Maggie's Farm

Am. Goldfinch, WB Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Red Wing Blackbird, Purple Grackle, BC Chickadee, Cardinal, Blue Jay, WT Sparrow, House Finch, English "Sparrow," Cowbird, Tufted Titmouse, Tree Sparrow, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Mourning Dove (large numbers, fighting over the seeds), Song Sparrow.

I get a kick out of the way the Grackles are always keeping an eye on the sky, for Sharpies. They understand "enemies."

All of these birds are probably local breeders. The large flocks of Jays and Grackles have passed through and moved north. The Juncoes are gone, too. The Red Wings now are locals. Most of the WT Sparrows, with their brilliant breeding-season bright yellow on their heads, have left for the north. We have had the first two warm days of the year, and I expect to see the cheerful Box Turtles clomping around soon, begging for tomatoes. The tree buds are finally swelling up here in Yankeeland, but it is a week or two late this year.

Soon, we will have the wonderful insectivore migrants to watch and to find. Not at the feeder, of course, but everywhere else. Good clean fun.

Now back to the gardens.

The photo below, taken by our friend Chris in his backyard in Connecticut this week, raised the subject of the opossum.

The Virginia opossum, aka possum, is the only marsupial in North America. These strange, nocturnal, tree-climbing, omnivorous critters have been expanding their range north for many years, and seem to find ways to survive even in suburban neighborhoods. I know the Dylanologist has one living in his backyard in Tennessee, because I saw the big fellow scurrying through his tomato plants at twilight.

Primitive and adaptable, they are also said to be good to eat by our Southern friends. I have never tried one as a meal. I once saw a female with babies clinging to her back, crossing a road at night. What an odd sight.

You can read about their habits here. Yes, they do "play possum."

Photo: "Dirt-drifts" in South Dakota, caused by corn farming on unsuitable and marginal lands. Shades of the Dust Bowl. That mean old Law of Unintended Consequences will get you every time: first we see corn prices rising so high that Mexicans cannot afford to make tortillas, and now this mess. Plus it's a political scam anyway.

The full report on land conversion in the northern plains is here. The Ducks Unlimited press summary below:

From Ducks Unlimited:

BISMARCK, ND, April 12, 2007 - Home, home on the range where the deer,
antelope and ducks play may become a thing of the past if the rapid loss of America's prairie grasslands isn't stopped. Ducks Unlimited (DU) believes a new Congressional report will help Congress focus on solutions to the loss as it writes the new 2007 federal farm bill.

The report says the country's few remaining native grasslands in the Great Plains are being plowed under. The Prairie Pothole Region of the Great Plains is the world's most productive duck breeding habitat.

"It is encouraging to see that the issue of grassland conversion in the
Northern Plains has the attention of Congress as it prepares to write the
2007 farm bill," said Scott McLeod, DU's farm bill lead for the Great Plains
Region. "This issue has greatly concerned conservation groups, hunters and ranchers across the country for several years.

This photo of a Maggie's Farm buddy with a big Texas pig, from a post last summer, elicited a comment from a reader saying that they had them in Wisconsin. Wisconsin? That was news to me. I thought "razorbacks" were more of a Southern and Western thing.

Happily, they have not invaded New England yet.

I knew about Texas, California, etc., and I checked his link. Yup. They are now found in 23 states. They are basically wild domestic pigs, but, depending on their location, the urban legend is that they may have some "Russian Boar" blood from game farms mixed in - but the domestic pig and the wild European boar are the same species: Sus scrofa. When breeding wild, feral pigs devolve into their natural form and habits. Unlike wild horses, they attract little sympathy, and they are not cute.

In many areas of Europe, boar is extinct or endangered. In the US, these adaptable invaders are spreading fast, which is bad for forests but fun for hunters.

Omnivorous, destructive of their habitat by aggressive rooting with their snouts, raising up to 4 litters per year, and ranging from 70-400 pounds in adulthood, these hardy, non-native critters are environmental destructos from hell. And their only real predator, to keep their numbers in any control, is man.

To make things more difficult, their shoulders, where you might wish to place a bullet, have very dense tissue which is difficult to penetrate. They are also potentially dangerous beasts who use their tusks as swords: they can easily kill a dog or seriously damage a human. On the plus side, they are highly edible.

Because most states have an open season on pig, hog hunting is increasingly popular - and environmentally necessary - whether with bow, shotgun, rifle (or even handgun, for the very brave or reckless).

Here's a piece on boar hunting in Ohio. Here's one from California.

Giant gypsum crystals in a cave in Mexico. Note the man in photo on the left. More about the cave, and more photos, here. (h/t, David Thompson)

Why is the overfishing of sharks leading to a serious decrease in scallops on the East coast? Explained here.

I think shark fishing is stupid anyway. What's the point? People chum for them, catch them, kill them, take a photo, and throw the thing overboard. Not sporting, not manly. People - not the government - should decide to quit it.

Image: A Sea Scallop, the source of those big "scallops" at the fish market.

In the snow, today: Fox Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse, Cardinal, Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, Goldfinch, Slate-Colored Junco. Plus a very cold-looking Robin taking the last few holly berries.

Not too exciting, but it's good to see them all enjoying the free lunch. And you never know when you might see something unusual.

Image: Fox Sparrow. Our eastern version of this large sparrow is rusty red, and likes to scratch on the ground.

We aren't into cat blogging (or cats), but we'll make an exception this time. This pussy cat was haunting someone's back deck in the snow in Mason, Texas recently, trying to get a better look at two young kids playing on the floor inside. (Thanks, BL.) Read this, if you like to hang out in Mountain Lion territory.

I stepped outside to do some chores today, and a Killdeer flew over the house, calling his name loudly. It is the time of year when they are on the move north, but the snow and sleet we have coming today will slow the migrants down a bit.

Killdeer is found across the entire US and most of Canada. He is a large plover - technically a shorebird - but more often found in inland fields that at the shore. I have always enjoyed these birds, probably because they are so easy to identify. They are famous for their broken-wing deception - the original victimhood scam.

Read about Killdeer at CLO here.

The large Barred Owl, like our Great Horned Owl, is hooting, nesting, and laying eggs about now, up here. You can hear his deep "Who cooks for yoooo? Who cooks for you-all" across the frozen nighttime moon-lit marshes.

It's tough being on the bottom of the food chain. In the uplands, rodents have to deal with the Red-Tail during the day and with the Great Horned at night; in the lowlands with the Red Shouldered during the day and the Barred Owl at night.

More about Barred Owl here at CLO.  Also, somebody made a Barred Owl Cam. It seems that they will use large nest boxes, but I have only seen them using old hawk or crow nests. Their range and numbers are expanding. They are the same species as Spotted Owl, since they interbreed. Different races.

Visiting the bird-feeder today:

Purple Grackle, Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, Mockingbird, Cardinal, Blue Jay, Slate-Colored Junco, Mourning Dove, Goldfinch. Not very exciting species, but all welcome. Usually a few Nuthatches, Downies, and Titmice, but not today.

READ THIS SPEECH, if you do nothing else today.

Fascinating, and full of examples and images. I won't quote from it because it the link contains all sorts of frightening copyright warnings. It is from 2005.

In my opinion, getting speeches like this distributed and read is the best thing blogs can do: it's the magic of the link, which we already take for granted.

(Thanks, reader, for letting us know about this speech.)

As a low moves up from the south into New England this afternoon, promising to bring a bit of snow and ice with it, the birds out my window are getting ready before darkness falls. I have rarely seen so much activity.

A small flock of around 10 robins are hitting the holly berries and the rose hips hard, and tossing leaves in a leaf pile around like crazy, looking for bugs. Juncos all around, and white-throated sparrows are scratching little pits in the garden mulch. A fat and handsome flicker came within two feet of my window, trying to get his beak into the half-frozen garden soil next to the foundation. Best of all, a Hermit Thrush. He was eating some of the holly berries, and generally poking around.

Except for robins, the Hermit is our hardiest thrush. His rusty tail diagnoses him and, in summer, his song.

Read about the Hermit Thrush here, (CLO) from which the image is borrowed.

Can't you feel 'em circlin' honey?
Can't you feel 'em swimmin' around?
You got fins to the left, fins to the right,
and you're the only bait in town.
You got fins to the left, fins to the right,
and you're the only girl in town.

(Jimmy Buffet's "Fins," of course)

A primeval Frilled Shark has been videotaped.

This photo was taken near Marenisco, MI. The only thing rarer than an albino moose is two albino moosies.

It's still hunting season, but it is plant catalog season too. Here are a few interesting things we came across in the Wayside catalog.

Little Honey Oakleaf Hydrangea (photo)
Clematis Recta purpurea - small, upright clematis with purple leaves
Hosta Blue Mouse Ears - a cool mini-hosta
Fountain Buddleia
Dwarf Echinacea
Pink Muhly Grass

Best piece I have seen on the Lord Monkton letter  (a perfect smack-down) and the whole politicization of geology and climatology in the interest of state and/or bureaucratic control over the world economy - at Classical Values.

Read his piece - it is funny. One thing I wonder about is not how much politicans hurt themselves when they get on quasi-religious bandwagons like this - we expect them to be foolish - but about how much scientists discredit themselves and the profession in this way.

I cannot remember a time in my life when loud scientists were right about any public policy or about any long-term prediction. Correct me if I am wrong (I know you will.). Just off the top of my head: the population "bomb," "Star Wars", the ABM Treaty, the Global Cooling Crisis, how to make peace with the USSR (surrender), Vietnam (surrender), the earth running out of oil (1970s), not to mention endless medical and health scares.  People will gradually just tune out the hysteria.

Florida's pythons. I hate this story. (h/t, HH)

750' bungee jump. Not for me, thanks - I just ate. Video

Not worth reading: The real EU Islamophobia report. Just plain pathetic.

A coronal mass ejection should hit us tonight - a little gift from Mr. Sun. Could be a nice aurora, in Yankeeland.