Red Wing Nature Notes

I’ve only got a couple of photos this time around because Jean went on a trip and took her camera.

A couple of weeks ago I heard a bird I couldn’t visually locate or identify, but I was able to record the call for the blog. Blog readers quickly identified it  as a black billed cuckoo. Lately I’ve been hearing the call of another bird. Similar to the situation a couple of weeks ago with the cuckoo, I can hear it but have not been able to see it yet. I suppose the sound has always been around but I’m noticing it for the first time. To me, it sounds like a stone being dropped in the water. Jean agrees the call sounds like water. I have headed out to record it several times without any luck. I have heard it calling in the morning and mid-day. Can anyone give me some idea what this bird may be?

When I went to the shed the other day to get the tractor several young fly catchers were try to get the knack of flying. I wish I had a camera, but a cell phone photo was the best I could manage.

In the heat of the past week firefly activity has peaked. One night in particular when there was a storm in the distance, our field was filled with the blinking of fireflies that seemed to be responding to lightening in the sky. Another night I met my 17 year old coming in from a dark field. I asked him what he was up to and he said. “it’s crazy, I just stood out there under all the stars and there were fireflies all around like the stars were down around me.” He continued past leaving me with some hope for the next generation.

We have lots of milkweed in the field beginning to bud. I have seen coupled Monarchs flying around but no caterpillars on the plants yet. Last week our gravel road was covered with large, black and irredescent blue butterflies(black swallow tails I think). This week they are mostly gone, replaced by other butterflies. I walked down the road for a closer look to discover two or three types of butterflies hanging out on the road.

They were fast and hard to photograph, impossible to catch with open wings and hard to see with closed wings. The only way I was able to get a photo with wings open was by finding a butterfly apparently injured by a passing car. One type had wings about the size of a quarter with brown and orange coloration. There were a couple other smaller types with wings closer to the size of a dime. Some had brown coloration and some were a delicate blue color. I googled “butterflies attracted to gravel road” and found this web site:
http://www.poweshiekskipper.org/forecasts.htm
which leads me to believe some of them are types of “skippers” attracted to moisture on the road.

Their is an intersection in our road surrounded by wooded hills. Being wider at the intersection the sun is able to make it through the trees and shine on the road. This is a favored spot for turkeys to strut in Spring and early Summer. This spot literally, has swarms of butterflies lately. Until the butterfly boom ends I’m driving a little more slowly on our road.

Last night as it got dark I was walking around the yard picking things up and a large moth materialized out of the dark and flew by me with floppy strokes of its wings and disappeared again into the dark. I tried to follow it in hope I would see it land but I lost it in the dark.
It must be the season for the big moths like Luna’s and Cecropias. The big moths have a short life span. They don’t even eat. They exist to reproduce, finding each other by sense of smell.  The eating occurs in the caterpillar stage.

Last Saturday was my final day of setting up the spotting scope on the Cannon Valley Trail for bikers to get a good view of the activity at the eagle nest near mile marker 14 between Welch and Red Wing.  The activity that we have been able to observe the past two weekends leads me to believe that the three eaglets will be fledging any day.

For one thing, we have not observed either of the parents bringing food to the nest the entire time that I have been at the nest.  Instead the eaglets were constantly screeching as if to say “where is my food”.  I am suspecting that the long intervals between feeding sessions might be part of the plan to force the eaglets out of the nest.  After all why leave the nest if all your meals will be catered?

Another bit of evidence that fledging might be close it that the eaglets are more adventurous as they perch farther out on the limbs.  In fact, last Saturday none of the eaglets spent time in the nest.  They would make a short flight back into the nest and then leave immediately.

Yesterday morning I took a short bike ride on the new trail in our area and observed more signs of summer and an array of new colors along the way.  The common milkweed is starting to bloom and no doubt will be attracting local butterflies to the nectar of these flowers.  Some butterflies such as the monarch will be laying eggs on the undersides of the leaves for the start of the next generation.

Also observed on my ride was that the mulberry trees are beginning to show fruit that is ripening  The dark red or almost purple fruits are enjoyed by birds and people alike.  Because these berries are difficult to pick, best results can be achieved by spreading a sheet on the ground under the tree and shaking the branches.  Don’t wait too long to attempt this project,  because of the high raccoon population that currently exists in our area you will surely have competition.

Another bright red color that is just appearing along the edge of the forest belongs to the red-berried elderberry.  This is a native shrub that is very important in providing food for several birds such as robins, catbirds and rose-breasted grosbeaks.  These red berries ripen the end of June and beginning of July which coincides with the fledging of several species of birds.

Last Saturday on a hike I was taking to prepare for my interpretive hike  in Frontenac State Park at 10am., I notice the branches shaking on a red-berried elderberry despite the fact that no breeze was blowing at the time.  Upon closer examination, I saw several cedar waxwings eating the abundant red fruit completely stripping the branches.  Unfortunately as I reached for my camera that was in my pack, this small flock of birds scattered deeper into the forest.

Incidentally, these elderberries are not very desirable for human consumption.  The American Elderberry with dark purple berries does not ripen until late August or early September.

On my hike at Frontenac State Park this past Saturday morning, I noticed several of the bluebird nesting boxes were being occupied by tree swallows.  According to bluebird trail volunteers for the park Ruth Schneider and Norm Willie, several bluebird nests have already fledged.

Fortunately for the bluebirds, they usually start nesting before the swallows begin.  This lowers the competition for the nesting boxes for the first nesting.  However if bluebirds nest a second time, competition for boxes with tree swallows can be a factor.  That is why many nesting boxes in the park are put up in pairs.  Tree swallows are very territorial and don’t let another pair use the nearby box which makes it available for bluebirds.

On a related matter, we have had a bluebird nesting box in our yard for the past five years with no success.  We recently noticed activity at the box and discovered a nest with four blue eggs.  Upon examining the nest this morning, I noticed the nest was alive with very small ants.  Is this something to be concerned about?  If so, what can be done?  The adults are still going in and out of the box.

In the afternoon of June 13th, I made another visit to the eagle nest along the Cannon Valley Trail.  While biking out to the nest, I noticed three new wildflowers that were in bloom.  They included wild roses, cow parsnips and angelica alexanders.  The latter two like wild parsnip that will be soon showing up along the road ditches are members of the parsley family.  All three of these plants contain juices that can act as photo toxins with contact of the skin and exposure to sunlight.  This can lead to some serious skin irritations for some people.

About the only action at the nest on Saturday was some stretching of wings and short attempts at flying on the part of the eaglets.  They are still playing it pretty conservative around the nest.  When it gets closer to the time of fledging, the eaglets will venture out on adjoining limbs and then make short flights back into the nest.  My guess is that they will still be at the nest for at least another week to ten days.

Along the river near the nest, I observed a large snapping turtle(top photo) along the edge of the river.  It had apparently just returned to the water after having deposited it’s eggs in the sand nearby.  It won’t be long before raccoons and skunks will scour the sandy beaches in search of those turtle eggs

Yesterday morning a friend and I embarked on an early morning canoe trip down the Cannon river.  About one mile below our launch site, we had a most unusual experience with a yearling spike buck.

We were paddling down a shallow stretch of rapids and heading east straight into the rising sun.  The bright sunlight filtering through some low lying fog on the river made it difficult to see more than a few yards downstream.

All at once, we observed a deer standing up to it’s knees in the river right beside the canoe.  I was preoccupied steering the canoe and knew I had no chance to retrieve my camera from the waterproof carrying case.  My only option for a photo was to direct the canoe into a quiet eddy at the lower end of the rapids.  Upon reaching this location, I quickly grabbed my camera with the thought of maybe a long distance photo of at least 50 yards away.

To our amazement, the young buck began walking downstream directly towards us.  At twenty yards, it turned broadside and continued walking to the shoreline.  Upon reaching the riverbank, it nonchalantly started to browse on some soft maple leaves from a small branch that had floated downstream.

Following at least a two minute encounter at no more than 15 yards and a flurry of photos, the young buck simply turned around and headed back in the direction that he had come.

John mentioned in his last post that this is the time of year that does give birth to their fawns.  It is also the time of year that the bucks are developing a new set of antlers.  I can only hope that besides growing new antlers, this buck becomes a little more educated before the next hunting season rolls around.

It has been dry this May and the first week of June. We have had beautiful days but not moisture. Our soil is clay and it becomes as hard as pavement when things get dry. In this time period there is an explosion of plant growth, birds hatch and many animals are born. I keep the mowing to a minimum during this time for fear of destroying ground nests or encountering a fawn with the mower. In the small area I did mow I narrowly missed a new born fawn. It wobbled away on unsteady legs, coming from between the wheels of the tractor.

On Saturday the weather stayed cool and the rain came. It was a good weekend for indoor activities. I was gratified to look out the kitchen window to see a doe and fawn scampering around on Saturday. On Sunday and Monday I saw the pair several more times. Last night, Monday, they retreated to the long grass along the road as I drove by.

This morning the skies are clear, the wind is calm and the air is cool. It promises to be a beautiful day. Even here high in the hills there is fog, causing the sun to filter through the trees in rays, looking like bible art. Out on the highway there is gray wall of fog hanging over Red Wing and the Mississippi.

For me the automobile is a symbol of man’s separation from nature. We move from one place to another shielded and protected, but also cut off from everything.

On this beautiful morning with that thought in mind I made a trip down our road without a car to see what I might find. In the midst of this beauty I encountered sadness. I saw trampled grass and many deer prints in the mud along the road. I turned to see something in the road. It was a very small leg with a hoof on the end. Bloody and broken. The fawn that escaped my mower and bounded around in the rain didn’t live to see the sunrise today. Some coyote cubs are happy and well fed this morning.

As I pondered this I heard the sound of tires on gravel. As the car drove by a neighbor smiled and waved. I briefly heard the sound of voices on the radio, probably the news and smelled a hint of cigarette smoke. And then they were gone.

I like my walks, no matter what I might find. Sometimes the news is sad but I feel better knowing.

Follow this link for a few thoughts I think are related.