We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
A fine little fresh water marsh just a couple of hundred yards in from the sea in southern Maine. My birding list from the long weekend is below the fold -
Photo is a large Gneiss ledge, a remnant of the great snow-capped mountain range which ran through New England in the distant past
Mrs. BD and I are in hiking mode now, especially with the cool Spring weather. (We have only been mostly casual or urban hikers in the past, but we're getting more serious now to the point of a visit to the big sale at REI for waterproof hiking gear.) We picked a steep, deep woodsy 5-miler on Saturday as a warm-up.
In New England, deep woods means relatively mature hardwood with a high canopy. Occasional Hemlock groves. Not very much understory. Whether that is due to deer or just the nature of things I don't know. I do know the Indians hated the understory, and often burned it out. Mature hardwood forest doesn't host a lot of wildlife except streamside. There are some warblers and other things up in the canopy which you can hear but not see without hassle. When there is a powerline cut, suddenly there are lots of birds. Edges, streams, and marshes are where most of the life is.
Birds seen or heard in the deep woods: Wood Pewee, Ovenbird (lots of them), Robin (yes, Robins are woodland thrushes), Wood Thrush, Veery, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Prairie Warbler, Flicker, Downy Woodpecker.
A friend tried to email an iPhone pic of the Barred Owl snoozing on a branch right off his deck, but the photo didn't come through. Regardless, this is my favorite local owl.
While we usually think of the Barred Owl as a species of the lowlands, and the Great Horned as the similar nighttime predator of the uplands (mice and rabbits get no rest in this world), the Barred can be a regular forest bird. A couple of weeks ago, I heard one every early morning in Georgia in the piney woodland.
We have had a pair nesting in a thick Hemlock grove on a rocky hillside above a flood plain at the Farm for many years. They use an old crow or hawk nest, not a nest hole.
The thing with owls is that it is great fun to see them, but even more fun and weird to hear them. If you are listing birds, hearing is as good as seeing.
Speaking of owls, no pair of Screech Owls have chosen my $45 Screech Owl nest box, and I am disappointed because it is perfectly situated. And at the same time I have seen them use Wood Duck boxes on tiny islands in the middle of ponds, which seems stupid and almost guaranteed to drown the chicks.
Crazy thing about Barred Owl: The experts want to kill thousands of them in the Pacific Northwest because they are "competing" with Spotted Owl. That is how some environmentalists think: Destroy the village to save it. It's like they want to kill immigrants with a slightly different color. Fact is, the Spotted is a west coast variant of the Barred. They interbreed, thus different races, same species.
I am all in favor of trying to destroy invasive species which threaten a stable, precious ecosystem (eg Burmese Python in Everglades, or Australian Pine in Florida and the Bahamas. "Invasive" usually means introduced by man, not critters and plants moving on their own.
I can think of one bird species that moved to North America: The Cattle Egret, blown over to the New World by hurricanes from Africa. They found their niche and fit right in.
Some man-introduced plants never become invasive in the sense of dominating an existing ecosystem. I am thinking of things like the Norway Maple which shades many urban streets, the Norway Spruce, - and the apple. Nobody complains about the occasional wild apple "escape" growing in a brushy forest edge. Some new species dominate, some just fit in unobtrusively and harmlessly.
Killing a Barred Owl is a sin unless you intend to dine on it.
Maybe the southern Indigo Snake can sometimes look like a black snake.
They are all wonderful, large critters and all can climb, but the Racers less so. They tend not to be wanderers, with home ranges of only around 30 acres so they know their way around. Naturally, they prefer rodent-rich home ranges, but they will always raid bird nests for eggs or babies in the Spring.
The Black Rat Snakes seem to prefer a mixed habitat with woodland edges, fields, plenty of brambles, and a pond, stream, or marsh.
Is that a frightening photo? Only if you identify with the baby birds instead of with the hungry snake. Or is it strangely sexual? Why are gals so often afraid of snakes while guys find them interesting?
As with lobsters, for conservation purposes it is better to eat the small ones and release the big ones. Laws are often irrational. Small sea critters have poor survival rates anyway, but the big breeders matter for the future.
Rational and effective conservation law would be to keep the small ones and throw back the big ones.
The Sanderling is familiar to anybody who has been to a saltwater beach. Their range is worldwide, and about half of their population lives in the New World. Their migration routes are astonishing for such little guys.
You can identify them by their beach behavior as much as by their appearance because few flocking shorebirds follow the receding surf as quickly, like mechanical toys.
Birders learn to ID birds as much by behavior as by appearance.
We had the privilege of birding last week with ornithologist and author Scott Weidensaul. He is a fine congenial fellow who knows everything, and while he is there he gives a splendid talk on some ornithological topic every evening after supper.
This is a photo travelogue of our second visit to Little Saint Simons Island on the Georgia coast for this year's birding week there. I'll post my bird list at the bottom of this post.
Little Saint Simons is not for everybody. It's a barrier island nature preserve, Southern Maritime Forest habitat and vast salt and brackish marshes. It's rustic and therefore not inexpensive, and you have to entertain yourself unless you partake of the planned outings (ie kayaking through the marshes, birding, fishing trips. Booze and family-style meals included. You can take a bike, kayak or motor skiff out anytime you want, or fish and swim on the ocean beach. The self-serve bar is open 24 hrs/day. There are 3 excellent naturalists available all the time for hikes. The bugs weren't too bad this year but I did donate my share of A+ blood to the cause of mosquito conservation.
Two innovations have been adding a/c to the cabins, and revamping the unheated pool with a gator-proof fence. It used to be a downer to find a 6' gator in the pool. An unwelcome innovation (for me) is the "healthy eating" trend instead of the traditional Southern fare that I love. I like to stay at least 6' away from kale, cilantro, organic produce, and veggie wraps or I break out in a bad case of annoyance.
Cool things about this very special place with photos, below...
Eels are very cool fish with remarkable life histories. They are also good to eat. Eeling, like crabbing, used to be a major cottage industry along the North American coast.
The first time I caught an eel, as a kid, I thought I had caught a snake. Unlike snakes, Eels are slimy and difficult to get a grip on.
Damming of rivers and streams is the likely cause of the drop-off of eel populations, just as with other anadromous fish.
Right now is the peak of shorebird and songbird migration down south where I am camping and tramping on a remote island for a few days, so there will be a brief break from my morning buffet of links. If all goes according to plan, our breakfasts will be biscuits and gravy, and shrimp 'n grits. Fried oysters and grilled oysters for supper, maybe with fried chicken. In the South, I break my No Breakfast rule because I can't resist that stuff.
To us Yankees, the South is a magnificent, exotic wonderland.
I'll try not to tangle with a rattler. Those sobs are everywhere so you have to watch your step on or off the trails on Little Saint Simons but there are other more interesting snakes to look at too. The clouds of mosquitoes are just something up with to put.
Vernal Pools are (usually temporary except in high-rain years) marshes. "Wetlands," aka swampy areas. They are a cool and productive part of an ecosystem because they contain no fish or turtles to eat all of the baby amphibians.
Generally the spring pools are fed by snow melt, early Spring rain, or slow seeps from springs which do not produce enough water to keep the area wet in high summer. Springs are interesting things.
Critters that breed in vernal pools clearly need to lay eggs which produce rapidly-maturing young who can leave the pools before they dry up. For example, Bullfrog tadpoles take a long time, up to a year, to grow and mature via that crazy amphibian metamorphosis so large frogs require permanent bodies of water.
Around here, typical Vernal Pool breeders are Spring Peepers, Common Toad, Wood Frog, Cricket Frog, various salamanders. Spring Peeper eggs - tadpoles - tiny frogs are ready to leave the water in 8 weeks. Toads can do it in 12 weeks.
Thanks to California rains, the Anza-Borrego Desert Park is experiencing one of its rare wildflower superblooms. There is plenty of usually-hidden life in deserts. Maggie's Farmer Bruce Kesler sent me some of his pics -
Red Tailed Hawk Sharp-shinned Hawk Mourning Dove Purple Grackle Cowbird Redwing Blackbird Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker WB Nuthatch Chickadee Robin Blue Jay House Finch Cardinal Fox Sparrow SC Junco Song Sparrow Tufted Titmouse WT Sparrow Goldfinch
The Eastern Grey Squirrel is a familiar rodent across the eastern US. They are far more abundant in parks and suburbia than in their native woodlands where, I suspect, there is less food and more predation.
I watched a pair mating yesterday morning on a branch next to my driveway. It was a sweet, if brief, physical encounter preceded by some tender play. I felt like a voyeur.
We have a few of the melanistic variant around here. Yes, black.
Sounds like a fine nickname for a beloved female. Not to mention that this bird's loud springtime call is "Peter,Peter,Peter."
These chickadee-like non-migratory birds of the eastern US are mostly invisible most of the year except around winter bird-feeders when they welcome handouts of sunflower seeds.
Sublimation is the process by which a solid goes directly to a vapor. Snow does that, even when it's below freezing. It evaporates. It's finally above freezing during the daytime here, at least for a day or two.
I have gotten a kick out of winter bird-feeding since I was a kid. It helps you find out what is around. The birds don't need it, but when it is frigid and there is snow cover, they certainly appreciate it.
Once you begin, though, you should continue the freebies until March because, in your generosity, you have created dependents.
If you have bears around, forget bird feeding.
I do it on the cheap and in a squirrel-wise way. I buy 50 lb. bags of cracked corn or chicken feed and throw a few handfuls around every morning. Ground feeding birds go for it. They might prefer something else, but they go for it when it's cold. It keeps the squirrels busy too. In my squirrel-proof feeder, I just put the more costly whole sunflower seed that I mix with a small amount of niger seed.
If I bothered to put out suet, I would attract more interesting birds but would have Starlings too.
Around here, most of what we see around the food in January are Juncoes, BC Chickadees, WT Sparrows, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Mourning Dove, Goldfinch, Fox Sparrow, an occasional Song Sparrow. The occasional Sharpie or Red Tail trying to catch the feeder birds. Sometimes House Sparrows and House Finches, but they don't like this food - which is a good thing. Nothing exciting most of the time. I rarely see Purple Finch, Crossbills, Redpolls, Pine Siskins, or a flock of Evening Grosbeaks. I wish they would visit sometime but I am not on the edge of piney woods. In April, blackbirds arrive.
Mine is like the one in the photo with a collapsible plastic perch thing on the bottom. I got the largest I could find so it only has to be refilled every ten days or two weeks.
Few birds store much fat. Fat adds weight which makes flying inefficient. Generally (with exceptions like ducks), birds burn what they eat during the day for energy and heat.
... in modern Western science, the whole concept of life is so mechanical that, if you look closely, not even people are supposed to be anthropomorphized. Emotional, holistic terms such as love, sorrow, and concern have no place in an impoverished language of chemical transactions at the micro level and selection pressures at the macro. Not that chemical transactions and selection pressures are not essential influences, because of course they are — but from our current knowledge of them, they are acutely inadequate to describing the subtleties of lived experience.
This framework goes back to Descartes, whose dualistic universe of absolute mind at one end and absolute matter at the other admitted nothing in between. Indeed, Descartes reasoned that since animals are not rational, they are not conscious, and since they are not conscious, they cannot even be aware of pain; their piteous howls during the horrible experiments he conducted on them were to him mere reflex, the unfelt expression of material reactions akin to the shrieking of a teakettle.
A friend tried to email an iPhone pic of the Barred Owl snoozing on a branch right off his deck, but the photo didn't come through. Regardless, this is my favorite local owl.
There are several black-colored snakes in the US. Notably, the 
The Sanderling is familiar to anybody who has been to a saltwater beach. Their range is worldwide, and about half of their population lives in the New World. Their migration routes are astonishing for such little guys.
The Eastern Grey Squirrel is a familiar rodent across the eastern US. They are far more abundant in parks and suburbia than in their native woodlands where, I suspect, there is less food and more predation.
Sounds like a fine nickname for a beloved female. Not to mention that this bird's loud springtime call is "Peter,Peter,Peter."
I have gotten a kick out of winter bird-feeding since I was a kid. It helps you find out what is around. The birds don't need it, but when it is frigid and there is snow cover, they certainly appreciate it.