A window unto nature

A window unto nature

  A window is better than TV. You can see everything out of a window. One of my favorite poems is from W.H. Davies, "What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare? No time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at beauty's glance, and watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare." 

  A poor life this is if we do not spend time gazing through glass. I didn’t see them, but I heard crickets singing as if they were searching for Buddy Holly outside my window.

Q-and-A

  "Do you keep a list of the birds you see?" Sort of. My problem with lists is that I like seeing birds more than I like keeping records. Some people keep a life list, a North American list, a state list, a county list, a yard list, the birds they see on January 1 list, a list of birds seen on a birthday, etc. I do many bird surveys and countless bird counts. I report birds seen to the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union and other organizations. So I keep records. Records provide the comfort of continuity. Every year at the Minnesota State Fair, there is a raptor guy from Texas. He does a couple of shows each day. This year, what he called a bay-winged hawk, more commonly known as a Harris's hawk, escaped and flew into a tree. It took him a while to recapture the hawk. This happens, I think, every year with this man and one of his birds. It always seems to be a Harris's hawk that escapes. I recall, while I working at the fair with 200,000 of my closest personal friends, seeing this species of hawk flying overhead. I added it to my fair list of birds.

  Neal Batt of Hartland asked what plants would be good for hummingbirds. Columbine, bee balm, cardinal flower, Japanese honeysuckle, jewelweed, lupine, and petunia.

  "Something killed several of my chickens, but ate only the heads. What could it be?" A likely culprit would be the great horned owl. The owl usually eats only the head and neck. Feathers found on a fencepost near the chickens provide a clue. Dead chickens show signs of attack on the sides of the head if a mink or weasel had been the perpetrator. These predators often kill several birds and pile them together. The back of the head and neck are frequently the only parts consumed. A mink or weasel frequently leave a musky, skunk-like odor. If a predator eats the head and the breast meat of the dead birds, a raccoon is probably responsible. A skunk prefers to eat the soft insides, sometimes removing the head to drink blood. The opossum generally attacks one bird per visit. Usually, it eats the chicken’s abdomen.

  Bob Krenik of Madison Lake asked why he doesn’t see gray foxes. They are shy and primarily nocturnal. The best time to catch a glimpse of one is dawn or dusk. A gray fox can be mistaken for red fox, as they have some red in their coat, but gray is dominant. They lack the black socks of red fox and have a black tail tip rather than a white one. The gray fox climbs trees with apparent ease.

Nature lessons

  The kookaburra, famous for calling in old Tarzan movies, is a member of the kingfisher family and is found in Australia. It’s sometimes called the "bushman’s clock" because of its habit of calling in the morning and evening. Its call sounds like loud, raucous laughter. Does the laughing kookaburra really laugh? In an old children's song, the kookaburra sits in a gum tree, eats gumdrops, and laughs. The call starts out as a chuckle, turns into a belly laugh, and becomes shrieking laughter.

  Insect excrement is called frass.

  Most white-tailed deer mate in their second year, though females occasionally mate as young as seven months. Mating occurs between October and December and females are pregnant for 6 and 1/2 months.

  There is no bird migration. There are bird migrations.

Thanks for stopping by

  "If one could conclude as to the nature of the Creator from a study of creation it would appear that God has an inordinate fondness for stars and beetles."―J.B.S. Haldane

  "A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs --jolted by every pebble in the road."--Henry Ward Beecher

DO GOOD.

© Al Batt 2013