Megan's Nature Nook
Nature Notes, Phenology, Photography, Fun Facts, Trips, Maybe Even a Bad Joke or Two... and More!
With Valentine’s Day upon us, the topic of love in the animal world and mating rituals seemed appropriate. Human mating rituals include activities from offering food, to giving gifts, and even dancing. Animals have similar rituals, but there are some species who take it a step farther and have very interesting and odd rituals! We'll start with some cute ways animals show love and we’ll work our way to the very odd and crazy ones! Let’s start with some birds and their cute and loving rituals. Bowerbirds Bowerbirds are found in Australia and PauPau New Guinea. Males build twig structures called bowers to attract females. They decorate the bowers with natural and manmade material and have an affinity to blue items. The males will dance near his bower and show females his colorful objects to woo her. There is some research showing that he will try to trick her with optical illusions, placing larger objects farther away and smaller ones up close to make himself appear larger with the optical illusion. Dancing Birds There are many birds that dance to attract their mates, some well known dancing species are Sage Grouse, Prairie Chickens, Grebes, Sandhill Cranes, and Hummingbirds.
Prairie Vole Prairie Voles are monogamous and affectionate mammals. They can sense when their partner is stressed and gives the equivalent of hugs and kisses to make them feel better. They take their relationship seriously and will run off other Prairie Voles. Researchers tested their fidelity while under the influence and females stuck with their mate while males were more likely to wander from their mate when drunk. I’m not sure why they tested this theory or how the intoxicated these little voles, but maybe animals aren’t that different than people... Adelie Penguin Adelie Penguins make their nests out of rocks. Males will look on rocky beaches for smooth, shiny pebbles to bring to females. If she likes the pebble, she’ll use it to line her nest and mate with the male. If the males wanders off, the female will mate with other males who bring pebbles she likes. Here is where the cute rituals start to turn weird and a little morbid... Nursery Web Spider Males bring food wrapped in silk to the female to request to mate. It sounds like a nice gift, but the male may trick the female. He may eat the food but leave the exoskeleton and wrap it up or even wrap up a stick instead of food to trick her. The female is not happy when she finds out she has been tricked! North American Porcupine Females have a very short mating window of only 8 – 12 hours once a year! To woo a female, males will climb a tree and pee on her, from up to seven feet away! If she likes how it smells she will mate with him until he tires out. Despite their short mating window, they are successful 90% of the time. I work with porcupines and I can tell you they don’t smell very good, so female porcupines must have a different sense of what a nice cologne smells like! Fireflies With most firefly species, only the male will blink to attract females. Each species has its own blinking pattern to attract mates of its own kind. There is one species where the female will mimic blinks of other species to lure them in and then eats them! That’s one way to take out the competition! Praying Mantis Males are lured to the female by pheromones. If she like the male she will mate with him, but if she doesn’t, she’ll bite his head off! During mating season, males can make up 60% of the female’s diet. Females that eat males lay more eggs. Last but not least the Angler Fish! This “love” is quite intense, the poetic phrase of “and two shall become one” has a whole new meaning with these fish! Angler Fish Angler fish live in the dark depths of the ocean where it can be hard to find a mate. When a male finds a female, he will bite her to attach himself to her and lives as a parasite on her body. Over time the male becomes absorbed into the female, even sharing a circulatory system. All that remains of the male is the gonads that the females uses for reproduction when she’s ready. More than one male can be attached to a female at a time! Well, there you have it. Love comes in many different shapes and sizes. It varies from gift giving and wooing, to food and consumption – each species having their own unique spin on things. This Valentine’s Day you can woo your loved one with some interesting animal love facts! And maybe a box of chocolates, too. P.S. THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me by reading and sharing blog posts and subscribing to my e-mail list! This is the 100th blog post that I've written and your support is greatly appreciated!
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Minnesota Fishing Opener was this past weekend. After a long winter, people are excited to get out on the water fishing and enjoy the warm weather. They’ve been dreaming of getting out fishing, but one thing they don’t think about when planning their fishing trip is how their fishing tackle can affect the wildlife around them. In 2020 the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) launched a program called “Get the Lead Out” to promote the use of lead-free fishing tackle. The program is funded from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. During the oil spill many loons were negatively affected, causing concern for their population. Minnesota is a hotspot for nesting loons, so their efforts were focused on helping their populations in breeding areas. With the program, the MPCA has been getting the word out and educating people about why lead tackle is dangerous to wildlife and what you can do to help. Lead poisoning from tackle is common in loons, waterbirds like ducks and swans, raptors, and occasionally small mammals like racoons that eat fish. Loons swallow pea-sized pebbles on the bottom of lakes to aid in digestion, like grit for chickens. Ducks and other waterbirds may ingest lead jigs or sinkers while foraging for invertebrates. Jigs are meant to entice fish and may look like a minnow to waterfowl and be ingested because of that. Another way loons or raptors, like eagles or osprey, may ingest fishing tackle is by eating a fish that has swallowed a jig or sinker. Once the lead is ingested, it is exposed to acid and rocks in the stomach which break it down. The lead is then released and enters bird’s blood stream, slowly poisoning the bird. It takes only ONE lead sinker to poison a loon and can take 2-3 weeks after ingesting for the loon to die -which can be a long and painful death. Once the lead has entered the blood stream, it affects the brain and nervous system, digestive organs, kidneys, heart, and reproductive system of the animal. Basically, if a loon or other animals ingests lead tack, they’re going to die. It is just a matter of time. Some signs of lead poisoning can be flying poorly, crash landings, head tilt, gasping, trembling, droopy wings, and emaciation from not eating. Lead tackle is an obvious problem, as loons, waterbirds, and raptors can easily ingest it while foraging or eating fish that have swallowed lead tackle. They get very sick and succumb to death. This can be worrisome as it may threaten bird populations. Not only is lead poisoning bad news for the birds, but it can also get into the environment from being in a water system. Sand or rocks rub on the lead, releasing it into the water. It can then be in the water or soil, be taken up by plants growing and animals can ingest lead by eating the plants. It could also potentially be a health hazard to humans who recreate in the water and possibly contaminate drinking water over time. I’ve been reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson which has me really thinking about contamination in the environment and how things can compound overtime becoming detrimental, and hard to reverse – if even possible. There are many negative effects of using lead fishing tackle, but luckily there are things we can do to help “Get the Lead Out” and keep our wildlife and environment healthy. Over there years many non-lead alternatives have become available. Stainless steel, bismuth, tin, tungsten, ceramic, recycled glass, and natural granite are just some of the alternatives. Besides being non-toxic, some of these alternatives are harder than lead, making them less likely to get stuck on rocks. Some are denser which gives a smaller profile, and some have lower melting points which can allow for finer detail. Ask your local bait and tackle store to stock non-lead sinkers and tackle. The MPCA has a list of lead-free fishing tackle on their website. Once you purchase your new non-lead tackle, be sure to dispose of your old lead sinkers and jigs properly. Bring them to household hazardous waste collection sites. Never throw old tack into the water or on shore!
If you don’t fish yourself, you can gift non-lead fishing tackle to the favorite fishermen and fisherwomen in your lives. And the easiest thing to do: share this information with friends and family to “Get the Lead Out!” Making one small change can help to better the lives of wildlife around you and keep our environment healthy. A small step of changing to non-lead fishing tackle can make a big impact! Now is a great time to sort through your fishing tackle, properly dispose of your lead tackle, and get some new non-lead tackle to start off the fishing season! And this winter don’t forget to check your ice fishing gear to see what you can switch over to non-lead. Happy fishing! You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish, unless of course you play bass! Wow, what a year! As I began my Big Year on January 1, 2021 I didn’t really know what to expect, or should I say, what I was getting myself into. I’ve always enjoyed being outside and watching birds, but doing a Big Year brought things to a whole new level. I didn’t have the time or resources to do a typical Big Year where participants travel all over the country on a moment’s notice to get a bird and end their year with upwards of 700 species, but I did end my Big Year being impressed with all I had learned over the year and how many species I saw. My main focus of my Big Year wasn’t the final number of species, but instead to learn more about birds. Their life history, behaviors, fun facts, and to get better at sight and sound identification. Throughout my year I met and exceeded that goal. 2021 was a year of birds and I’m so happy I decided to take the plunge into a whole new level of birding for me! Before the start of my Big Year, I set some goals for myself. Not only did I want to see how many bird species I could spot in my daily life, but I wanted to learn more about birds, get better at ID, and help birds so I wrote down a list of goals to keep me on track for the year. Here were my goals and how I reached them: Spot as many bird species as I can in my daily life in 1 calendar year I spent many days on the lookout for new birds and ended my year with 187 species, which I think is a pretty good number for only birding in 3 states (Minnesota, Nebraska, Georgia)! Learn more about birds – life history, behavior, fun facts I spent a fair amount of time reading various magazines and articles about all sorts of birds. If I was scrolling online or flipping through a magazine and something about birds caught my eye, I took the time to stop and read and I learned a lot by doing so. I also learned a lot by birding with others. I was lucky enough to have a nature related job where I was outside a majority of the time and had co-workers that were just as interested in birds and birding as I was. We learned a lot from sharing all the fun bird facts with each other and helping each other ID various birds. ID – get better at sight and sound Practice, practice, practice! Birding with friends really helped with this goal. The more eyes and ears on a bird the better. Having others to bounce ideas off of was really helpful. We consulted field guides, apps, pictures, and sound recordings to help us ID those tricky birds. The best thing to do when learning new birds is to get outside and put your skills to work. Enjoy! Use it as a great excuse to be outside! I wanted my Big Year to be something enjoyable and not turn into a chore. I wanted birding to stay fun and not be something I was forcing myself to go out and do but on the flip side, it was also a great motivation to get outside and take a hike. I found a good balance of birding helping to me stay active, but also not feeling like I always had to have my binos with or be birding if I was outside. Read 3 bird related books The three books I read for my Big Year were:
Listen to bird related podcasts BirdNote Daily is a podcast that has an episode every day that is two minutes or less. I listened to every episode of theirs in 2021. Some things they talked about I already knew, but I learned a ton of new interesting things from that podcast. A few other podcasts I listen to had some bird related episode throughout the year so I made it a point to listen to those. Ologies with Alie Ward, Species by Macken Muphy, Animals to the Max Podcast by Corbin Maxey, and This is Love by Criminal. You have to cherry pick a little to get just bird episodes, but I enjoy listening to all their content, not just the bird ones. Nature Centered from Wild Birds Unlimited and Bring Birds Back by BirdNote are two more good bird podcasts to add to your list. Submit birding lists to eBird eBird was kind of intimidating for me to use until I just dove in and tried it. It wasn’t until a few months into my Big Year that I started using it, but now I submit lists fairly regularly while watching the bird feeders or out on a hike. It’s a fun way to keep track of the birds I’ve seen, when, and where, but also to help researchers and scientists understand birds better by helping them to collect data through Citizen Science programs like eBird. Support a bird related project or organization Surprisingly this goal was somewhat hard, but mostly because I couldn’t decide which project or organization I wanted to support! There are so many great ones out there. Ultimately, I decided to support HawkWatch International through their Adopt-a-Hawk program and the Teton Raptor Center by selecting them as my Amazon Smile donation recipient. (If you don’t use AmazonSmile yet, I encourage you to do so! They donate a portion of your Amazon sale to a selected charity with no extra charge to you). Some other bird organizations and projects that would be good to support:
Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count and Global Big Day The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is held in February each year and the Global Big Day is in May each year. On these special birding days I submitted my birding lists on eBird and helped scientists to get a better “big picture” view of bird populations and ranges. This year the Global Big Day was on my birthday, which was a perfect was to celebrate during my Big Year! For more info on GBBC check out my blog post. Become more involved as a Birds & Blooms field editor The summer of 2020 I applied to be a Birds & Blooms field editor where I answer questions and submit content for the magazine. Since it was a year focused on birds, I wanted to become more involved in the field editor group, so this year I submitted more things and was even interviewed for an article about the Great Backyard Bird Count and my participation in it! So, if you’re looking for some reading material check out the January 2022 issue of Birds & Blooms Extra! Write in my Nature Journal more I have a Nature Journal where I keep track of all sorts of phenology things, but for my Big Year I decided to dedicate a notebook just to the Big Year. So, I started my Big Year Birding Journal where I journaled each day I went birding – where I went, what I saw, if I saw any new birds, and what my count was. Let the Birding Begin! Once I had set my goals, it was time for birding! On January 1, 2021 we were up at the cabin in Emily, MN to go ice fishing and spearing with friends to ring in the new year. Although it was the first day of my big year, fishing was on the forefront so I didn’t seek out birds, but was able to spot 8 species on my first day! Including a Pileated Woodpecker which was the American Birding Association’s “Bird of the Year” for 2021. Throughout January and February I was in Nebraska and regularly added new species to my list since everything, even “the usuals,” were new species for the year. Most walks and nature outings resulted in adding birds to my list. Then in March the fun really began! We headed to St. Simon’s Island on the coast of Georgia for a week. The birding was awesome! There were SO many shorebirds, many of them were not only new species for the year, but new to me! My Big Year list and Life List were growing quickly. When my Big Year started, I thought 100 species would make a good goal. Well, in Georgia I got 50 new species, bringing me real close to 100, and I ended up reaching that 100 species goal before the end of March, so I had to up my goal to 150. In April I moved back to Minnesota where I would be spending the remainder of my Big Year. April was another great month adding 30 species to my list, most of those being waterfowl as they migrated to their summer homes. Then in May it was time for Warbler Season! These tricky little birds kept us on our toes trying to ID them all, but it was a fun challenge! May ended with 36 new species! After migration season, things slowed down quite a bit. I added a handful of birds in June, July, and September. August, October, and November yielded no new species, things were getting pretty slow. I was still getting out for hikes and watching the feeders, but it was “the usuals” with no new birds. I was stuck at 180 birds for quite a while. I was a little worried as the days kept ticking by in December and the 31st wasn’t far off. For the new year we were up to the cabin again with friends to go ice fishing and spearing. On the 31st before our friends got there, we made a quick trip over to the Sax-Zim Bog. Even before my Big Year I had been wanting to visit the Bog, so I was really happy we were able to squeeze it in! With only about 4 hours of birding (much less than we would have wanted) I added 7 more species to my Big Year List and some more to my Life List! A quick, but well worth it trip and an awesome way to end my Big Year! I ended with 187 species on December 31, 2021. It was fun to see things come full circle. I started and ended my Big Year in the same place, with the same people. I birded in three states over 12 months. Racked up 187 species during 103 days spent birding, with 72 of those species being Lifers. I witnessed countless once-in-a-lifetime moments while out in nature and found more than just birds on my outings. I learned an immense amount of bird information and impressed myself with the knowledge I gained over the year. My Big Year made me not only better at bird ID, but also better at observing and appreciating all that nature has to offer – you just have to slow down and take some time to admire it. My Big Year was more than just birds, and I’m so happy I took the plunge and did it! It was a year well spent and I’m looking forward to doing another Big Year sometime in the future! Even if a Big Year isn’t your thing, get out and watch the birds! You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy them. The Final Count! - Big Year 2021 Species List
(First number is the species number for the year, number in (#) is the species number for the month) January January 1 1. Blue Jay – Emily, MN 2. Pileated Woodpecker – Emily, MN 3. Common Raven – Emily, MN 4. Black-capped Chickadee – Emily, MN 5. White-breasted Nuthatch – Emily, MN 6. Wild Turkey – Emily, MN 7. Canada Goose – Garrison, MN 8. Trumpeter Swan – Near Lake Milacs January 2 9. American Crow – Champlin, MN 10. Red-tailed Hawk – Owatonna, MN January 3 – Kearney, NE 11. Northern Cardinal 12. Dark-eyed Junco 13. Eurasian Collared Dove 14. House Sparrow January 5 15. Mallard Duck – Cottonmill Park, Kearney, NE 16. American Robin – Cottonmill Park 17. Northern Flicker (red-shafted) – Cottonmill Park 18. American Goldfinch – Cottonmill Park 19. Rock Pigeon – Kearney, NE 20. European Starling – Kearney, NE January 6 – Kearney, NE 21. Hairy Woodpecker January 8 – Kearney, NE 22. Downy Woodpecker January 9 23. American Tree Sparrow – Yanney Park, Kearney NE 24. Cooper’s Hawk – Kearney, NE January 17 – Hike & Bike trail behind Yanney Park, Kearney, NE 25. Belted Kingfisher 26. Great Horned Owl January 18 – Archway Hike & Bike trail, Kearney, NE 27. Rough-legged Hawk* (dark morph) 28. Red-bellied Woodpecker January 24 – Kearney Cemetery 29. Red-breasted Nuthatch January 30 – North of Kearney, NE 30. Western Meadowlark February February 1 – Archway hike & bike trail, Kearney, NE 31. (1) Northern Shoveler 32. (2) Cedar Waxwing 33. (3) Bald Eagle 34. (4) Song Sparrow February 6 – Hike & bike trail from Yanney to 2nd Ave, Kearney, NE 35. (5) Green-winged Teal February 16 – Kearney, NE 36. (6) Horned Lark February 21 – Archway hike & bike trail, Kearney, NE 37. (7) Common Goldeneye February 21 – Kearney, NE 38. (8) Sandhill Crane February 28 – Kearney, NE 39. (9) Pine Sisken March March 5 – Downtown Kearney, NE 40. (1) House Finch March 7 – Gibbon, NE 41. (2) Red-winged Black Bird 42. (3) Snow Goose 43. (4) Killdeer March 10 – St. Simons Island, GA 44. (5) Wood Stork* 45. (6) Northern Harrier* 46. (7) Mourning Dove 47. (8) Palm Warbler 48. (9) Yellow-rumped Warbler 49. (10) Double-crested Cormorant 50. (11) Brown Pelican* 51. (12) Eastern Bluebird March 11 52. (13) Carolina Wren* – St. Simon’s Island 53. (14) Carolina Chickadee* – St. Simon’s Island Gould’s Inlet 54. (15) Vesper Sparrow* 55. (16) Boat-tailed Grackle* 56. (17) Great Egret 57. (18) Forster’s Tern* 58. (19) Willet* 59. (20) Ring-billed Gull 60. (21) Laughing Gull* 61. (22) Semipalmated Plover* 62. (23) Black Skimmer* 63. (24) Sanderling 64. (25) Marbled Godwit* Kayaking tour near Brunswick 65. (26) Snowy Egret* 66. (27) Tri-colored Heron* 67. (28) Greater Yellow Legs* 68. (29) White Ibis* 69. (30) While Pelican 70. (31) Osprey 71. (32) Marsh Wren* 72. (33) Tree Swallow 73. (34) Cattle Egret 74. (35) Rusty Blackbird* 75. (36) Mockingbird Gould’s Inlet 76. (37) Wilson’s Plover* 77. (38) Piping Plover* March 12 – Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge 78. (39) Black Vulture* 79. (40) Turkey Vulture 80. (41) American Bittern* 81. (42) Anhinga* 82. (43) Red-shouldered Hawk* 83. (44) Little Blue Heron* 84. (45) Blue-grey gnatcatcher* 85. (46) Gray Catbird 86. (47) Great Blue Heron March 13 – Jekyll Island, GA 87. (48) Fish Crow* 88. (49) Herring Gull 89. (50) Cackling Goose* March 14 – Ocean Drive, St. Simons Island, GA 90. (51) Savannah Sparrow 91. (52) Sora* 92. (53) Swamp Sparrow* March 15 – St. Simon’s Island, GA 93. (54) Tufted Titmouse March 28 94. (55) Ring-necked Duck – Path between Archway and I-80, Kearney, NE 95. (56) Bufflehead – Path between Archway and I-80, Kearney, NE 96. (57) Blue-winged Teal – Kea Lake WMA, Kearney, NE 97. (58) Common Grackle – Kea Lake WMA, Kearney, NE 98. (59) American Coot – Kea Lake WMA, Kearney, NE 99. (60) Pied-billed Grebe – Cunningham’s Journal Lake, Kearney, NE 100. (61) Ruddy Duck* – Rowe Sanctuary Viewing Pond, Gibbon, NE April April 1 – Pine Island, NE 101. (1) American Kestrel April 2 – Sand Point Trail, Frontenac State Park, Frontenac, MN 102. (2) Eastern Phoebe 103. (3) Wood Duck 104. (4) Canvasback* 105. (5) Redhead* 106. (6) Lesser Scaup 107. (7) Golden-crowned Kinglet April 3 – Lake Koronis, Paynesville, MN 108. (8) Hooded Merganser 109. (9) Red-breasted Merganser* 110. (10) Common Loon April 4 – Lake Koronis, Paynesville, MN 111. (11) Greater White Fronted Goose* 112. (12) Gadwall 113. (13) Common Redpoll April 18 – Hultine WMA, Eldorado, NE 114. (14) Northern Pintail* 115. (15) American Wigeon* 116. (16) Cinnamon Teal* April 24 – Lake Superior, Lutsen, MN 117. (17) Eared Grebe* 118. (18) Red-throated Grebe* April 25 – Red Wing, MN 119. (19) Purple Finch 120. (20) Ruby-crowned Kinglet April 26 – Red Wing, MN 121. (21) Brown Creeper 122. (22) White-throated Sparrow April 27 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 123. (23) Broad-winged Hawk April 28 Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 124. (24) Rose-breasted Grosbeak 125. (25) White-crowned Sparrow April 29 – Kalmar Reservoir, Byron, MN 126. (26) American Golden Plover* 127. (27) Eastern Meadowlark* 128. (28) Semipalmated Sandpiper* 129. (29) Least Sandpiper* 130. (30) Long-billed Dowitcher* May May 1 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN – feeders 131. (1) Baltimore Oriole 132. (2) Harris’s Sparrow* 133. (3) Indigo Bunting May 2 – Red Wing, MN 134. (4) Ruby-throated Hummingbird May 3 – Kutsky Park, Rochester, MN 135. (5) Northern Waterthrush 136. (6) Yellow Warbler 137. (7) Northern Parula* 138. (8) House Wren May 4 – Kasson, MN 139. (9) Ring-necked Pheasant May 5 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN – feeders 140. (10) Brown-headed Cowbird May 6 – Zumbro Trail, Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 141. (11) Black-and-white Warbler 142. (12) Great-crested Flycatcher 143. (13) Swainson’s Thrush* May 7 – Red Wing, MN 144. (14) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker May 8 Frontenac State Park, Frontenac, MN 145. (15) Yellow-throated Warbler 146. (16) Magnolia Warbler 147. (17) Yellow-throated Vireo* 148. (18) Northern Rough-winged Swallow* Sand Point, Frontenac State Park, Frontanac, MN 149. (19) Blue-winged Warbler* 150. (20) Barn Swallow 151. (21) Green Heron* May 10 – Hayfield, MN 152. (22) Woodthrush* May 13 – Hok-si-la Park, Lake City, MN 153. (23) Cape May Warbler* 154. (24) Veery 155. (25) American Redstart May 14 – Lower AP Anderson Park, Red Wing, MN 156. (26) Least Flycatcher 157. (27) Tennessee Warbler* 158. (28) Ovenbird – Pioneer/Haycreek Bike Trail, Red Wing, MN May 15 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 159. (29) Eastern Kingbird May 21 160. (30) Chimney Swift – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 161. (31) Common Night Hawk – Red Wing, MN May 22 – Pioneer/Haycreek Bike Trail, Red Wing, MN 162. (32) Common Yellowthroat 163. (33) Ruffed Grouse May 30 164. (34) Yellow-headed Blackbird – Garrison, MN 165. (35) Red-eyed Vireo – Emily, MN May 31 – Oxbow Park – Main Picnic Area, Byron, MN 166. (36) Warbling Vireo* June June 6 – Lower A.P. Anderson Park, Red Wing, MN 167. (1) Eastern Wood Pewee* June 11 – Yanney Park, Kearney, NE 168. (2) Mute Swan* 169. (3) Purple Martin 170. (4) Dickcissel* June 16 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN – Maple Trail 171. (5) Barred Owl June 17 – Sand Point Trail, Frontenac State Park, Frontenac, MN 172. (6) Cliff Swallow 173. (7) Eastern Towhee July July 2 – Drive to Paynesville, MN 174. (1) Bobolink* July 5 – Oxbow Park – Byron, MN 175. (2) Field Sparrow* July 9 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 176. (3) Clay-colored Sparrow* July 18 – Red Wing, MN 177. (4) Peregrine Falcon* August 0 September September 10 – Izaak Walton Wetlands, Rochester, MN 178. (1) Chestnut-sided Warbler September 20 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 179. (2) Red-headed Woodpecker September 30 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 180. (3) Lincoln’s Sparrow* October 0 November 0 December December 31 – Sax-Zim Bog, Meadowlands, MN 181. (1) Pine Grosbeak* 182. (2) Boreal Chickadee* 183. (3) Gray Jay* 184. (4) Black-billed Magpie 185. (5) Evening Grosbeak* 186. (6) Northern Shrike* 187. (7) Snow Bunting* Final Big Year Count: 187 Big Year Lifers: 72 Days Birded During Big Year: 103 Thank you for joining me on this year long birding adventure! Happy Birding! December included a fair amount of bird feeder watching with Project FeederWatch in full swing and birds spending more time at the feeders because of the cold weather and snow. Although the feeders didn’t produce any new birds for the year, it’s always fun to see the winter “usuals.” I stayed at a Big Year count of 180 species all the way from September until December 31st when we squeezed in a quick trip to the Sax-Zim Bog right at the end of the year. And boy, did that trip pay off! Not only had I been wanting to visit the Bog since before my Big Year, but I added birds to my Big Year list and Life List! It was well worth the drive even for the short amount of time we were there, and I can’t wait to go back and see what else we can find! I ended up finishing my Big Year at the same place it started and with the same people at the cabin in north central Minnesota. As the clock stuck midnight on December 31, 2021 my Big Year was complete and I had logged 187 species for the year! Although my Big Year may be over, birding is not. Here are some excerpts from my Birding Nature Journal this month: Monday, December 6, 2021 FeederWatch day at Oxbow, no new birds today. Thursday, December 9, 2021 I watched the Red Wing feeders while I ate breakfast and drank my tea, 10 species today. Friday, December 31, 2021 Today is the last day of my Big Year and we went to the Sax-Zim Bog to end on a high note! The Bog has been on my bucket list of places to visit, so nothing like waiting until the last day of the Big Year to go! We started off by checking out the feeders at the Visitor Center where we saw Pine Grosbeaks and a Boreal Chickadee. Then we drove around and stopped at a few feeders. By the end of the day we saw Gray Jays, a Black-billed Magpie, tons of Evening Grosbeaks at “The Zabin,” a Northern Shrike, and Snow Buntings as we were heading back to the cabin. Car birding isn’t something I’m very used to but with only about 4 hours of birding, I added 7 species to my list and 6 of those were lifers! Definitely want to head back to the Bog when we have more time to explore!! December Birds: (The first number represents the number of species for the year, the number in parenthesis represents the number of species for the month) December 31 – Sax-Zim Bog, Meadowlands, MN 181. (1) Pine Grosbeak* 182. (2) Boreal Chickadee* 183. (3) Gray Jay* 184. (4) Black-billed Magpie 185. (5) Evening Grosbeak* 186. (6) Northern Shrike* 187. (7) Snow Bunting* Birds Species this Year: 187! Species for December: 7 Days Birded this Year: 103 Days Birded in December: 9 Lifers in December: 6 (Birds with an (*) are Lifer Birds) An added bonus for my Big Year - earlier this year I was interviewed for an article about the Great Backyard Bird Count for the Birds & Blooms magazine! It was printed in the January Extra edition of the magazine, but arrived in December, just in time for my Big Year! Stay tuned for a Big Year wrap up blog post! With November complete, the final count down is on! There’s just one more month left in my Big Year. I haven’t had a new bird in a while, so I’m hoping I’ll get lucky and be able to add a few more before the year’s end. Although I haven’t added any new birds this month, I’ve been doing plenty of birding – mostly watching the feeders. With deer hunting season in full swing I haven’t been visiting my usual hiking trails, but the cooler weather and shorter days have made the feeders popular with the birds and great for viewing. Here are some excerpts from my Birding Nature Journal this month: Thursday, November 12, 2021 It’s been nice starting my day off by watching the birds and doing an ebird list as I drink my tea. No new birds, but still enjoyable! Thursday, November 25, 2021 I did two ebird lists this morning watching the feeders in Red Wing. At one point, within just a few minutes, we had a Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Purple House Finch, and American Robin! Plus, many of the usuals, coming to 14 species total. Later in the afternoon as we were eating our Thanksgiving dessert a Cooper’s Hawk came flying through by the feeders to try and get itself a meal! November Birds: Birds Species this Year: 180! Species for November: 0 Days Birded this Year: 94 Days Birded in November: 8 I don’t have much of an update for October. Migration is basically over, and I wasn’t able to add any new species this month. I have a feeling this is going to be the trend for the rest of the year since all the warm weather birds are moved out and I have already gotten “the usuals” for winter birds. I’ve still been holding out hope for a rare vagrant to show up or maybe some late migrators to make a stop at the feeders. I only got out birding a few days this month and did most of my birding from the boat while out fishing. We saw a good variety of songbirds on the shore, and some waterfowl on the lake. We even spotted two Common Loons mid-month in central Minnesota which was an interesting surprise. Although I haven’t been able to add any new birds lately, I’m still enjoying my Big Year and all the birding I’ve done this year! October Birds: Birds Species this Year: 180! Species for October: 0 Days Birded this Year: 86 Days Birded in October: 4 Lifers in October: 0 With fall here, hunting season is upon us. With being married to an avid outdoorsman, I find myself trying lots of new recipes. This time, it was a little different. Instead of making a meal for us, I used some of his harvest to make dog treats! Duck and geese feet are great treats for dogs as their bones don’t splinter (since they aren’t cooked) and they’re full of beneficial cartilage. Dehydrated Duck Feet 1. Remove duck feet from the body, I use game shears 2. Clip off the nails as they can be long and sharp, I use the game shears for this also 3. Wash feet thoroughly. (The feet can be fed at this point to your furry friend, or you can dehydrate so they last longer). 4. Pat dry and arrange on dehydrator trays. 5. Dehydrate at 165 degrees Fahrenheit until dried 6. Store in an airtight container Clip the toe nails off I made some dehydrated duck feet as Christmas gifts last year for some four-legged family members and friends. My taste tester dogs were all shapes and sizes from a Rat terrier-Chihuahua to a Coonhound-Lab. Most of the dogs didn’t quite know what to do at first with the duck foot, but once they bit in, they all enjoyed them! Dehydrated duck feet are a treat your dog is sure to love!
Try them out and let me know what your dog thought of them! Wanting to try more wild game dog treat recipes? Check out this article from the Nebraskaland Magazine: September was still slow, but I did get a few new birds! Birds have been migrating through, but quite sporadically. In the spring you can time when they’ll be here because of the weather, and you get a big push of birds all at once. In the fall, they trickle through, each bird choosing when they want to migrate, the weather not influencing them as much. You see a few here and there but nothing like the influx of birds during “Warbler Season” in May. Fall migration also has more challenges than spring migration; like more leaves on the trees and quieter birds. In the spring the woods are full of birds calling and singing as they look for mates, but in the fall they’re considerably quieter so you can’t bird by ear as much. We had a few cooler days pushing the Warblers through faster, but overall the weather in September has been great for getting outside, even a little warm on some days! Trees are still holding onto their leaves making seeing birds a little tricky, but my last three outings of the month produced, adding three new birds to my Big Year list and bringing me to 180 species! Just three more months of the year left to see what else I can add to my list. Here are some excerpts from my Birding Nature Journal this month: Friday, September 10, 2021 I went back to the Izaak Walton Wetlands this morning and I got my first new species since July! It was a Chestnut-sided Warbler! The Warblers and Vireos have been hard to spot/ID lately because of all the tree cover. This Warbler gladly showed off the chestnut colored flanks so I knew who I had! Monday, September 20, 2021 This morning I was back at the Rock Dell WMA. At the beginning near the woods, I saw two birds flying so once they landed, I quick got them in my binos so I could see who it was. The bird was backlit from the sun, but I could see it had red on its head. So, I walked a little more down the path to get a better view, and it was a Red-headed Woodpecker! This bird has been eluding me this year! Not only was there one, but there was also a juvie with it! They even called back and forth to each other giving me a show. Later as I was heading back to my car, I looked at a hole in a tree with my binos and there was a Red-headed Woodpecker looking back out at me! Such a fun way to see this bird! Thursday, September 30, 2021 I squeezed in one more day of birding this month with a short hike out at Rock Dell WMA. In the prairie there were some birds flitting about eating the seeds from prairie plants. They were hard to see but I got a few good glimpses. Luckily, there were a few that came closer and were calling to each other so I could get a positive ID of a Lincoln’s Sparrow! September Birds: (The first number represents the number of species for the year, the number in parenthesis represents the number of species for the month) September 10 – Izaak Walton Wetlands, Rochester, MN 178. (1) Chestnut-sided Warbler September 20 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 179. (2) Red-headed Woodpecker September 30 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 180. (3) Lincoln’s Sparrow* Birds Species this Year: 180! Species for September: 3 Days Birded this Year: 82 Days Birded in September: 6 Lifers in September: 1 (Birds with an (*) are Lifer Birds) Read my other Big Year related posts by clicking the button below.
July was slow, but August was slower. I didn’t get out birding much because there hasn’t been much bird movement, so it was just the usuals around. Resulting in no new birds for the year. Next month things should start heating up a little more as birds are moving for their fall migration. Although there wasn’t anything new, the few times I did get out birding were fun and a good excuse to get outside. Here are some excerpts from my Birding Nature Journal this month: Saturday, August 7, 2021 This evening we got together to do our annual Chimney Swift count! We counted only 40 swifts that went into the chimney, less than other years, but the weather was cloudy with some rain all day so that may have played in a role in how many birds we saw. Even though we didn’t see a ton of swifts, it was still fun to watch their nightly ritual as they group together during migration. Sunday, August 29, 2021 Today I checked out a new area, the Izaak Walton Wetlands near Rochester, MN. I saw 19 species, along with 3 birds that I didn’t get a positive ID on. Our warblers are starting to head south so they’re making an appearance again. During my hike I also saw a huge snapping turtle, a painted turtle, and a coyote! Bird Species this Year: 177 Species for August: 0 Days Birded this Year: 76 Days Birded in August: 3 Lifers in August: 0 Read my other Big Year related posts by clicking the button below.
July was my slowest month yet. Although I only got a handful of new birds, they were all Lifers! Not a lot for new birds, but there are still plenty of birds around. With shorter days, and cooler temps coming in the next few months I anticipate birds to be preparing for migration and moving around soon. So we will see what the coming months have to offer. Here are some excerpts from my Birding Nature Journal this month: Friday, July 9, 2021 This morning I went to the Rock Dell WMA. There were tons of Dickcissels calling in the prairie. I also heard some Field Sparrows and a Clay-colored Sparrow! I heard the Clay-colored Sparrow throughout my walk, but finally got a great view of it perched in a tree right at the end! Friday, July 23, 2021 I went to my local patch, Lower AP Anderson Park, to see if I could add any birds to the eBird list there, and I was able to! I saw four Cooper’s Hawks and what I believe is their nest! They flew into the woods and two perched close enough that I could identify them! I’m guessing it was an adult with young. No new birds for the year, but it was a very cool sighting! July Birds: (The first number represents the number of species for the year, the number in parenthesis represents the number of species for the month) July 2 – Drive to Paynesville, MN 174. (1) Bobolink* July 5 – Oxbow Park – Byron, MN 175. (2) Field Sparrow* July 9 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 176. (3) Clay-colored Sparrow* July 18 – Red Wing, MN 177. (4) Peregrine Falcon* Bird Species this Year: 177 Species for July: 4 Days Birded this Year: 73 Days Birded in July: 8 Lifers in July: 4 (Birds with an (*) are Lifer Birds) Read my other Big Year related posts by clicking the button below.
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