Maggie's Farm

Our leisurely Cape Cod habits are to take an early morning 1-hour brisk exercise walk before breakfast with maybe a quick dip after, then a slower nature walk later in the morning. All interspersed with swims, of course. Choice of ponds, Wellfleet Bay, Cape Cod Bay, or ocean - all within a few miles.

One cool thing for amateur naturalists is the variety of habitats you can encounter in a one hour walk on the Outer Cape ("Lower Cape"). I scouted out this remote sand road where, within a mile, you go from dunes to salt marsh to fresh water marsh to open meadow to Pitch Pine forest.

A hand-painted sign nailed to a tree on this road read "Caution: Dogs, Kids, and Turtles." Meaning Box Turtles.

All decent humans love Box Turtles.

My bird list of commonly seen or heard was modest on this trip: Osprey, the 3 gulls (Herring, GBB, Laughing), Green Heron, Pine Warbler, Parula Warbler, Yellow-throat Warbler, Yellow Warbler, RE Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, Cormorant, Tree Swallow, Piping Plover, Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover, Willet, Mallard, Black Duck, Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Kingbird, Common Tern, Great Crested Flycatcher, Chickadee, Cardinal, Grackles, Cowbird, Red Wing. Forgot some. Most shorebirds are up north breeding on the tundra now.

Typical Outer Cape uplands: Pitch Pine and Scrub Oak, with grassy patches where enough sun gets through. Here be Box Turtles:

Large salt marsh between the South Wellfleet Audubon and Lieutenant Island, with a hummock where the Diamondback Terrapins lay their eggs:

Low tide, Cape Cod Bay, way out on the western shore of Great Island this weekend. Heaven. You can even bring your doggie. No people there, either, except me and the Mrs. and the rare beachcomber.

A dune knitted together by a clump of Bayberry overlooking Cape Cod Bay, near Duck Harbor:

A guy has devoted his life to re-establishing the Puffin colonies in Maine.

One could do many worse things in life.

That sandwich sign made me wonder whether the Puffins were being attracted to this rock by the idea of a free lunch. Foolish birds.

You can read a bit about the Atlantic Puffin here.

Re-posted today because I had a female Ruby-Throated flirting with me yesterday while I was watering some hanging baskets of flowers. Fearless critter. Seemed to want to frolic in the spray.

Chances are that the first time you saw a hummingbird, you paid it no attention, imagining it to be a passing dragonfly or some other fleeting buzzing bug. In the Eastern half of the US, we have only one species – the Ruby Throated.

This 3-4-inch bird is usually only seen when hovering over flowers, because otherwise he is tiny and darting in flight, and his wings are a humming blur. You have to be very close to hear the hum.

These insect-like birds are probably more abundant in your area than you realize, but if you want to see them often, you need a hummingbird garden. (Those sugar-water hummingbird feeders offer no real nutrition, and the red coloring is thought to be somewhat toxic.) He feeds on nectar and small bugs hidden in the flowers, and prefers flowers which are designed for pollination by hummingbirds – often red in color and vase-shaped for his long beak. Red Trumpet Vine (in photo) is a favorite, as is azalea in the south, but they like monarda too. I find their favorite at my place is Crocosmia – which is in bloom now along with the monarda, and the trumpet vine on my wall. I highly recommend Crocosmia – the bulbs are a bit expensive but, once established, they multiply rapidly and they have attractive foliage. White Flower Farm has a large selection. In the woods, I typically see hummingbirds around patches of Jewelweed, which likes damp areas.

Read more about the Ruby Throated here. How do these fragile creatures make it across the Gulf of Mexico to winter in South America?

The print is Audubon's, the Ruby Throat with Trumpet Vine.

Speaking of hummingbirds, don’t forget the Dixie Hummingbirds.

Warbler migration season has reached its end, but our readers need a tougher challenge. Here 'tis. It is cheating to go to the link (I'll thank him with a link for the photo later today).

Hint: It's a female. Another wonderfully charming female below the fold, mostly safe for work -

A view of the farm this weekend -

Had too much work to do to spend much time birding this weekend, but I tend to have outdoor situational awareness:

Yellow Warbler, Yellow Throat Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Mallard, Wood Duck, Canada Goose, GB Heron, B Oriole, Turkey Vulture, Wild Turkey, Wood Duck, Red-Tailed Hawk, RT Hummingbird, Blue Jay, Chickadee, Mourning Dove, Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Bluebird, Robin, Kingbird, Phoebe, Wood Pewee, Wood Thrush, Veery, Hermit Thrush, Song Sparrow, Ovenbird, Crow, Raven, Downy WP, Brown Thrasher, Pileated Woodpecker, House Finch, House Wren, RE Vireo,  Black and White Warbler, and numerous unidentified warblers.

Did not see any Meadowlark, Killdeer, or Bobolink. Probably passed through already, but I wish they would make summer homes here. I do not know why they don't.

This reasonably common migratory bird of the Eastern US is usually located by his loud, piercing calls. I have spent plenty of time tracking down the call, only to say to myself "Oh yeah, of course - I forgot" when I find the guy up in some treetop.

This bird should definitely be in The Handbook of Loud Birds of Central Ohio - or of anywhere.

Info below the fold -

This migratory bird, resembling a miniature Mockingbird in appearance, in habits, and even in song sometimes, summers in the Eastern and Southwestern US. The last one I saw was quite tame, flitting around the top of shrubs along our stream, occasionally uttering his "spee" call.

You can read about this bird here.

Do our readers ever see these little guys?

I was a bit of a nerdy, introverted kid, with a strong naturalist, conservationist, and hunting bent which has continued into my so-called adulthood.

I owe my Mom (and my Dad) gratitude for introducing me to these interesting things. They are both curious people who do not like to not know about things around them, in whatever depth they are able to pursue.

The energetic curiosity of parents, as of teachers, must surely be a good inspiration for growing rugrats. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

While an expert in nothing, I have learned enough over the years to see and understand more of what's going on outdoors than the average bear. As our readers know, I am interested in the geology, the geography, the wildlife, the plants, the seas, and habitats in general.

I have been birding since I was around 10, when I started with weekend groups from the local Audubon Society, but I remain a novice. Female warblers can drive me nuts, and Fall warblers - forget about it.

Birding can be challenging, physically like hiking and mentally like Organic Chemistry: birds have seasonal plumages, and many vary during their first couple of years of life. Like hunting or fishing, it provides a mission for one's expeditions to the Great Outdoors. I am not one of those obsessives who pursue a Life List: I just like to see what is around in whatever corner of Creation I happen to find myself.

Even when hunting, I tend to have my binoculars with me.

From Birding popularity is flying high, report shows. One quote:

Using data from 2006, a new report, "Wildlife Watching in the United States," found that expenditures for watching birds and other wildlife were equivalent to the revenues generated from all spectator sports, including football, baseball and NASCAR; amusement parks and arcades; nonhotel casinos; bowling centers; and skiing facilities -- combined.

Photo is a tough diagnosis for amateurs, especially when among flocks of Herring Gulls. Sometimes seen on the coast in the Northeast in winter: Glaucous Gull. A big, tough denizen of the high Arctic.

Who's Maurice Strong?

Deputy shot; illegal immigrants suspected. Am Thinker: Some truths about illegal immigrants. TimesWatch: Times Again Hails Grand Total of Four Illegal Immigrant Marchers

Also, Legal Immigrants Fed Up With Illegal Immigrants

Has the Obama deficit panel already failed?

McCotter is acerbic. He does good acerbic.

Chicago Mayor Begs World Court to Overturn Second Amendment

Anchoress: Secular Sex Abuse Gets a Look – Poll Added

Boehner: How does gaining 100 seats in November sound?

A couple of birder friends and I took an early morning trip down to the Jamaica Bay Refuge  in Queens, NYC, for some early warbler-watching last Saturday.

Since we had already had a wave of warblers passing through further north, it seemed like a good time to get a head start on the May warbler-watching before all the leaves came out. Wrong. Not a single one. As with hunting or fishing, it is so often "You shoulda been here yesterday."

Our birds have not bought into the global warming hysteria. The Spring migrants were absent, and the winter birds had left already. I did not even see the usual flock of breeding Ruddy Ducks.

The Jamaica Bay Refuge is a unique oasis. Behind you is JFK with planes constantly overhead, out to the ocean side is Far Rockaway, and in front is Brooklyn with Manhattan rising in the distance. It's a special green and watery stopping-place for migrants on the Atlantic Flyway, but the refuge hosts plenty of breeding birds too. Mixed habitat: beaches, woods, vast bayberry fields, salt- and fresh-water marshes.

Plenty of Tree Swallows. Here's my pal walking up to one of them while fumbling with his fancy camera, Far Rockaway in the distance:

 More photos etc below the fold -

This feature back by popular demand. I will post the info later today, although our readers will figure it out first.

We seem to have some knowledgeable birders here. What a world!

Name the bird, from this site.

I heard my first warbler of the Spring early this morning, the zee zee zee of a Black and White high in a budding Maple.

I went to All About Birds to double check my birdsong memory (which was correct this time), I found that they link a new feature for migrating birds: a monthly map called eBird. Click on the month, and see where they are. I checked it for the Black and White. 

It's the tragedy of the commons. It doesn't look good for the whales.

But what about Whale Farming? Like they do at Sea World.

We like TigerHawk's site, but I have two complaints about him which he will no doubt take to heart.

1. He needs to post more often. It is selfish not to.

2. He needs to learn the names and habits of the critters and birds and bugs and plants that he likes to post. He seems like a guy with curiosity - so why not learn them? It isn't rocket science for a Princeton guy, and it's fun to know what you're looking at. For example, he recently posted some very nice photos of butterflies in Virginia. These are Tiger Swallowtails on a Pink Lilac:

The great ocean currents are an interesting tangle, global cooling aside. Our Gulf Stream is just one segment of this thing:

Name that gull. Photo from a reader in CT, taken yesterday:

Maggie's HQ was fortunate to regain heat, cable, and power last night, after losing those fine modern conveniences on Saturday. Here's how we lost them:

another one:

A photo of the HQ at dusk:

I hear the Redwings and Grackles croaking and gurgling in the morning, on their way to their breeding marshes further north. The White-Throated Sparrows have begun with their spring song, and, at the same time, I see that my Juncos have left for their breeding grounds on the tundra. The White-Throateds will be leaving now too. See ya next winter, God willing, little fellows.

Redwings:

This is a re-post from guest author Skook:

Glaciers and mountain-building have created many distinct species of trout throughout the Pacific drainage.  To find them, fish a mountain river, take a boat out on the Pacific, or hike to a desert lake.

Rainbow (above) – Silver with black spots and a reddish band along the side.  Their native range is the West Coast mountains, though they have been introduced elsewhere in North America and beyond.   Redbands are a variant found in the Great Basin, where they have adapted to high summer temperatures.  Steelheads are anadromous rainbows that spend parts of their lives in the North Pacific from Kamchatka down to Malibu Creek near Los Angeles.  In the Northwest, rainbows and steelhead are the premier game trout of the rivers and coast.

(While Rainbows are to be found in the East, these are all transplants or hatchery fish. The native stream trout in the East is the Brook Trout - which is a char.)

Cutthroat – Meriwether Lewis stopped at a Philadelphia tackle shop before setting out and his purchases served his expedition well, like on the Great Falls of the Missouri in June 1805.  Private Silas Goodrich fished the river as Lewis described events.  Goodrich caught a trout “with specks of a deep black…and a small dash of red on each side behind the front ventral fins… the flesh, when in good order, of a rose red.”  There are at least 14 types, often unique to particular river systems.  Cutthroats are the classic trout of the inland American West, and they sometimes interbreed with Rainbows.


Dolly Varden  - These are char (as is the eastern Brook Trout), like trout but with different teeth and coloration.  Dollys are olive or gray-green with yellow to pink spots and light gray bellies.  A character from a Dickens novel, Dolly Varden became the name of a patterned dress and in the 1870’s the name was given to the char found in California’s McCloud River. Dolly Varden are similar to Bull Trout, another char, and at one time they were thought to be the same species. They spend time in the ocean as do Cutthroats.     

There are a few other species found in isolated areas that exist today only due to the hard work of folks like Trout Unlimited.  Here are two examples:     

Apache Trout - Jump in your car and drive to the Ft. Apache Indian Reservation about three hours northeast of Phoenix.  There in the White River is the gold, red, and black Apache.  It has been a long struggle due to loss of habitat and interbreeding with rainbows.  But now things look good enough to move it from the endangered list to merely “threatened” so you may legally try your luck at catch and release.

Gila Trout – Another modestly reviving species in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, it too had been pushed to the brink by development and competition with non-native trout introduced decades ago.  Gilas have black spots on gold and copper bodies and grow to over a foot. Long term restoration has brought them back enough to permit limited fishing in a few beautiful mountain streams.  Bring your hiking boots.

- The Mediterranean population of the Bluefin Tuna - "Tonno" - the King of Fish, is headed for extinction due to overfishing. Their vulnerability is that they all congregate in one place for breeding, and helos direct the netting. EU politics will permit that extinction to occur. A damn shame. Of course, the regular Atlantic population is headed for the same fate.

- And Bottlenose Dolphins aren't really fish, but the Japanese in Taji kill 23,000 of them each year. This is not stewardship.

- Another fish tale: An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World.

A re-post. We'll do the Western species later in the week -

It's getting near Opening Day around here, so here's an update on the Salmonidae. For our other pieces on fishing, enter "fishing" in our search space - you will catch some good stuff - along with some random entries.

Taxonomy: The family Salmonidae includes a number of cool-water fish subfamilies: trout, salmon, char, grayling, Lake Whitefish, and other less well-known fish. The Brook Trout and Lake Trout are technically members of the Char subfamily of the Salmonidae.

Heritage: The aggressive, young-trout-killing Brown Trout is a transplant from Eurasia. The fast-water Rainbow Trout is a transplant from the Pacific watershed. The splendid Brook Trout and the big Lake Trout are the common native game species of the Eastern US, and both are technically Char, not trout per se. At this point, the wonderful game "trout" have been transplanted world-wide, and some have established viable wild populations, as with the trout in Patagonia, where you can even catch New England's Brook Trout today.

Anadromy: Most Salmonidae have the capacity, or the preference, to be anadromous - to migrate to salt water until maturity - when they have the opportunity. The Arctic Char, of culinary and cold water fame (anti-freeze in the blood), is anadromous. So is the Steelhead - actually a migratory Rainbow. Salmon are, of course. Sea-going fish grow larger on the rich variety of big-water foods. Interestingly, many land-locked Salmonidae imitate anadromy by entering streams to spawn, and then return to their home fresh-water lakes or just stay put in the streams, if there is enough to eat.

The Great Lakes and other large lakes have their own Salmonidae species, such as Lake Whitefish, and Lake Trout which are not found in trout streams.

Hatchery fish:  When you fish for trout in the East, you are, in all likelihood, catching hatchery fish, not wild, born-in-nature fish. Too many anglers, and not enough habitat, so we pretend we are catching wild fish. Catch-and-release gives your fellow angler a chance, and saves your state government, or your fishing club, money on their hatchery budgets. Still, some wild breeding populations do exist, and fly-fishing with barbless hooks gives every fish a sporting chance to avoid the crushing humiliation of the sportman's net. But I still wonder what would happen if we banned all fresh-water stream fishing for five years. What would we find in our streams? Nothing?  Or big, mature breeding trout hunkering under stream banks and fallen logs? We will never know, but I suspect that many of our streams would not support wild trout populations.

Other details:

 - Superb taxonomy website: ITIS
 - Good Eastern trout summary, Pennsylvania Fishes
 - An example of how eastern states manage their fresh-water recreational fisheries, from Connecticut
 - An example of what fish hatcheries do, from New York State

 Image: Brook Trout, by Denton