Al Batt: Days between first snow and Christmas signify total snowfalls

October 21, 2019

Al Batt: Days between first snow and Christmas signify total snowfalls

Published by tlittle@bluffco... on Mon, 10/21/2019 - 1:20pm By :

Al Batt

For the Birds

A large flock of blackbirds moved through the air as though each bird shared a brain and gravity was a law that didn't apply to them. White-throated sparrows whistled up memories of past falls.

Spiderwebs were numerous, welcoming flying insect guests. Instead, they gathered leaves the wind had peeled from trees.

A couple of days before an early October snow, I watched ants at work. Myrmecology is the scientific study of ants and is a branch of entomology.

Ants might not find snow the thrill of their lives. Count the number of days from the first snowfall until Christmas. This number is the number of snowfalls to expect — or not. An ant didn't tell me that.

I watched a scuttle fly scurry like a tiny (my guess is 1/16 to 1/8 inch in size) Olympic sprinter across a kitchen countertop.

This fly tends to dart instead of flying. They don't bite and are associated with decaying organic matter.

Echoes from Loafers' Club

I bought a new sweatsuit but it's not working.

What do you mean by that?

I've owned it a month and I haven't lost any weight.

The cafe chronicles

I stopped at a fine eating establishment. I'm blessed to have a palate that prefers things like hotdish, mashed potatoes and pie.

The food at this cafe is good, although damned by faint praise and some jokes about being awarded the purple heartburn after eating there more than once.

I sat at a table where everyone ordered coffee except me. There is one in every crowd. I splurged on water. The liquids arrived quickly — thirst things first. A fellow Loafer told me that he enjoyed peanut butter on lefse. I'm going to try that. It's important to have goals.

A hodgepodge

Harvey Benson of Harmony had a relative who had been elected to a public office of great importance. He told Harvey that he had to do only two things each day on that job: Find where to get money and decide who to give it to.

Happy unbirthday to those not celebrating a birthday today. Unbirthday, meaning a day other than one’s birthday, was coined by Lewis Carroll in "Through the Looking-Glass."

Friends celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary. They'd unearthed a newspaper clipping of their wedding. On the reverse side was a column penned by this ink-stained wretch.

Andy Dyrdal of Albert Lea is 97 years old. Someone asked him if he wanted to live to be 100. Andy said he had set his sights higher than that. I hope to be able to listen to his stories for many years.

We had a snow tire swing when I was a boy. I don't remember the brand of tire, but it wore well. Wealthier folks had two tire swings. One was the spare.

Nature Notes

There are no suicidal leaps for lemmings, as they don’t periodically hurl themselves off cliffs into the sea.

Cyclical explosions in populations occasionally provoke lemmings to move to areas with lower population density. Some lemmings might die by falling over cliffs or drowning in lakes or rivers.

These are accidental deaths in quest of reaching a new territory. A memorable scene from Disney’s 1958 Academy Award-winning nature documentary “White Wilderness” was of lemmings drowning after jumping off cliffs and into the sea. That scene was staged by filmmakers.

There are other things that are contrary to popular myth. Ostriches don't bury their heads in the sand. They wouldn't be able to breathe. They do dig nests in the ground. Toads won't give you warts. Mother birds don't reject babies because they have been touched by humans. Porcupines cannot throw their quills.

Q&A

"Do birds ever get migratory headaches?"

I'm sure they do when they deal with delayed and canceled flights.

"I saw a robin that was half white. What is that called?"

It's called leucism and is manifested in a partially, mostly or completely white animal. Piebald is an example of leucism. The eyes retain their natural color in leucistic animals whereas the eyes are pink in animals with albinism. Albinos are much rarer. Leucism is a condition caused by a partial loss of pigmentation.

"What is the world's smallest bird?"

It's the bee hummingbird found in Cuba. It weighs less than a dime.

"How did the downy woodpecker get its name?"

American colonial naturalist Mark Catesby gave the species its common name, with "downy" being a reference to the soft feathers of the white stripe on the lower back, in contrast to the similar, but more hairlike feathers on the lower back of the larger hairy woodpecker. The hairy has a distinctly longer bill.

"Are there any state record sized trees in southern Minnesota?"

You bet there are. The DNR has a Big Tree Registry that includes the state's 52 native species. The largest trees are determined by circumference, height and crown spread. Here are the largest trees with heights in feet by county. Fillmore: white ash 87 and eastern white pine 103. Houston: silver maple 95, northern pin oak 97 and northern red oak 75. Olmsted: black maple 78, bur oak 68 and black walnut 112. The DNR requires a completed form and a photo for a tree to be considered for Minnesota's Big Tree Registry.

Larry Dolphin of Austin asked if barred owls eat skunks as great horned owls do.

The barred owl is opportunistic in its feeding habits and preys upon fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, frogs, rabbits and insects. I don't doubt it would take a skunk out to lunch, but maybe not a full-grown adult. Great horned owls will eat barred owls.

Natural happenings

1. Gray squirrels build leafy nests called dreys.

2. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels begin to hibernate.

3. Cattails shed seeds.

4. Short-tailed weasels begin to change color from brown to white. This weasel is also known as an ermine.

Trip essentials

1. Comfortable shoes.

2. A good attitude.

3. More cellphone chargers than you could ever lose.

Meeting adjourned

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” – Scott Adams

Thanks for stopping by

"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." — E.B. White

“May my heart always be open to little birds who are the secrets of living whatever they sing is better than to know and if men should not hear them men are old.” — E.E. Cummings

Do good.

c. Al Batt 2019

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER A dark-eyed junco (oftentimes called a snowbird) signifies winter is ready to come and the first snowfall is not far off. When summer is here, the birds nest in mountain regions or farther north.

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER White-throated sparrows can have two different plumage variations – tan-striped or white-striped. When searching for a mate, the sparrows almost always pair with their opposite color.

I set my GPS for “mushrooms of Harmony, Minnesota.” That took me nowhere, but I did see these on the way.

October 16, 2019

A female cardinal wears her feathers well.

A mother with one of her triplets in our yard. She tried to line up all three for the photo, but it was like herding cats.

A House Finch is a hawk watcher.

A chickadee weathers another storm.

October 14, 2019

nice

Al Batt: Sneezing in triplicate brings out Minnesota nice

By :

Al Batt

For the Birds

The day was long-winded. The wind blew steadily and it rained intermittently on a cool day. Temporary wetlands haven't been temporary this year.

Our weather isn't always nice, but is there truly such a thing as Minnesota nice or Iowa nice?

I sneezed three times at a gathering. I don't know why I have to sneeze three times when I sneeze, but it seems to be the minimum requirement.

My early warning system had worked and had notified me that sneezes were on the way. I didn't need to do something like sneezing into my elbow as I had a handkerchief ready to go to work. That was OK as I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt.

Three sneezes. Each sneeze was followed by someone saying, "Bless you."

That was nice.

People are willing to go the extra mile to say, "Bless you," "Gesundheit," or "Incoming."

That is nice.

Echoes from Loafers' Club

What are you reading?

I'm taking a personality quiz. How would you answer this
question? Describe yourself in three words.

Tired.

The lav report

When I needed to go to the bathroom when I was in the second grade (I'm not sure I'd gone in the first grade as I was a late bloomer), I'd raise my hand and say, "Mrs. Demmer, may I go to the lavatory." I'd already learned that "Can I go to the lavatory" resulted in more correction than relief. The lavatory was the restroom. Most people don't call their home bathroom a lavatory.

When away from adults, I called it a "lavoratory," because that's how I thought Boris Karloff, the actor who played creepy characters in scary films, would say it. I tickled myself.

We've never had a grade school reunion or a riders of a certain school bus reunion. More's the pity. Perhaps we could take an uncomfortable bus ride before asking to use the lavatory.

Math was involved

I wandered into a casino. I'd been told the food was good and the variety outstanding. I came to eat, not to gamble. There's too much math involved in gambling. I get enough math trying to figure out appropriate tips.

From the mailbag

Del Begalka of Mankato wrote, "In your recent column you mentioned stalactites and stalagmites. The mites go up and the tights go down. What they call a column in a cave where the two meet is a mightytite."

Rachel Miller of Henderson sent this on the same subject: "I was always taught that stalactites hang tight to the ceiling and stalagmites use all of their might to push up from the ground!"

Ask Al

"Do you have any advice for a new bride?"

It's certainly not my field of expertise, but I'll take a shot. If you have a complaint about your husband, share it with his mother not your mother. His will forgive him.

"Do you and your wife finish one another's sentences?"

Yes, sometimes with something the original sentence maker was planning on saying.

"What is the cause of most concussions in football?"

Football.

Nature by the yard

A ruby-throated hummingbird got all up into my face. It hovered close to my nose. I read its actions as an indication the feeder needed filling, which it did, but the tiny bird might have been thinking I was a doofus flower.

I filled the feeder as the hummer buzzed around me on the deck, impressing me with the flying ability of a creature weighing a dime or two.

It was likely a young bird. Mature males are the first to head south, followed by the females. The immature birds are the last to migrate. An adult male ruby-throated hummingbird has a forked tail and dark tail feathers with no white tips. A young male or female has white tips on the outer three rectrices (large feathers used for steering and braking) on each side of its fan-shaped tail.

A few robins found the yard's birdbath. One bathed while the others drank. Zigzag goldenrod grew on crooked stems and provided a celebration of yellow flowers.

House sparrows chirped cheerfully. I find them well worth my attention and hoped it meant they were experiencing joy. I saw some of these spatzies in a large, home improvement store. They are ingenious birds that have learned the highly specialized skill of opening automatic doors by fluttering in the right spot to activate electric-eye sensors.

I saw my first dark-eyed junco on Oct. 5. Will it be six weeks until the first trackable snow?

Q&A

"What is digging up the grass on my lawn?"

Raccoons and skunks dig into lawns in search of grubs. Raccoons do the most damage and roll back sod in their quest. Skunks are more likely to tear clumps out of the grass.

"How long do young great horned owls stay with their parents after they've left the nest?”

Owlets move onto nearby branches when they are six weeks old and are capable of short flights at seven weeks. Fledglings remain close to parents for several weeks and thereafter in a loose association. Owlets often roost together in the same tree while the adults generally roost away from their young. The youngsters react to the sight of the adults with begging calls and flights towards the adults. Young owls remain near their parents throughout most of the summer and may beg for food into October, four to five months after leaving the nest.

"What is Indian summer?"

It's a short period of above normal temperatures occurring on sunny, calm and hazy days following fall's first frost.

"What bird is the fastest runner?"

Despite educational cartoons featuring Wile E. Coyote, it isn't the roadrunner. The ostrich has been clocked at 43 mph, the roadrunner at 20.

"Do blue jays migrate?"

Less than 20% of their population is believed to be migratory.

'Tis the season

1. Soups sound like the perfect meal every day.

2. The first deer rubs on trees show up around the middle of October. Rubs are continually made and refreshed throughout November. Deer scrapes made in the ground with hooves can be observed earlier, but become common during the last couple weeks of October and increase in frequency into November.

3. Woolly bear caterpillars (woolly worms) crawl across roads. Folklore maintains that the wider the rusty brown band on a caterpillar, the milder the coming winter will be. The narrower that band is, the more severe the winter will be.

4. Someone will swear he isn't turning on the furnace until he has a numbness in his extremities.

5. Migrating birds include turkey vultures, sandhill cranes, common loons, white-throated sparrows, and yellow-rumped warblers (butter butts).

6. People will channel the flannel.

7. Buckthorn stubbornly hangs onto its leaves.

Meeting adjourned

Be kind and look to your own faults before searching for them in another.

Mange takk

All the appreciation I could muster goes out to the fine folks who gathered at the Preston Public Library for my presentation.

Thanks for stopping by

"There are few things in this world which it is worthwhile to get angry about, and they are just the things anger will not improve." – Henry Jarvis Raymond

"Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? And what creature of all that the Lord has taken the pains to make is not essential to the completeness of that unit — the cosmos? The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest transmicroscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge." — John Muir

Do good.

©Al Batt 2019

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER I miss these guys. The Baltimore oriole is a small icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the coat-of-ar… — AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER I miss these guys. The Baltimore oriole is a small icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore.

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER Woolly worm, or woolly bear caterpillars, could be a predictor of a mild or severe winter based on the width of its brown band.

Children of the corn meet turkeys of the beans.

October 10, 2019

It was my pleasure to be in attendance when Austin, Minnesota, became a Bird City by meeting Audubon’s requirements.

For some reason, these bovines are known as longhorns.

Maybe it’s called a house finch because I can watch it from my house. Probably not.

Fall is when leaves jump from trees and then dance with the wind.

I learned at the SPAM museum in Austin, Minnesota, that I’m 24 SPAM cans tall.

Niagara Cave near Harmony is heaped in wonder

October 9, 2019

Al Batt: Niagara Cave near Harmony is heaped in wonder

My wife and I joined good friends in taking a hike into Niagara Cave near Harmony. We had superb guides, Aaron and Amy Bishop, who were enthusiastic and informative. Each time I set foot in a cave, I think of mnemonics I learned in school to help me tell which one is a stalactite and which one is a stalagmite. When mites crawl up, they pull their tights down. Stalactites hold tight to the ceiling. Stalagmites might grow to meet them.

This large limestone cave was discovered in 1924 when three pigs fell 75 feet into a sinkhole. I'm not sure if they were the Three Little Pigs, but they certainly found a home that the Big Bad Wolf wouldn't be capable of blowing down.

We took a mile-long journey into a cave 200 feet beneath the surface where the temperature was stuck at 48 degrees. The ceiling was as high as 100 feet and there was an impressive, 60-foot underground waterfall which inspired the cave's name. That's right, it was named after Niagara Falls.

I learned about cave bacon (a rock formation officially known as layered flowerstone) and the fossils of fisherites (a great name for a band).

As we walked deeper into the cave, fossils were signs indicating we were going back into history.

The cave has a wedding chapel where over 400 weddings have been performed. I find wonderment wherever I go and Niagara Cave is heaped in wonder.

Echoes from Loafers' Club

It's as cold as ice one day, then ambition-melting hot the next.

That's the way it is.

Why do we have to have so many changes of the seasons?

It's the weather's way of mocking us.

At the ballyard

The young baseball player wanted a hamburger with copious amounts of catsup.

His grandfather's feet had wings. A burger was procured posthaste. The boy ate it between innings of the game in which he was playing.

"Do you want a napkin?" asked the grandpa.

The youngster tried to reply, but his mouth was filled with hamburger. He shook his head in the negative. He's in the fifth grade. He's young enough to wear food stains with pride.

Sympathy card went naked

My wife and I attended my cousin's funeral in Iowa. My bride had purchased the perfect sympathy card, but the envelope was the wrong size. This wasn't discovered until we were signing the card near the funeral venue. There was no time to go anywhere in the pursuit of a proper envelope, although my wife did check at a convenience store. No luck. I tossed the envelope-free card into its proper place.

We were there to celebrate a life and to say goodbye, but I'd have enjoyed sharing the case of the improper envelope with the deceased. I'll miss the opportunity for such things.

Naturally

Weather was coming in. It's always coming in, but the fall day was so lovely I wanted to duct tape it in place so that it couldn't wiggle away.

I have it on good authority that most hummingbirds have left. That authority is the hummingbirds themselves. I've had no flocks of robins visiting the yard yet.

Dragonflies are incredible flying machines that catch insect prey by grabbing it with their feet. Large dragonflies (three inches long) called green darners cruised about my yard. Some green darners migrate on two-inch wings. They are one of our most abundant dragonflies. Research published in Biology Letters found that in early spring, the first generations exit the shelter of their southern ponds and fly north an average of 400 miles. They lay eggs and die. The second generation hatches in the north and, by the end of September, has flown south where they lay eggs and die. The next generation winters in southern U.S., Mexico or the Caribbean. At least three generations make up the annual migration.

The crows were particularly chatty, doing a color commentary on the yard. They called "hawk" and they were correct. When it comes to knowing things a crow should know, they are knowledgeable.

Tom Boevers of Faribault and Dan Ruble of Albert Lea reported large numbers of broad-winged hawks heading south to their wintering grounds in southern Central and northern South America. Broad-winged hawks form kettles (they circle on warm air thermals and resemble steam spiraling up from a kettle) of hundreds to thousands of birds.

Most raptors are reluctant to cross large bodies of water. When they migrate south and encounter Lake Superior, the birds veer southwest along the lakeshore. They concentrate in impressive numbers on the bluffs overlooking Duluth and can be seen from the overlook at Hawk Ridge. On days with northwest winds, impressive numbers of birds can be seen migrating past the Ridge. Westerly winds produce large numbers of migrating hawks. Southerly or easterly breezes don't generally produce large flights of raptors, but the birds are often lower and easier to see. The record number of broad-winged hawks seen there was 101,698 on Sept. 15, 2003.

Look for these natural occurrences

1. Wild grape and hackberry leaves turn a lovely yellow.

2. Muskrats build dome-shaped houses from vegetation in marshes and ponds. Woodchucks carry dried leaves into their underground dens in preparation for hibernation. Beavers cut down trees for winter food.

3. Cedar waxwings and American robins feed on crabapples.

4. Rafts of American coots (mudhens) on lakes.

5. Chimney swifts migrate through. The "flying cigars" are headed to South America.

6. A northern cardinal has brown feathers and a dark beak when it leaves the nest. A prebasic molt (by which birds replace all feathers, usually occurring annually after the breeding season) produces an adult plumage. A young cardinal might have blotchy coloration.

It's nice to see people when they are still alive

Ken Burns' recent film documentary on country music that aired on PBS inspired a group of us to discuss live music we've enjoyed. My wife and I saw B.B. King and Etta James in concert. It was mighty good. A woman said she liked jazz and saw Dave Brubeck. "That was when he was alive," she added.

I suspected that had been the case.

Life wasn't all cows and plows

We used to swing from a long rope hanging down from the peak of the roof inside the barn's giant haymow. The word "haymow" is a memory-producing generator. We'd grab the rope and jump from a stack of hay bales. We'd yell like Tarzan swinging on a vine and let go when it was safe to drop into a welcoming pile of loose hay. A city cousin, who had recently become a Tarzan in training, asked a reasonable question. "When do you replace this rope?"

"Whenever it breaks," I answered thoughtfully.

Meeting adjourned

It's easy to be kind. If someone drops something, pick it up for them.

Thanks for stopping by

"Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now how comfortable it will be to touch the earth instead of the nothingness of the air and the endless freshets of wind? And don’t you think the trees, especially those with mossy hollows, are beginning to look for the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep inside their bodies? And don’t you hear the goldenrod whispering goodbye, the everlasting being crowned with the first tuffets of snow? The pond stiffens and the white field over which the fox runs so quickly brings out its long blue shadows. The wind wags its many tails. And in the evening the piled firewood shifts a little longing to be on its way." — Mary Oliver

“Never compare your insides to everyone else's outsides.” ― Anne Lamott

Do good.

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER The blue-gray gnatcatcher is nicknamed the “little mockingbird” due to its appearance and its ability to mimic other birds.

In Hanska, Minnesota

October 6, 2019

A poop quiz at the J.C. Hormel Nature Center in Austin, MInnesota.

Talon tales at the J.C. Hormel Nature Center in Austin, Minnesota.

I reckon he’d have been a good man to know.

A younG cardinal’s bill is black.

October 1, 2019

An American toad, out there in the jungle thatvis my lawn, slugging it out with slugs.

Al Batt: A wander through the yard proved it hadn’t changed

Published by tlittle@bluffco... on Mon, 09/30/2019 - 3:05pm

By : Al Batt

For the Birds

I wandered outside to see if the yard was still where I'd left it. Unruly plants are becoming less so. I'd heard the calls of both an eastern screech owl and a great horned owl during the night. The vocalizations likely served territorial functions. I hoped the screech owl was vigilant as great horned owls do prey upon other owls.

The visually appealing blue jays don't have much love for owls and the jay language can be abusive. As I walked, I heard the jays making sounds I wasn't accustomed to hearing. It was caused by a mysterious presence. Then a bald eagle flew from a tree. The blue jays were mobbing the big bird with voices only, no actions. Great horned owls eat skunks. There was a skunk dead on the road near my home. A turkey vulture had its eye on the delicacy.

Mushrooms were much in evidence. Seeing a fairy ring tickled me. A fairy ring is a ring of mushrooms. Fairy rings have fostered much folklore. One is that a ring is caused by fairies dancing.

There were barn swallows perched on a wire in the yard a couple of weeks ago. They were huddled close together as if tethered by an invisible thread. Young fledglings tried to replicate their previous positions in the nest. I worry about the swallows. The number of birds in the United States and Canada has declined by 29 percent over the past half-century according to a study published in Science. This alarming news signals a massive reduction in abundance and an impending ecological crisis. Of the birds lost, 90 percent belong to 12 bird families, including sparrows, warblers, finches and swallows — common, widespread species that play influential roles in food webs and ecosystem functioning, from seed dispersal to pest control.

Walking White Woods

I'd been leading walks all day at a lovely county park named White Woods. On my last nature hike of the day, one woman indicated she was tired. There was a bench nearby. I suggested we sit and bird from there. "Ten minutes should help," I offered.

She smiled and said, "I doubt it will. It took me 80 years to get this tired."

Curiosity didn't kill the cat, but it reddened one little stinker

When I was knee-high to a tall grasshopper, a skunk had aroused my curiosity. It crawled under a truck and I crawled under the same truck to see what the skunk was up to. The skunk sprayed me because there was no reasoning with it. My curiosity had been sated. My mother gave me a bath in tomato juice. It reddened my exterior. My father claimed I smelled like a skunk that had been swimming in Tomato Juice Lake.

Being neighborly

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

"How are you doing?" I ask.

"Everything is nearly copacetic. I got a ticket.”

"Speeding?" I wonder aloud.

"No, parallel parking. Apparently, you're allowed only five attempts. I ate at a table at one of those open-air cafes and it rained the whole time. It took me three hours to finish my bowl of soup. I lost weight, but I gained it back during my weight loss-celebration. If you are what you eat, that's why eat all the rich foods I can. I watched a tractor parade. Allis-Chalmers, Case, Farmall, Minneapolis Moline, Oliver, John Deere and a Canardly."

"A Canardly?" I say.

"Yeah, you canardly tell it was a tractor."

Q&A

"Do geese fly at night?"

Yes, most waterfowl migrations occur at night. Migratory movements typically intensify shortly after sunset and peak in the middle of the night. Waterfowl also make shorter, local movements at night.

"What animal lives the longest?”

The ocean quahog has lived as long as 507 years, Greenland shark 392 years, bowhead whale 211, rougheye rockfish 205, Red Sea urchin 200 and Galapagos tortoise 177 years. An immortal jellyfish likely outlives them all by the ability to clone itself.

"Why did my oak tree drop green leaves in the heat of summer?"

Trees often set more leaves in the spring than they can support during the summer. Heat or drought stress will cause the tree to lose leaves it cannot support with the available soil moisture.

Things to look and listen for

1. Owls giving a hoot.

2. Ruby-throated hummingbirds fattening up for migration. They fly from Louisiana, Florida or Texas on a nonstop flight across the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatán Peninsula. That's over 500 miles without a single rest area. Some might take an overland route through Mexico. The females are larger than the males.

3. Large, twisting flocks of blackbirds of mixed species. It's the joining of various factions.

Thanks for stopping by

"The Supreme Ethical Rule: Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself." — Felix Adler

"I am two with nature." — Woody Allen

Do good.

Al Batt: Folk cures do nothing to alleviate persistent hiccups

September 23, 2019

Al Batt: Folk cures do nothing to alleviate persistent hiccups

Published by tlittle@bluffco... on Mon, 09/23/2019 - 11:32am

By :

Al Batt

For the Birds

I had hiccups for forever and a couple days, enough to cover a two-week vacation and then some. I was unable to eat and sleep wasn't restorative. They were burdensome and exhausting, but no record. Charles Osborne of Anthon, Iowa, began hiccupping in 1922 while attempting to weigh a hog. He continued hiccupping until 1990, 68 years later.

My hiccups were relentless, like an ant bully with a magnifying glass. Hiccups might be one of the plagues mentioned in the Bible. The synchronous diaphragmatic flutters are involuntary and spasmodic contractions of the diaphragm. Hiccups are a form of myoclonus, as are the sudden jerks or sleep starts experienced before falling asleep. The hiccups were side-effects of surgery. It baffled a team of doctors and nurses. They gave me shots and pills, which were of no help. "You shouldn't be having these," said one doctor.

"Hick!" I replied, involuntarily describing myself.

I did radio shows with hiccups included. The guy who cleaned my room, friends, family, radio listeners and complete strangers offered folk cures. Old wives added tales claiming hiccups were caused by elves.

I had someone frighten me by showing me my hospital bill while I held my breath, bit on a lemon, gargled with water I drank from the far side of a glass and squeezed my earlobes while tugging on my tongue. Then I spit on my right forefinger before placing dry sugar on the back of my tongue, ate mustard on a saltine cracker with a spoonful of peanut butter and drank pineapple juice while visualizing a green cow grazing in a blue field. That's worked in someone's family for years, but it didn't help me.

I repeated the word, "pineapple," using it as a cudgel until they subsided.

Occasionally, I get a hiccup, two or three. I try not to panic.

Echoes from Loafers' Club

Crappy diem.

That's carpe diem.

Maybe to you.

Driving by Bruce's drive

I have a wonderful neighbor, named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive, thoughts occur to me, such as: I stopped at an echo point. I didn't need a password to yell "O. Leo Leahy!" The echo repeated what I'd said. O. Leo Leahy was a name used on The Bob and Ray Show. Those were a couple of radio geniuses not all that familiar today. Old is good, but new is often better. Cars are amazingly good today. I thought of the car I owned when I was a pup. I paid $75 for it, which was at least $70 too much. It gave me heat in the summer and air conditioning in the winter. It carried me to my last day on a job before I headed off to school. The company I worked for built implement buildings. I was the young squirt. On my concluding day, I was paid for staying out of the way. My boss said that it was money well spent.

Working in a salty snack mine

My job was to go to the supermarket and gather as many bags of salty snacks as would fit comfortably into a shopping cart. This was to provision a large gathering of folks with a hankering for free snacks. As I checked out, the cashier looked at my cargo chips and said, "Wow!"

"Winter is coming," I replied.

Nature notes

A deer had run in front of my car. It wasn’t a large ungulate, probably a half-a-buck. I watched a raccoon climb down headfirst from a tree by rotating its back feet. In an attempt to keep from worrying that I was spending too much time offline, I attempted to see a cloud that looked like the city of St. Cloud. I walked face first into a spiderweb. I apologized to the spider. If you wish to thrive, leave spiders alive.

Blue jays bothered an eastern screech owl trying to sleep in the yard. The owl’s ear tufts of feathers are called plumicorns. A flock of starlings traveled the edges of the woods. The name starling comes from the Anglo Saxon and means little star – likely from its star-shaped silhouette in flight. Turkey vultures are known to the Cherokee as "peace eagles" because they never kill.

The yard was busy with busy honey bees. According to Golden Blossom Honey, in order to produce one pound of honey, 2 million flowers must be visited. A hive of bees flies 55,000 miles to produce a pound of honey. One bee colony can produce 60 to 100 pounds of honey per year. An average worker bee makes about 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.

Naturally

The sounds of young raccoons needled into my sleep.

I fed the birds. I have a loyal following of avian gourmands. Birds are cute so they can extort food from me. My feeders are busy. Bird populations can vary greatly from place to place and time to time. One yard's feeders aren't representative of all feeders in a state.

I saw my last Baltimore oriole in the yard on September 11. I miss them. I played Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" in their honor.

A dragonfly propelled on wings of cellophane flew by in a zigzag pattern.

Blue jays, the yard's security guards, sounded an alarm after discovering the daytime roost of an eastern screech owl.

A nice woman called to report a colony of bees in the wall of her house. Her home had become a Bee & Bee. When her doorbell buzzes, so does the wall. Honeybees build nests out of beeswax. Yellow jacket wasps build paper nests and are sometimes found in walls. At this season of the year, the yellow jackets have time to attend picnics and search for sugar. They are natural biological controls as predators of insects, but develop a sweet tooth now and desire sugary foods like ice cream, soda and fermenting fruit that provide energy and fuel nasty dispositions. A friend tells me they dislike diet soft drinks.

Playing in the state softball tournament one year, I was standing on second base when the umpire nearest me called a timeout. The young son of the home plate umpire had been guzzling a soft drink from a can in which a yellowjacket had crawled into. He was stung and suffered an allergic reaction. Fortunately, there was an ambulance at the tournament that hauled the boy to a hospital. He ended up in fine fettle, but about 62 people a year die of wasp or bee stings in this country. August and September produce the most yellow jacket stings.

Things to look for

1. Arrival of dark-eyed juncos and white-throated sparrows.

2. A deer's reddish summer coat is replaced by a dense gray coat that provides insulation and camouflage.

3. Ruby-throated hummingbirds exit the state.

Thanks for stopping by

"You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” ― Charlie Tremendous Jones

“You should sit in nature for 20 minutes a day. Unless you’re busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” — Zen saying

Meeting adjourned

In a world where you can be anything, be kind.

Do good.

Editor’s note: Al Batt will be appearing at the Preston Public Library on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. He will share his humorous stories and excerpts from his book, “A Life Gone to the Birds.” All are welcome.

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER The Nashville warbler sometimes uses porcupine quills as nest material.

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER Does the ovenbird sing “Teacher, teacher, teacher” or “Nature, nature, nature”? Either way, its nest resembles a Dutch oven.

A blue jay basks in the sun

September 18, 2019

Here’s luck! Drink hearty! It’s a long journey.

Al Batt: Black-capped chickadees deserve more love

September 17, 2019

Al Batt: Black-capped chickadees deserve more love

Published by tlittle@bluffco... on Mon, 09/16/2019 - 2:46pm

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER A house wren weighs about the same as two quarters.

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER A ruby-throated hummingbird sticks out its tongue at another.

By :

Al Batt

For the Birds

I listened to black-capped chickadees making their chickadee-dee-dee calls, increasing the number of dee notes when alarmed. I found no reason for their concern, but I'm sure there was one. The song of this chickadee is a whistled fee-bee or "love you."

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources annual roadside pheasant survey showed a 17 percent decrease in the overall pheasant index from 2018. The 2019 index was 11 percent below the 10-year average and 60 percent below the long-term average. This year’s statewide pheasant index was 37.4 birds per 100 miles of roads driven. The pheasant index decreased throughout much of the pheasant range, except in the south-central and east-central regions. There, the index grew by 24 percent and 13 percent, respectively, over 2018. Weather and habitat are the main influences on pheasant populations. Overall conditions for winter survival of wildlife were below average to average throughout the farmland. Deep and persistent snow cover over most of the core pheasant range combined with colder than normal temperatures adversely impacted survival. Cooler than normal temperatures in the spring, flooding caused by melting snow and above-normal precipitation delayed nest initiation. Mild summer temperatures and drier weather benefited birds nesting or re-nesting later in the season. The average hatch date in 2019 was nearly a week later than in 2018. Other species surveyed and how their numbers compared with 2018 were: Gray partridge up, eastern cottontail steady, white-tailed deer up 45%, mourning dove down 29% and sandhill crane up 25%.

Things to look for

1. Warblers find sunny sites to glean insects from vegetation. Warblers can be hard to pin down, as are most things in life.

2. Northern flickers flash white rump patches in flight and feed on the ground as they migrate through.

3. Flotillas of dragonflies and ant flight dispersals.

4. The company of some flowers blooming in September. Blue flowers: Blue vervain, blue lobelia and smooth blue aster. White: Common yarrow, white snakeroot, hedge bindweed, flat-topped white aster, wild cucumber, annual fleabane and heath aster. Yellow: Jerusalem artichoke, sneezeweed, smooth oxeye, common evening primrose, Black-eyed Susan, compass plant, cup plant, Canada goldenrod, zigzag goldenrod and stiff goldenrod. Purple/pink: Rough blazing star, northern plains blazing star, prairie blazing star, meadow blazing star and New England aster. Orange: Spotted-touch-me-not. Red: Cardinal flower.

5. Eastern kingbirds, appearing to be dressed in business suits, gather in flocks in preparation for migration.

Echoes from Loafers' Club

I've been going to the same barber for over 30 years.

He must be a good barber.

I'm not so sure. I had a lot more hair before I started going to him.

Don't take your buffalo to town, son

Dad and Mom arrived in Minnesota in 1946 and met Horace Neely who told my father, "Go east young man." So Dad bought a farm east of town.

Years later, the charger in the barn on that farm was blinking unhappily. There was a problem with the electric fence. It needed to be checked. That was an opportunity for me to walk the fence and get in my steps without knowing about getting in my steps.

The cows had breached the electric fence. They were out. How did they know the fence wasn't working? Could their ears detect it? Was there one cow, I'll call her Cora, who was designated to test an electric wire each day to see if it were operating? Perhaps she touched it with her tail and if she didn't get zapped, the herd knew they could overpower the unarmed fence. Cora had a responsible position that could result in future leadership roles.

I thought of that when a neighbor called to report escaped humongous herbivores. One American bison was rumored to have hoofed it to town. I imagined a resident of that fine city watching the movie "Dances With Wolves" and looking up from the TV to see a buffalo in the yard without Kevin Costner.

I like red nectar no matter what flavor it is

I spoke in Hastings, Neb., where Edward Perkins created Kool-Aid. My neighbor kids called it bug juice because their father called it bug juice. In 1918, Perkins created Nix-O-Tine Tobacco Remedy designed to overcome tobacco addiction. It included herbs, mouthwash and a laxative. Buoyed by that success, he created Kool-Ade, later changed to Kool-Aid. The powdered mix offered six flavors: raspberry, cherry, grape, lemon-lime, orange and strawberry. Kool-Aid is the official state soft drink of Nebraska.

Nature notes

The rain tapped on the leaves. Everything was as right as rain. There was no thunder and lightning. On average, approximately 44,000 thunderstorms occur each day. Skunks and raccoons dug in the lawn in search of grubs for grub. I spotted a red fox. A red fox has black legs, black-tipped ears and a white-tipped tail. A grey fox has a black tipped tail and a black racing stripe down its back.

Crickets sang to chirp up others. I saw a Cooper’s hawk with a distinctive long, rounded tail with thick bands. Chimney swifts chattered overhead, their short bodies propelled by long, slim, flickering wings. Turkey vultures waited for the morning’s rush hour to end and for the heat to arrive before flying. Wild turkeys strolled by. A turkey can run 25 mph and fly 55 mph.

A Eurasian collared-dove called. This species was introduced into the Bahamas in 1974, spread to Florida in 1982 and was first seen in Minnesota in 1998. A flock of starlings landed on utility wires. In the early 1890s, about 100 European starlings were released in New York City's Central Park by a group dedicated to bringing every bird mentioned by Shakespeare to America. Today, there are about 200 million starlings in North America.

Mark Anderson of Albert Lea asked what is the light green plant spreading like a veil over other plants and fences. It’s the rambunctious wild cucumber. If unwanted, the native, annual plants should be pulled or hoed as soon as they’re found. The seedlings resemble garden cucumbers. Repeated mowing before they set seeds keeps them in check. If they’re growing up into trees and bushes, pull and discard them before they go to seed. They produce spiny fruit and the flowers are quite fragrant. There are chemical solutions that must be used carefully.

“What else eats milkweeds other than monarch butterfly caterpillars?”

Deer, rabbits, milkweed bugs, tussock moth caterpillars, Japanese beetles, oleander aphids, slugs, earwigs, red milkweed beetles, swamp milkweed leaf beetles and others feed on milkweeds.

Meeting adjourned

“Kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle.” – Charles Glassman

Thanks for stopping by

"No garden truly blooms until butterflies have danced upon it." — Kristen D’Angelo

"Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts." — Wendell Berry

Do good.

CONNECT WITH US

Chatfield NewsNews Leader Spring Grove Herald Spring Valley Tribune Tri-County Record

Bluff Country Newspaper Group
507-346-7365 | 112 N. Broadway Ave Spring Valley, MN 55975

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER A house wren weighs about the same as two quarters.

**AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER A ruby-throated hummingbird sticks out its tongue at another.**

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird gave me the raspberry.

September 13, 2019

Folklore says a woolly bear caterpillar’s brown band foreshadows winter— narrow means nasty and wide indicates a mild season.

An American Redstart, the yellowstart version.

If my yard were a coop, the Baltimore Orioles have flown it. They are good guests that don’t stay long enough.

I enjoy the ephemeral company of Baltimore Orioles.

September 11, 2019

Have you ever had the feeling you’re being watched by a Chestnut-sided Warbler? I have.

The Ovenbird’s nest resembles a Dutch oven.

It takes only one monarch butterfly to make a roost.

A washer that is not available in finer stores everywhere.

Al Batt: Black vultures migrate over Duluth in mid September

September 9, 2019

Al Batt: Black vultures migrate over Duluth in mid September

Published by tlittle@bluffco... on Mon, 09/09/2019 - 10:12am

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER An adult northern cardinal has a red-orange bill. A juvenile has a gray to black bill.

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER A tip of the hat to Dustin Demmer for pointing out this monarch butterfly roost.

By :

Al Batt

For the Birds

A black vulture was seen at Hawk Ridge in Duluth. Only eight have been seen in Minnesota, but it's a species moving northward. Last year, about 40,000 common nighthawks (not raptors) passed over Hawk Ridge.

Nighthawks look skinny in flight and a white stripe on each wing makes it appear as if their wings have windows.

Hawk Ridge gets approximately 18,000 human visitors each fall. Raptors migrate from as far as the Arctic to wintering areas as distant as South America.

Reluctant to cross a large body of water, they funnel down the north shore of Lake Superior, riding thermals and updrafts created by the shore's topography.

Hawks begin migrating past Hawk Ridge in mid-August and continue through November. Tens of thousands of broad-winged hawks fly over Hawk Ridge during Sept. 10 to Sept. 25.

October is good for viewing the migration of eagles, rough-legged hawks, red-tailed hawks and northern goshawks.

Echoes from Loafers' Club

I'm feeling pretty fit.

Have you taken up exercising or acquired a fitness tracker?

No, nothing that foolish. I removed the full-length mirror from my house.

Scenes from a marriage

You've backed right into the cow tank.

I thought I had.

What were you thinking?

I was thinking I'd backed right into the cow tank.

Things full of life don't live long enough

A friend told me that his dog had died. The canine was a cute little thing. It wouldn't have made much of a cattle dog, but it made a wonderful friend. I enjoy the company of dogs. They gladden hearts. The entire world could be mad at you, but your dog still thinks you are the best thing going. It's a worthy goal to try to be what our dogs think we are. I thought of what Mary Carolyn Davies had written, “A good dog never dies. He always stays. He walks besides you on crisp autumn days when frost is on the fields and winter's drawing near. His head is within our hand in his old way."

I was a poor, wayfaring stranger

I told stories in Ohio. "Hang on Sloopy," a major hit for The McCoys in 1965, is Ohio's official rock song. In my free time, I went birding with some wonderful Amish men. Later, the wife of one gave me a large slice of sugar pie with its lard crust filled with butter, flour, milk, eggs and sugar. It was sinfully good. The lard works in mysterious ways.

Nature notes

Bonita Underbakke of Lanesboro and Rod Meyer of Mankato each asked the identity of a beautiful black and yellow spider that appears to be trying to write a novel in its web. It’s an Argiope (ar-JYE-o-pee) or black-and-yellow garden spider. It’s also called a yellow garden spider, a signature spider or writing spider. It’s an orb weaver.

They are typically found in late summer in the center of large, roundish webs. The spider's ample web often has an area in a zigzag pattern, called a stabilimentum, which resembles dental floss. The purpose for this is up for conjecture, but is thought to provide camouflage for the spider, attract flying insect prey by reflecting ultraviolet light or is a warning to birds to avoid the web.

There is much folklore as to what the spider is trying to write. As with many spiders, the female is much larger than the male. She has a body measuring about an inch long and, including her legs, can be several inches in length.

“Where do wasps overwinter?”

The only wasps that survive winter are the queens. The other wasps perish with the onset of cold weather. In the fall, the queens find refuge in protected sites, such as under a rock or tree bark. The wasps that survive the winter are fertilized queens that build new nests and colonies from scratch.

Rachel Depuydt of Eagle Lake asked what the difference was between a frog and a toad. They’re not easy to distinguish. Most frogs have long legs and smooth skins covered in mucus. Toads typically have shorter legs and rougher, thicker skins. Toads generally find their way into gardens and yards more than frogs. Frog eggs are found in a mass while toad eggs are in a chain. I was taught that all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads.

Karen Wright of Mankato asked what butterflies do in the rain. They try to avoid it. Butterflies hide when it rains — under large leaves, in tangled thickets, in dense vegetation, under rocks, in grass or bushes, or anywhere else that would intercept the raindrops.

Naturally

I watched birds stock up on seed and feed as ragweed, green on green, carried its misery on the wind. Ragweed is wind-pollinated, so the flowers don't need bright colors to attract pollinators. Its pollen sends season's sneezing to hay fever sufferers.

A bald blue jay joined a feeder. An uneven molt leads to uneven blue jays.

Henderson Hummingbird Hurrah

I had a wonderful time at the Henderson Hummingbird Hurrah (HHH) visiting with old friends and new friends from far and near.

I talked with Larry Pfarr, a garden expert on KSTP Channel 5, who had brought some of his honeybees to the HHH. Larry is a nice and interesting fellow who told me that every garden should have some blue color in it. It brings the sky to a garden. The question he gets the most often is: How do I get rid of creeping Charlie? His answer is to use an herbicide in the fall after a light frost and apply it again 10 days later. The applications are best done in early morning or evening. Larry said that the most popular perennial grown in gardens is the daylily, which is twice as popular as the hosta.

Rhonda, a retired elementary teacher from St. Stephen, told me how hummingbirds had landed on her hands while she held a feeder. Her face lit up as she described the experience, saying the feeling of having a hummingbird alight upon her was akin to the sensation felt when she touched her eyelash lightly with her finger.

Things to look for

1. Migrating monarch butterflies, shorebirds and confusing fall warblers.

2. Red colors on maples, sumac, Virginia creeper and poison ivy. Leaves of three, let it be warns us of poison ivy. Virginia creeper is five-leafed ivy.

3. Yellow colors on basswood, cottonwood and green ash.

4. Jerusalem artichokes, asters and Canada goldenrod bloom.

5. Giant puffballs emerge.

6. Milkweed pods open and their seeds are shed.

Thanks for stopping by

“In the end, we'll all become stories.”― Margaret Atwood

“If we're destroying our trees and destroying our environment and hurting animals and hurting one another and all that stuff, there's got to be a very powerful energy to fight that. I think we need more love in the world. We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter.” — Ellen DeGeneres

Do good.

Meeting adjourned

Be kind. People like those who can fake a smile.

CONNECT WITH US

Chatfield NewsNews Leader Spring Grove Herald Spring Valley Tribune Tri-County Record

Bluff Country Newspaper Group
507-346-7365 | 112 N. Broadway Ave Spring Valley, MN 55975

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER An adult northern cardinal has a red-orange bill. A juvenile has a gray to black bill.

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER A tip of the hat to Dustin Demmer for pointing out this monarch butterfly roost.

I feel blessed to see a roost of monarch butterflieS

September 3, 2019

"No garden truly blooms until butterflies have danced upon it." — Kristen D’Angelo

What bird can keep a secret?

August 31, 2019

Al Batt: No fear of cicada killer wasp

Published by tlittle@bluffco... on Tue, 08/27/2019 - 8:52am

AL BATT/BLUFF COUNTRY READER Blue jays love peanuts and appreciate humans who add them to their feeders.

By :

Al Batt

For the Birds

I saw a female cicada killer wasp. She was about 1 1/2 inches long. I wasn’t worried. Had I been a cicada, I’d have been worried. The annual cicada (also called a dog-day cicada, harvest fly, jar fly and incorrectly a locust) produces a high-pitched, buzzy whine that reminds some of an electric saw. That’s why few people use cicada calls as ringtones on cellphones. This call hits 100 decibels, lasts up to 15 seconds and can be heard a quarter mile away.

Cooper's hawks nest here, beginning their breeding season in the spring. They build nests of sticks lined with bark and green twigs located 25 to 50 feet high in a tree. She lays two to six eggs that hatch in 30 to 36 days. The young leave the nest after 27 to 34 days. The parents continue to feed and protect the fledglings until they learn to survive on their own at about eight weeks of age.
A ruby-throated hummingbird buzzed by my beak. It probably weighed .1 ounce. About 1,000 to 1,500 of that being feathers, although one old study showed 940 feathers. That may not sound like many, but it’s more than I have.

Grape jelly feeders were still busy with Baltimore orioles. Birds are in a hurry as the local nesting season is compressed for our neotropical migrants.

Echoes from Loafers' Club

This is a tough crossword puzzle. What's a 7-letter word for "easily perceived or understood" that starts with an O?

Isn't it obvious?"

It should be, but I can't think of it. That's why I'm asking.

Driving by Bruce's drive

I have a wonderful neighbor, named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive, thoughts occur to me, such as: I was trying not to think of my dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. We were on the road and stopped to get a few items at a supermarket. That would make a sizable dent in the day. We bagged Honeycrisp apples and when that deed was done, we turned to put them into our shopping cart. My wife was the first to say what we were both thinking, “Where is our cart?” She turned around twice, getting a panoramic view from her pirouette. Our cart certainly wasn’t where it had been. There was a cart near where our cart had been, but there were no dates in it. We had dates in ours. I like dates. Then my wife spotted our cart and a cart rustler. He was busily texting while leaning on our cart. When he was informed of the cart switch, he apologized and rejoined his undated cart.

The cafe chronicles

The two old fellows sat down together. Two retired guys nursing cups of decaffeinated coffee while coveting the slices displayed in the pie case. Each man thought it would have taken longer to get old. It's as Alice Walker wrote in "The Color Purple," "Time moves slowly, but passes quickly.”

"What time is it?" asked one.

"What time would you like it to be?" replied the other.

They were both in good health, so that limited their conversation severely. Thank goodness for disagreeable weather.

He should have been wearing a name tag

I was at a funeral where the minister said the deceased's name wrong. He used the appellation often, but incorrectly. I wanted to say something, but a funeral requires a certain decorum. I've heard a story about someone giving a eulogy and saying how everyone knew Bob. A mourner yelled, "His name is Bill."

Without missing a beat, the eulogist said, "Well, some of us knew him better than others."

Ask Al

"What is the population of your hometown?" It's just enough.

"What bird can keep a secret?" A turkey takes its secrets to the gravy.

"When is it OK to wear white?" After the Annual BBQ Rib and Chili Cook-off has concluded.

In local news

Chris P. Bacon owns an 18th Century car. He plans on buying his 19th Buick Century soon.

Retiring bricklayer throws in the trowel.

Worker's compensation premiums soar at the Banana Peel Recycling Center due to a rash of falls.

A traveling man

A speaking gig took me to Memphis. I didn't have time to visit Graceland. I appreciate Elvis Presley's gospel singing, so I bought a Moon Pie and an RC Cola in his memory. I ate the Moon Pie and gave the RC to a stranger who looked more parched and dry than I was.

Things to look for

1. Yellowjackets attend picnics without being invited.

2. Wild grapes ripen, milkweed pods proliferate and acorns drop.

3. Singers in the night include snowy tree crickets, conehead katydids, ground crickets, bush katydids and field crickets.

4. Tinges of fall colors on foliage.

5. Most Baltimore orioles will have left by the end of the first week of September.

6. Insects are drawn to goldenrods, asters and sunflowers.

Thanks for stopping by

"A bad word from a colleague can darken a whole day. We need encouragement a lot more than we admit, even to ourselves." — Orson Welles

"Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things." — Russell Baker

Meeting adjourned

"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love." — Saint Basil

DO GOOD.

Al Batt: Burning bush could be another victim of recent long, hard winter

August 26, 2019

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.

by Al Batt, albertleatribune.com
August 24, 2019 09:00 AM

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. It’s so windy, I had to screw my cap on to keep it from blowing away. I went to Pilates yesterday. I thought it was a Mexican restaurant. It was all exercise. I thought the workout was to work up an appetite, but there was no food involved. I plan on doing nothing today to make up for all that exertion. Why do nothing? I believe in setting achievable goals.”

Naturally

I walked in a fog. It wasn’t my usual brain fog. It was an August early morning fog. Folklore says that for every fog in August, there will be a snowfall the following winter. An inchworm or looper (a small caterpillar), measured me for a new suit. I watched ants move about. The ground that was their roof was my floor.

Curly dock was evident on roadsides. Its seeds were a rich brown, like coffee. Underfoot, pineapple weed bloomed. The flowers are dome-shaped and a yellowy greenish color. Its name comes from the pineapple-like smell of its crushed leaves and flowers. It’s a persistent plant that thrives in poor conditions such as the edges of a driveway.

A dead tree, hollow and with broken limbs, stood in stark contrast with the green leaves of the trees that surrounded it. White-breasted nuthatches made their odd sounds as they traveled on its bark in the pursuit of food. The male has a black cap and the female’s cap is grayer. I saw a male American goldfinch flying high in circles or figure eights. It’s the state bird of Iowa, New Jersey and Washington.

A drive into the deep darkness brought a coyote into my headlights. It was dragging a bit of roadkill. I enjoy seeing coyotes as they do good work removing carcasses from roads. Deer are much more dangerous than coyotes. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 200 people die in vehicle/deer collisions annually.

Blue jays love peanuts. Al Batt/Albert Lea Tribune

Q&A

“I fear my burning bush has died. What could have happened to it?” Burning bush or winged euonymus shrubs were some that experienced injury from our long winter. A hard frost when bushes are coming out of dormancy can cause death or dieback. The most common frost injury occurs in early spring or late fall. The plant could have suffered damage from voles or rabbits. I hope your plant recovers.

“I’d like to see a vulture up close. How can I do that?” First, roll on a dead raccoon. Then, when you see a turkey vulture flying overhead, go limp.

“I heard you mention allopreening on the radio. What does that mean?” That’s when one bird preens or grooms the skin or feathers of another bird.

“How can I stop a Cooper’s hawk from hunting birds at my feeders?” A Cooper’s hawk doesn’t always make a good first impression. Hawks that feed on birds take the term “birdfeeder” at face value. If you want to discourage the hawk, take your feeders down for a bit. Birds often face fluctuating food supplies, so they are accustomed to searching for food. They are good at finding food in other places. Put the feeders back up in a week or two. The songbirds will return, but the hawk might have found better hunting elsewhere. Studies have found 10 to 12% of a Cooper’s hawk’s hunts are successful. Providing natural cover for small birds could help. Eliminate ground feeding. Birds feeding on the ground are more vulnerable to hawk attacks. Caged feeders might offer some protection.

“I’ve seen two red-bellied woodpeckers that have no red on their heads. Are they juveniles?” The juveniles resemble adults, but are duller in overall color, the red nape patches are lacking and they have brownish bills opposed to the black bills of adults.

Gary Borchardt of Oelwein and Paul Schwab of Owatonna sent me photos of birds for identification. They were chukars. Chukars from Pakistan were released in this country as game birds, but they were unsuccessful. The birds we see are birds reared for hunting purposes that have escaped.

Things to look for:

1. Yellowjackets attend picnics without being invited.

2. Wild grapes ripen, milkweed pods proliferate and acorns drop.

3. Singers in the night include snowy tree crickets, conehead katydids, ground crickets, bush katydids and field crickets.

4. Tinges of fall colors on foliage.

5. Most Baltimore orioles will have left by the end of the first week of September.

6. Insects are drawn to goldenrods, asters and sunflowers.

Thanks for stopping by

“A bad word from a colleague can darken a whole day. We need encouragement a lot more than we admit, even to ourselves.” — Orson Welles

“Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things.” — Russell Baker

Do good.

The species name of the widow skimmer dragonfly means sorrowful as its wings seem to be draped in mourning crepe. Photo by Al Batt

It may look like a bird’s nest, but it’s Queen Anne’s Lace. Hal Borland wrote that the name pays tribute to the flat-topped heads of florets, dainty as fine lace and pretty enough to deck a queen.

The moon causing waves over a cornfield.

August 19, 2019

This is from back in the day when a telephone operator had three ears.

Despite a friend’s attempt to discourage nesting, the barn swallows persevered.

Al Batt: Looking for a culprit for your hay fever? Don’t blame goldenrod

August 17, 2019

Al Batt: Looking for a culprit for your hay fever? Don’t blame goldenrod

by Al Batt, albertleatribune.com
August 17, 2019 09:00 AM

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. I stopped at one of those

dollar stores to pick up a pair of socks. My other pair had worn out and a dollar store is in my financial wheelhouse. I bought a Smokey the Bear flyswatter there. I’ll use it when I walk in the woods. It says, ‘Only you can prevent forest flies.’ I did a triathlon.”

“You? When and where did you do a triathlon?” I say.

“Well, if you add up everything I’ve ever done in my life, it adds up to one triathlon.”

Naturally

I heard the croaking calls of a yellow-billed cuckoo at the edge of the farmyard at 10:30 Friday morning. If my father were still around to hear it, he’d have declared the primal sound of the “rain crow” to have predicted rain. It rained at 5:30 Monday afternoon. Apparently, a rain crow gives a 5-day forecast.

A blue jay flew into a feeder holding peanuts in their shells. The jay picked up a number of peanuts and put them back down as it searched for the perfect goober. Finally finding one with the weight that indicated good eating inside, the bird flew off with it.

Painted lady butterflies were numerous and fluttering low across the highway. Many were hit by vehicles. I made a stop, pulling into a parking lot filled with automobiles. Before I got out of my car, I watched as house sparrows flew in and picked among the dead painted ladies littering the pavement surrounding the cars. The birds used their bills to grab butterflies and then beat the insects against the hard surface, knocking off wings and legs. Lunch was served.

Customer comments

Chuck Van Wey of Albert Lea, a wonderful man who I admire for his work with Relay for Life and the Cancer Support Group, told me that he’d not been a bird feeder until he moved to a house where the previous owner had left two feeders in place. Chuck told me that he’s discovered what great fun feeding birds is.

I visited a nursing home. A man, who I didn’t know, said he wanted to tell me a story. He’d been nursing a bad hip, which limited his mobility. Stuck in his room, he watched from a window as a robins’ nest was built, eggs laid, hatching and fledging. He told me it had aided his healing.

For the second consecutive year, Jerry and Jill Morstad of Albert Lea had a mallard raise a family in a nest in a tree in their yard. They live along a busy street, so Jerry erected a “Duckling crossing” sign.

Some things to look for

1. Goldenrods bloom and don’t cause hay fever, as their heavy pollen is carried by insects. Great and common ragweeds shed pollen, causing hay fever symptoms.

2. Monarch butterflies congregate at the beginning of their migration.

3. Wild cucumber, an annual native vine, blooms with small white flowers. The rambunctious plant has star-shaped leaves and spiky fruit.

4. Blue vervain blooms.

5. Orb spider webs in grasses are evident on dewy mornings.

6. A proverb says after Lammas Day (August 1), corn ripens as much by night as by day.

Q&A

“How smart are squirrels?” One was the valedictorian of my class.

A number of readers have asked about the large snails floating in Albert Lea Lake. They are Chinese mystery snails, also called trapdoor snails. They have a coiled spiral shell, olive in color, and grow to 3 inches tall. There is a trapdoor covering an opening in the shell, which is missing when the snail has died. They are called mystery snails because the females give birth to fully developed snails that suddenly and mysteriously appear. Their lifespan is about four years and can die off in large numbers. The snail is native to Asia. It’s imported and sold in the aquarium trade. People spread Chinese mystery snails through the movement of water-related equipment and release of aquarium pets. It’s illegal to release or dispose of unwanted aquatic plants or animals in or near public waters.

Tom Jones of Albert Lea asked for identification of tiny blue butterflies. There are two common possibilities. The summer azure (flying July —September) has a wingspan of 1–1¼ inches and the eastern tailed-blue’s is 1/2 to 1 inch. The tailed-blue, that has flight times between May and September has a tail on each hindwing and at least one crescent orange spot on the outer edges of the hindwings. These are lacking on azures.

“What is the best insect repellant?” A wind.

Thanks for stopping by

“Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you.” — Wendell Berry

“Time comes to us softly, slowly. It sits beside us for a while. Then long before we are ready it moves on.” — Jacqueline Woodson

Do good