulders of Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, Abraham Lincoln, Josiah Snelling, Dakota and Sioux men plus birds, the flour mills, and other points of interest. I had been up since 5 a.m. and was ready for bed after that. We stayed in Independence Hall - a dorm. I shared a room with one person and a bathroom with about 30 women. We had to wait turns for the shower. I am lucky in that I can sleep pretty well when I am exhausted but I am glad I don't have to live in a dorm 9 months of the year. In the morning we had a bird walk at 7. We didn't see much on campus - bluebirds, red winged blackbirds, grackle, brown headed cowbirds, meadowlark, mourning doves and chipping sparrows. The highlight was watching a pair of wood ducks fly in and land in a tree. After breakfast, my class was in photography. I have a little camera I bought a couple years ago before my trip to Africa. I never knew how much it could do until I took this class. I have a timer on my camera that I never found before. I can set it for 10 seconds or 2 seconds. I was told we should always use the timer when taking photos because you can avoid the blurriness that comes when you press down on the button. That makes sense. I have a "P" setting on my camera. I can adjust the flash, the exposure, the length of time the shutter is open, and the F-stop. I never knew any of that stuff. My head was spinning with information by the end of the class but I think my pictures will improve because of the knowledge I gained. After lunch we went on a field trip in a school bus. I don't go on school buses often but when I did, I used city school buses. Situations must be different in the country than in the city. Look at the warning sign posted on the bus. If you can't read it, it says, "No Sunflower Seeds On This Bus." Seriously, sunflower seeds are the biggest worry? We saw fields on the way. Some fields had darker richer soil and some had lighter soil. The darker soil is where soybeans grew last year and are now planted in corn. The lighter fields are where corn grew last year and are now planted in soybeans. Soybean roots have nodules that capture nitrogen and add it to the soil and improve the soil. On our field trip we went to a field - the Chippewa prairie. We were sent out on the prairie and given a list of plants to find. Each plant was marked with a numbered flag to make it easier on us. We had the option to try and identify the plants without using the answer key. Yeah, no. I could identify hoary puccoon and wild rose but did not know the other 20 species on the list. We had a lot of fun going from flag to flag and looking at the plants on the tall grass prairie. We were near a pond where a chorus frog was chirping away. We found a leopard frog in the grass and a skink under a rock. I saw a bobolink on the prairie - wow, that is a beautiful bird. Here is a photo I took of a wildflower called prairie smoke. Our bus took us to the Stevens County museum. Passengers collected woodticks and threw them out the window along the way. The museum is housed in a former Carnegie Library and the architecture has been restored and made handicap accessible - no easy feat. After the museum we went to the food coop in Morris. Our final stop was a US Fish and Wildlife plot. We went on an auto tour (in a bus) with a US Fish and Wildlife biologist who showed us the sights. The wind had been blowing strong all day. We had rain in the morning and cloudy skies until late afternoon. The wind was exhausting. After dinner we had another speaker who talked about Minnesota weather and global warming. I had signed up for a star gazing class from 9 to 10 p.m. but the skies were overcast and my eyes couldn't stay open anymore so I went to bed.

Green Decisions

I was gone all weekend and I haven't completely planted my garden yet. So I took vacation this week to plant and relax and finish some projects around the house. I went to a local garden store this morning to buy some plants. I needed tomatoes of course. Why I bought sixteen is beyond me. I don't need that many. I planted most of those already. I bought some jalapeno and bell peppers in case I make salsa. My onions, garlic and potatoes are already in. Most of the rest of the garden goes in as seed. I was debating. Should I get cucumbers? The chickens love cucumbers. I don't like them myself. That might draw the chickens into the garden where they'll start eating tomatoes so I decided against cucumbers. Then I saw the cabbage and the kohlrabi. I love both cabbage and kohlrabi. I usually plant kohlrabi but I have planted cabbage before. I like the fact that kohlrabi is smaller than cabbage. Both taste delicious. Cabbage or kohlrabi? Kohlrabi or cabbage? I was standing there, sweating inside the greenhouse, trying to decide. I looked at the broccoli and the cauliflower. I've grown both of those before without much success. Cabbage or kohlrabi? Then I spied the brussel sprouts - small like kohlrabi but also look like little cabbages! I chose the brussel sprouts. Are they good? I don't think I've ever eaten one. A vegetarian ought to try all the vegetables. I brought them up to the counter. A hard working woman was in charge. Sweat was running off her. She asked me, in a strong German accent, if I waited until the first frost to harvest my brussel sprouts. I said I hadn't grown them before. She told me her mother grew them in the old country. Waiting until frost makes them taste sweeter. She said I could wait until the frost or freeze them before eating them. "Serve them with butter and nutmeg", she said putting her fingers to her lips like an Italian, "They will be delicious." I hope tomorrow will be cooler and overcast so I can get the rest of the plants into the soil.

Visit to an Organic Dairy

I just got home from a master naturalist convention this weekend. (PS My rain gauge reads .31 inches of rain and my rain barrel is almost entirely full!). The convention was in Morris, Minnesota out on the tall grass prairie. A friend and I carpooled and shared a dorm room on the U of M campus. Our first class was on organic dairy. We talked to the manager of the organic dairy on campus. He took us out to the pasture. He had us look at all the plants in the pasture. He has a plan to rotate the pasture use with move able fences. The cows know to look for an opening in the electric fence. Getting a dairy certified to be organic takes time; two years for the pasture and three years for the cows. The cow's diet is 60% pasture grazing and 40% grain supplements. That fact surprised me. I would have thought organic milk cows would have 100% grass or silage diet. Since the cows are organic they cannot be treated with antibiotics. Infections can be treated with natural antibiotics such as garlic. Mastitis is a common infection in cows. Organic cows do get mastitis but it tends to be a low-level, chronic mastitis. When non-organic cows get mastitis, the infection hits hard, fast and strong. If one of the organic cows gets an infection that requires antibiotics, the cow is separated from the herd, treated until it has healed, and then butchered. Even the minerals the cows get have to be organic. They can't just put out a salt lick and be done with it. The minerals have to be specially mined. The cows are all artificially inseminated. Holsteins are by far the breed that produces the most milk. Because Holsteins have been over bred, they are not a hardy cow. The Holsteins are bred with Norwegian cows (because they are winter hardy) and the French Montbeliard (for the high quality, tasty milk). Milk from Montbeliard cows has different proteins, caseins, and sugars. Montbeliard milk can produce 10% more cheese per gallon than Holstein milk. I was told that although Holsteins produce much milk, it doesn't taste as good as other breeds. We've paid more attention to production than quality. Because the black and white pattern is a dominant genetic trait, these mixed breed cattle look like the typical Holsteins. The picture shows a full bred Montbeliard. We were taken through the pasture and through the cow passage under the highway into the milking barn. I learned one cow can produce a gallon a minute. Wow! She must have milked like a fire hose. That is an unusual cow that can produce that much milk in a minute. Our tour did not include viewing any of the cows because they were in a pasture far away. We did get to see the calves. Some of the calves had been weaned the day before and others would be weaned the next day. The calves were kicking and jumping around and just as cute as can be. Considering all the special work that has to be done and the fact that the cows have to live organic for three years before they can claim to be organic, I can see why organic milk costs so much.

Robin Hood

A friend and I went to see the new movie, "Robin Hood" last night. Russel Crow played Robin and Cate Blanchett played Maid Marian. Max Van Sydow played her father-in-law. Usually I can't stand more than a little violence. This movie had violence but it wasn't overplayed. Somehow arrows don't seem as violent as gun shots or switch blades or wood chippers. There was a lot of action. During the war episodes the camera shots gave us glimpses. It was hard to see anything clearly; almost like watching a strobe light. I found it a little overwhelming to my senses. Friar Tuck was a bee-keeping, honey mead swiller. Robin was a knight on a white horse who saves Maid Marian. Later she rides a black horse and oh, I don't want to give too much away. In the beginning of the show when Robin and King Richard are returning from the Crusades and raiding castles to finance their way home, those are gray tree frogs chirping in the background. Later, when Robin is plotting with his merry men in Sherwood Forest, Nottingham, those are leopard frogs making their rattling snore. Frog sounds have infiltrated my brain.

Barrel

I picked up my rain barrel last weekend. Like it? The black hose on the front has a valve so I can drain the water into other containers. To me it looks like a giant piece of root beer hard candy. I set it in the front garden in among the lily of the valley. I took down the long downspout on the gutter and replaced it with a shorter length. I attached the end curvy part and secured it to the wall. The water from about 37% of my roof will drain into this barrel. If the barrel fills completely, the overflow will drain out onto the sidewalk. I hope to use this rainwater collection to water the plants in the front yard and possibly the chickens. If this works out well, I might get more. I have four more downspouts. You can see my lily of the valley is about to bloom. I picked one last night and laid it on my pillow when I went to sleep. I lurve the smell of lily of the valley.

Thoreau and the Art of Life-Reflections on Nature and the Mystery of Existence

"Thoreau and the Art of Life-Reflections on Nature and the Mystery of Existance" is a long titled book edited and with an introduction by Roderick MacIver. Roderick MacIver also did the cover watercolor painting ("Traversing the Hills") and all the watercolor art inside the book. I myself have mixed feelings about Thoreau but I got this book for free from Literary Thing as an early reviewer so I'm not going to complain. The editor/artist selected words from Thoreau's writing and compiled them into eleven chapters. Aging, disease, death is one chapter. Relations with oneself is a chapter. The art of living a meaningful life is another chapter. Thoreau's words can be inspiring. Roderick MacIver's watercolors can be just as inspiring. Watercolor is not my favorite medium but this guy is a fantastic artist. His depictions of an Arctic tern, a wood thrush, a loon, a cedar waxwing and sandpiper are amazing. His depictions of birches, moose, and a canoe sitting on the rocks in a bay made me wish I had a copy to hang in the living room.

Of Course, Of Course

Why? Somebody tell me why? Why can't I remember the title of the book I read last month, the name of my prescription for my allergies, or the name of an actor I'm trying to talk about when I can, word for freaking word, tell you the lyrics to Mr. Ed? If I only could delete that Mr. Ed file to make room for more useful material! Stuck on the lyrics? Here you go! A horse is a horse, of course, of course. And no one can talk to a horse of course. That is, unless, of course, the horse is the famous Mr. Ed. He'll go right to the source, of course, of course. And give you the answer that you endorse. He's always on a steady course. Talk to Mr. Ed. He'll go yakity yak all day and waste the time of the day. But Mr. Ed will never speak unless he has something to say. A horse is a horse, of course, of course. And this one will talk till his voice is hoarse. You've never heard of a talking horse? Well, listen to this! "I am Mr. Ed."

Breeding Bird Atlas

I've been doing some work on the breeding bird atlas for my assigned block. I've been watching around my neighborhood. I've contacted people who live in my block to ask for observations. I got permission from the Boy Scouts to bird watch in the Rum River scout camp. I even bought myself a new pair of binoculars. My new busnell binocs are 16X where my previous binocs were 7x and 10x. I even bought a very nerdy harness to hold the binoculars to my person. Putting the strap around my neck is tiresome after a length of time unless I am fully dressed in my winter garb. Once I get a bird in the confirmed category I don't have to look for that particular bird anymore. So far I have two birds confirmed breeding. The first one was an American Crow that was seen soaking it's food (bread, dead snakes) in a bird bath before carrying it away. Carrying food in flight is not something birds do unless they're bringing it to the babies. The second bird I confirmed to be breeding is a black capped chickadee that was seen cleaning out an old woodpecker hole to nest in. Nest building is under the confirmed category. I have possible categories for goldfinch, red wing blackbirds, robins, cardinals, bluebirds, barn swallows and downy woodpecker. Yesterday I did some motorcycling around to look for new areas to scout. I found 3 more parks where I can birdwatch. I biked in and around neighborhoods that I have never traveled to before. This project is going to be a lot of fun.

Another Road Trip

Last night three sisters went on the second frog and toad survey road trip. Armed with our awesome frog and toad listening skills, paper, pens, maps, flashlights and a special CD burned for the trip, we toured Kannebec County in the dark. Our CD included those old hits, near and dear to your heart, such as Purple People Eater, Old Man River, Rod Stewart : ), Melissa Etheridge, a comedy sketch about frogs with Bill Cosby, father and son Dylan, George Benson, KD Lang, and Beyonce. We heard six species of frogs. Some of the spring peepers were so loud they were crowding out the other frogs. Besides peepers we heard chorus frogs, northern leopard frogs, American toad, Gray tree frogs and Green frogs (see photo). On this trip the green frog was my favorite. I love their sound because it reminds me of Goofy, the Disney dog character. The green frog sounds like the pluck of a loose banjo string or an old-fashioned well pump. We heard them at six of our ten stops. Green frogs are shy. They don't call when we first get out of the car. They wait until 3 or so minutes have gone by and then they make their call. I have never heard one before last night so I got pretty excited. Last night was warm and calm. Before darkness fell we saw bunches and bunches of brilliant white trillium flowers in the woods. The deer were leaping about like rabbits; I believe we saw more than a dozen. The stars were shining and a sliver of a moon hung in the sky. I'm dragging today because I stayed out so late but it was worth it.

A Busy Morning

This morning my bird class started at six freaking o'clock in the morning. This is the last one for the year. Soon I will be able to sleep until I wake up naturally on Saturday morning. We went to Round Lake in Andover and Diamond Lake in Dayton. We saw swamp sparrows, song sparrows, white crowned sparrow (who looks like a sparrow with a skunk head), robins, red winged blackbirds, tree swallows, barn swallows (coming to the lake shore to scoop up mud to build their nests), Northern Shovelers, spotted sandpiper, wood ducks, mallards, Canadian geese, goldfinch, osprey, eagle, a trumpeter swan (sitting on her nest), bufflehead and my FOY (first of the year) oriole. What a fun group of people. I think I might take the class again next year. After that I went to watch a friend graduate from Northwestern College in Roseville. Wow, she worked hard. Tests and papers to write, books to read, quizzes to take; she did all those things while working full time and still finding time for biking, concerts, trips and movies. I am truly amazed.

Gardening

Tomorrow is May 15, the day my Grandpa said it is safe to plant. I plan to start planting this weekend with gold potatoes, blue potatoes, and walla walla onions. I saw the walla walla onions for sale and Home Depot and couldn't pass them by. I remembered a road trip to Oregon where we passed through a corner of Washington State coming out of Idaho and went through the town of Walla Walla, Washington. I remember acres and acres of onions. You could smell the onions even with the windows closed.

My Life in France

"my Life in France" is an autobiography written by Julia Child her great nephew, Alex Prudhomme (another famous chef). The book details the great love between Julia and her husband. She and her husband wrote many letters and luckily, a great number of letters were kept by the recipients and given to the writers for this book. Otherwise she could never have remembered all the places they've been and all the wines they drank. Julia is a fascinating and complex character. She is tall and brazen yet self-conscious. She is generous and kind and she thinks the world revolves around her. I was glad when my book club decided to read this book. Almost everyone in the club enjoyed the story. Plus the person who brought the treats decided to keep the story in mind so she brought a french silk pie and a strawberry layer cake from the Truffles and Torts store in Anoka. Oooh, la la.

Chicken Feet

Last month I blogged about my chicken, Phyllis, and her missing left talon. I took pictures in case you wanted to see it. As I'm taking pictures, I tried to get one with the missing talon and another one for comparison. Chickens, like chickens tend to do, were crowding all around me and getting too close for comfort. One landed in my lap. Chickens have no sense of personal boundaries. I'm forever saying, "Back up. You're in my bubble. I need more space." I was shooting chicken feet and looking for a good shot of a left outer talon when I saw Phyllis wasn't the only chicken missing a talon. The second photo is Phyllis' right outer toenail which is intact. The first photo shows Phyllis' right toenail and Meredith's left toenail which is also amputated. You might think she has four toes but no, she is just stepping on a twig. Both Meredith and Phyllis are missing their left outer talons. If you remember, Meredith is the runaway chicken who went AWOL the first ten days of October before she was found roosting on a neighbor's porch. Lord knows what she went through in those ten days. I'm lucky she came back alive at all. These missing talons tell a story. I'm just not sure what the story is.

Bird Song

My goal is to learn 4 new bird songs each year. I know quite a few already. I know the song of the robin, the cardinal, the ring necked pheasant, the chipping sparrow, the chickadee, and the white breasted nuthatch. I can recognize the Canadian goose, sand hill crane, crow, and the owls. I think I can recognize the sound of a indigo bunting and red eyed vireo but I really won't know for sure until I hear one again this year.

House Rules

I'm in a Jodi Picoult rut lately, I know, but this one was really good. I say that about all her books. In this book, I know what she is talking about. Much of the story is from Jacob Hunt's point of view. Jacob is 18. He goes to high school. He lives with his mother and younger brother. Jacob is highly intelligent and he has Aspergers Syndrome. He doesn't relate to people the way us "neurotypical" people do. He takes things literally. He is very rigid. He follows the rules to the letter. He is very literal. When told to "Grab a chair," he will pick up a chair. He doesn't pick up on social cues. He can't understand human emotions. Sudden changes in routine throw him way off. He feels more comfortable when life is predictable. So his family, his mother and his brother, try to make his life more predictable. I work with people who have Aspergers so I am somewhat familiar how this syndrome can disrupt family life. Jacob is very restricted. He eats only brown food and wears brown clothes on Fridays. White food and white clothes on Wednesdays is not nearly as difficult as blue food and blue clothes on Tuesdays. Jacob has obsessions. He was obsessed with dinosaurs when he was a boy. Now he is obsessed with crime scene investigations. He knows more about finger printing and blood spatter patterns that many professional investigators. In the story, Jacob is accused of murder. Like almost all Picoult stories, much of the action is inside a courtroom. I liked the story. I didn't like the ending at first. I thought the ending was lazy. Then I read an interview with Jodi about the book. Now I understand that the ending relates to Jacob's interpretation and I like it better.

Wendy and Lucy

Some friends and I went to the Walker Art Center to see one of those "non-Hollywood" movies. This one was called "Wendy and Lucy" and was directed by Kelly Reichardt. Michelle Williams stars as Wendy. This is the same Michelle Williams who acted in Brokeback Mountain and Dawson Creek. This movie is about a young woman and her dog trying to make it in a society with few safety nets. She's trying to get a job by traveling to Alaska. Her car breaks down in Oregon. She is alone. She is desperate. She doesn't have very much money. She gets very bad news from the auto shop. This movie reminded me that times are tough when you are young and starting out. I almost forgot about some of those tougher days I had. Michelle Williams does an excellent job portraying Wendy.

What is art?

A friend and I went to the Northrup King building last week. Here is a picture of the building above. It is recognizable from a distance because it has this water tank on top that totally reminds me of that old television show, "Petticoat Junction." The building has art studios inside and on the first Thursday of every month, the public is welcome to walk around and look inside the studios. We saw watercolors, oil, acrylics, sculptures, jewelry, mosaic, and weaving. The artists are in the studios as you walk around. Sometimes it gets a little awkward. We walked into one studio where three people were listening to a guy sing all the words to Steve Martin's song, "King Tut." My friend told them, "Carry on." and they did eventually. The building had signs posted saying "Minnesota Nudes III." We thought we'd go look at it. We entered a very large room. Photo prints were on the walls and there were 7 older men in the room who quit talking when we entered. We had at least 50 nudes to look at. All the nudes were young women with ideal bodies. One series had two lovers in the photos and both were young females with ideal bodies. The seven older men were the photographers. None of them spoke the entire time we were in there. Evidently there is an annual contest. Seven photographers are chosen and only some of their prints are displayed. Most of the portraits were outside. Some women were laying against rocks. Some were posed with half of their bodies in fast moving streams. One was a woman in a deciduous forest with her arms up and I thought she looked like Jane waiting for Tarzan to swing by and pick her up. Several photos, in my opinion, crossed the line into pornography. My friend and I didn't say a word while we were in there. We both agreed there was a creepy atmosphere in that room. We took a look at some abstract art to cleanse our eyes before leaving.

Cold and Windy Birding

Today my bird class went to the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. I've been out the past two nights doing artistic things (more on that later) and was not real excited to get up at 5:15 this morning, especially when I saw snow on the ground, but I'm glad I went. I wore long underwear, jeans and wind pants, 4 shirts and a winter coat and I didn't get too cold. Let see, we only saw about 55 species - very low for Migratory Bird Day. The wind was not helpful. If I put my hood up my ears were warm but I couldn't hear anything over the sound of the wind. We saw Canadian geese with goslings, ring billed ducks, mallards, blue wing teal, trumpeter swans, eagles, a raven, crows, red winged blackbirds, a merlin (very cool falcon but not a good look at it), goldfinch, yellow rumped warblers, yellow warbler, Palm warbler, song sparrow, lots of good looks at lark sparrows, swamp sparrow, chipping sparrow, pheasant, rose breasted grossbeak, turkey, killdeer, blue jay, robins, goldfinch, towhee, blue gray gnatcatcher, and brown thrasher. The most exciting sighting for me was the belted kingfisher. We got great long and close looks at the kingfisher. We saw him fishing too. A fellow birder says the kingfisher nests in a hole 10-15 feet deep. Can you imagine a bird digging that deep of a hole? We also heard grouse drumming but didn't see them. I was excited to hear them drumming. On the ground we saw wildflowers in bloom. Hoary puccoon and columbine were flowering and the lupines were just starting to blossom. Some of the ferns had fiddle heads. We finished our nature reverence about noon and it was sleeting at that time.

Another Fart Egg

I found another oddly shaped egg in the chicken coop this week.

It's as long as the other eggs but not as wide.

I opened it up and voila! All white; no yolk. I bet if I could get the chickens to do this regularly, I could market these fart eggs to fitness buffs and other people interested in high protein, low fat eggs.

Bird in Motion

Last night when I got home I heard an unfamiliar bird. I decided I would track it down to identify the bird call. I got my binoculars and looked from the driveway but couldn't spot it. I walked around the yard. The bird kept calling and calling. The wind was blowing so hard the trees were in motion. I looked and could see chickadees and chipping sparrows but not the bird making the call. I scanned the tree tops with my binoculars. Wow, that was enough to make me seasick. Finally I spotted the calling bird on top of a dead elm. It was a goldfinch calling. Frankly, I was a little disappointed. After all that work you'd think I'd find something a little more exotic that a common goldfinch.

Odds

At lunch today a coworker told me an extremely gruesome and gory story about a dump truck driver who reached for something on the floor and ran into a group of eight motorcyclists at a stop sign. She gave details that made my skin crawl. I stood up and said sarcastically (even though I try not to be sarcastic; sometimes I just can't help it), "Okay, nice having lunch with you." She laughed and said she only wanted me to be careful. A simple "Be careful." would suffice, thank you very much. This made me feel better:

Odds are good that one of these things will get you. The National Safety Council has put together a list of the most common ways we collectively kick the bucket.

1. Heart disease 1 in 6

2. Cancer 1 in 7

3. Stroke 1 in 28

4. Motor Vehicle Accidents 1 in 85

5. Intentional self harm 1 in 115

6. Accidental poisoning 1 in 139

7. Falls 1 in 184

8. Car Occupant 1 in 272

9. Assault by firearm 1 in 300

10. Pedestrian Accident 1 in 623

11. Motorcycle Accident 1 in 802

12. Accidental Drowning 1 in 1,073

13. In a Fire 1 in 1,235

14. Pedalcyclist 1 in 4147

15. Air and space accidents 1 in 5892

16. Firearm discharge 1 in 5891

17. Exposure to excessive natural heat 1 in 6, 174

18. Exposure to electrical current, radiation, temperature & pressure 1 in 9412

19. Cataclysmic storm 1 in 51, 199

20. Contact with hornets, wasps, bees: 1 in 62, 950

21. Lightning 1 in 81, 701

22. Bitten or struck (?) by dog 1 in 119, 998

23. Earthquake or other earth movements 1 in 154, 597

Am I Culturally Deficient?

Yesterday a man said to me, "Never heard of Mickey Gilley? You, my dear, are culturally deficient." Two thoughts simultaneously raced through my mind. One thought was "You narrow minded, Branson loving, son of . . ." The other thought was, "Am I culturally deficient?" Today, reason prevails and my thoughts are, "He was probably having a bad day and wasn't at his best."

Breeding Birds

Minnesota is in the second year of a five year breeding bird atlas. Most of the states to our east have already done their breeding bird atlases. Several states have completed the atlas twice already. This means Minnesota is a little bit behind the times. After viewing the book with the results of the Wisconsin breeding bird atlas, I was charged up to participate. I went to the breeding bird atlas website and saw that the block where I live was a priority block (northeast quadrant of each plat) and was available. I requested to own my block and I got it. I am very excited to be a part of this important project; but also intimidated. Today I had a chance to meet other birders and look for evidence of breeding birds and document our findings together . It was a chance to ask questions and see how other people participate. We met at French Regional Park in Plymouth. I found quiet roads to bike over there. We had four people looking for birds. Two of the birders were experts - especially at bird sounds. We listened. One guy said he heard a rose breasted grossbeak and wood ducks. "You gotta be kidding," I said like an amateur, "I couldn't hear anything over the sound of that America toad." Today we saw gnat catchers, mourning doves, rose-breasted grossbeaks, tree swallows, barn swallows, white throated sparrow, red winged blackbirds, Canadian geese, mallards, killdeer, spotted sandpiper, wood ducks, robins, a coopers hawk, and a flock of pelicans. Most of these we marked "o" for the breeding evidence code. O stands for observed, meaning we saw that bird. Several we marked X for heard or seen within safe dates in a suitable nesting habitat. Safe dates vary for each bird according to the times they usually breed. Here are the other codes. M is for multiple (5+) singing or territorial birds seen on the same day. S is for singing male present at same location 7 or more days apart. P is for pair observed in suitable nesting habitat within safe dates. T if for permanent breeding territory presumed through defense by fighting or chasing individuals of same species. C is for courtship or copulation, includes displays or transfer of food. N if for bird observed visiting probable nest site repeatedly. A is for agitated behavior or anxiety calls from adults. CN is for adult carrying nesting materials (nest not seen). NB is for nest building observed (nest seen). DD is for distraction display behavior; broken wing display or dive-bombing. UN is for used nest (inactive nests; must be readily identifiable). ON is for occupied nest; nest attended by adult but contents not visible. FL is for recently fledged young, incapable of sustained flight. FY Adult carrying food for young or feeding recently fledged young (repeatedly in same direction). FS is adult carrying fecal sac. NE is for nest with eggs. And lastly NY is for nest with young seen or heard. As we walked along, we were told what to watch for. We saw a bunch of barn swallows under a bridge. This would be a spot to come back to in a couple weeks to see if they had started building their nests. We saw spotted sandpipers on a public swimming beach. Obviously they are not going to nest in such a public spot but it would be a good idea to come back and explore less occupied parts of the shore. As we walked along, we can to a wetland with open water. In the center was a small island where one goose sat with a dozen turtles. One turtle was a common painted turtle. The others were smooth soft shelled turtles; big ones too. Several were at least a foot long. I had never seen soft shelled turtles before. These people I was with were bird AND turtle experts. The French regional park is a beautiful place. The wind was strong sometimes but smelled of apple blossoms. After an hour or so of listening and asking questions. I have much more confidence in surveying my block for the breeding bird atlas.

Measuring Up

Today I volunteered to staff a Master Naturalist booth at an Environmental Expo. I wanted to do more than just stand there and answer questions. I've worked at booths before so I knew what draws people in. Candy draws people in. I had a bag of bit o honey and a bag of fruit starburst. I've got only a handful of starburst left so I guess I predicted very well. I had heard about a couple who worked at a bird booth at the state fair. Their idea was to have kids measure their arms and compare their size to birds. I asked them about it (hoping I could just borrow their materials). They didn't have the project completed yet. I didn't have time to make wing posters. So I used a survey measuring tape that I use when I monitor the river quality. I had people stretch out their arms. I measured their arms and compared it to a chart of raptor wing spans I had made. Here is a list of the raptors and wing spans: Bald eagles-7'1", Golden Eagles 7'0", Osprey 5'6", Turkey Vulture 5'6", Great Gray Owl 4'9", Red Tailed Hawk-4'8", Great Horned Owl-4'2", Barred Owl 3'8", Northern Harrier Hawk 3'6", Red Shouldered Hawk 3'2", Broad Winged Hawk 2'0", and Kestrel 2'1". I planned this for the children. As I measured the kids, I could see a look in some adult eyes that begged to be asked to be measured. I think I measured the wingspan of about 100 people today. Only two older men turned me down. The biggest wingspans I measured were 6'7" and two guys had those. They were tall men but were not quite eagle sized. My smallest was a broad wing hawk. Most women were either a turkey vulture or an osprey. I told them they could choose which one. 90% chose osprey. I myself am that size. If I had to choose which one, I agree an osprey is more attractive but I'm not sure I want to eat raw fish. And I like the way turkey vultures soar in a tippy fashion and how they hunt with their noses but I couldn't eat decomposing flesh. I guess I am not raptor material. I had a really fun day talking to people and measuring their arms. Several people said being measured really put the bird size into perspective for them. If I had it to do over again, I would include more than just raptors just so I would have more options between 5'6" and 7'.