Wednesdays can be difficult when you have to share a cubicle with three others as these Steller Sea Lions in Sitka, Alaska, have to do.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly — male or female.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly — female.
The exoskeleton of a cicada.
The exoskeleton of the Annual (Dog Day) Cicada and the cicada that jumped out of that cake.
To cormorants, pelicans are fish locators.
A Red Squirrel, likely not named Milo, ignores milo seed.
This apple tree shows repeated visits of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. That bird prefers to feed on the sap of pine, birch, maple and apple trees.
I found this Argus Tortoise Beetle busily doing Argus Tortoise Beetle things in Kansas.
This Yellow-headed Blackbird had just eaten a spider — intentionally.
Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.
A gray treefrog disguised as a green frog not on a tree.
It’s meant for songbirds. Big Bluestem is the star of the tall grass prairie.
The American White Pelicans waited after ordering anchovies on the pizza.
By Al Batt
For the Birds in The Caledonia Argus
Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting
I tried your advice on fixing my lawn mower.
Did it work?
No.
That doesn’t surprise me. It never works for me either.
Driving by Bruce’s drive
I have a wonderful neighbor named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive, thoughts occur to me, such as: Some years ago, as luck would have it, I found myself in Luck, Wisconsin.
It was my good luck or good Luck to be working in the “Yo-Yo Capital of the World.” In 1946, Duncan started manufacturing yo-yos in Luck, producing as many of 3,600 of them in an hour. Kids had yo-yos instead of video games in those bygone days.
Napoleon and his army were said to have relaxed with yo-yos before the Battle of Waterloo.
I don’t have video games or a yo-yo. I have Zoom. I taught a class on Zoom recently. I’ve taught writing, birding, journaling, storytelling, etc. classes, but always in person.
I did the first few minutes of teaching trying to emulate my good teachers before I realized that my video screen had cut off my head. It wasn’t Zoom’s fault, it was mine. I’ve been married long enough to know when there’s a problem — I’m it. My only excuse was that I had none. The class expected a brainless instructor, but they got a headless one, too. I should have used a yo-yo.
A good stick
I went for a walk. I looked for a stick. A good stick is a walking stick, cane, pointer and sword. A bad stick can be all of those things, too, but not as good. When I was a boy, it wasn’t a day without a good stick made from a maple branch or sapling. I could toss an acorn into the air and hit it with the stick as if the combination were a baseball and a bat.
Somebody told me that Minnesotans and Iowans are good at milling about. As a kid, I walked about, but I called it “walking around.” At a fair, I’d declare to my parents, “I’m going to walk around.” I did the same thing in a store or at Allis-Chalmers Days or John Deere Days. I still do that — with or without a good stick.
Nature notes
A sulphur butterfly landed on me. I hoped it brought good luck. Butterflies and fireflies are people pleasers. The neighbor’s rooster crowed as no politician or pundit could. Bee balm or wild bergamot (Monarda), a native plant, bloomed. It’s attractive to bees and butterflies. The bergamot oil added to Earl Grey tea comes from an entirely different plant. Mints bloomed on square stems. Ponds were covered with duckweed, a tiny, flowering plant. Barn swallows gathered on utility wires. They are the swallow species with what we think of as swallow tails.
Naturally
If there is a low-pressure area or storm in the region the winds will blow day or night. Windy nights are more common in the cold season. The night wind, as strong as the growing corn, had blown in a genial day. Each day, the weather answers our questions from the day before.
My day’s goal had been to not upset the blue jays. A lot of things irritate them and my wife has told me that if I don’t know what the problem is, it’s me. One day, I saw the source of their outrage had a yellow bill and black eyes. It wasn’t me glaring at an ancient invoice. It was a barred owl.
Butterflies filled the yard. It was their home, I was just walking through it. The air was made of painted ladies, red admirals, sulphurs, cabbage whites, monarchs, question marks and azures.
My wife said it was the butterfly version of the movie “The Birds.” It was in a believable and benign way. Yellow was the predominate color of the insects. It was just another day at the sulphur butterfly factory.
Butterflies don’t have lungs. They breathe through tiny openings on the sides of their bodies called spiracles that carry the oxygen through tubes to their bodies.
Frass is the excrement produced by insects. I don’t know why I added the part about frass, but it makes a worthy replacement word for any reader who has a penchant for creative cussing. Just remember, bears do not frass in the woods.
Cicadas called. Folklore says that cicadas start singing six weeks before a frost and their singing heralds warm, dry days ahead. Their heads-up frost warnings aren’t known for their accuracy. When I was growing up, cicadas were called locusts. They aren’t. Locusts are a type of grasshopper, while cicadas are related to crickets. Cicadas typically sing from July to the first frost.
During the late summer, small, obscure insects known as insidious flower bugs or minute pirate bugs make their presence known in a convincing manner by biting with an impact out of proportion to their size. They are small enough people call them no-see-ums and can make them disappear by removing their eyeglasses — from their faces, not the insects’. They can be an annoyance, but I remain thankful that raccoons can’t fly.
Q&A
“Does anything eat the berries of the jack-in-the-pulpit?” In autumn, the plant bears a cluster of bright red berries. Few mammals feed on this plant as it contains calcium oxalate crystals that could burn the mouth, which makes the plant unpalatable and poisonous. Some birds, including wild turkeys and pheasants, eat the berries.
“I heard a female cardinal sing. She was good. Do many female songbirds sing?” A female cardinal sings a similar song to the male. A 2016 study found that in a sample of over 1,000 songbird species from around the world, 64% had females that sing.
“Why is it called a whooping crane?” The name probably originated from the loud, single-note vocalization given repeatedly by the cranes when they are alarmed.
“Are rattlesnakes poisonous or venomous?” Poisonous is used for anything that poisons (unloads its toxins) you if you ingest it. Venomous is used for anything that poisons (injects toxins) you if it bites or stings you. Rattlesnakes are venomous.
Meeting adjourned
Staying positive doesn’t mean being happy all the time. It means that on hard days you know there are better ones coming. Be kind.
Thanks for stopping by
“Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved.” - Jane Goodall
Do good.
© Al Batt 2020
The American Goldfinch — the king of the gapes.
When I was a dear boy, I called the Painted Lady a “thistle butterfly.” Thistles are host plants for the caterpillars.
A pheasant fellow told me that a Ring-necked Pheasant may not travel over more than 700 acres. No Disneyland for this rooster.
The American Bison has a shaggy coat that is so well insulated that snow could settle on its back without melting.
While singing in the rain, a wet Red-winged Blackbird doesn’t smell anything like a wet dog.
A Cedar Waxwing searching for food or a lost contact lens.
The famed swallow that returns to Mission San Juan Capistrano is the Cliff Swallow. When I was a dear boy, it was called a “bridge swallow” and returned to the dentist’s office once a year.
The famed swallow that returns to Mission San Juan Capistrano is the Cliff Swallow. When I was a dear boy, it was called a “bridge swallow” and returned to the dentist’s office once a year.
I am enchanted by the white around the eye of a female Wood Duck. Her call is a loud "oo-eek" whistle.
A Rose-breasted Grosbeak enjoying a little suet.
A female Northern Cardinal taking a lunch break.
Orange attracts orange. Baltimore Oriole.
A beautiful day in Sitka is no fluke if there is a fluke around.
I was told the name Sitka derived from a Tlingit phrase meaning “on the outside of Shee [Baranof Island.” I believe that, but I’ve been told a lot of things.
Emily Dickinson wrote, “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all. - Baltimore Oriole.
I love visiting Hans, a Eurasian Eagle-owl, at the American Bald Eagle Foundation in Haines, Alaska. His orange eyes are incredible.
The Orchard Oriole proves chestnut and black is a fetching color combination.
I can look at a Brown Thrasher for a long time.
I’m finding Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to be extremely good company. A tiny bird makes a big difference to me.
Another kind of “terrible twos.” Soon, their gangliness will be replaced with fluidity and fleetness. I don’t think “gangliness” is a valid Scrabble word, but it fits them.
An American Coot takes a big shoe.
Red Milkweed Beetles eat milkweed leaves, buds and flowers, and my spare time. I love watching insects on milkweed and goldenrods.
Here’s a fun fact: Every Goldenrod Soldier Beetle is an enlistee.
Double-crested Cormorants on a lake have eyes as blue as the ocean.
It’s not just popcorn. It’s Red Squirrel chow, too.
He had those cute chipmunk cheeks.
A Carolina Locust trying to look like dirt and succeeding. It makes crackling sounds called crepitations in flight.
A Marsh Wren afraid to let go.
Rattles, trills and gurgles. It’s a Marsh Wren solo.
By Al Batt
For the Birds from The Caledonia Argus
Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting
What’s wrong?
I called my eye doctor, but he can’t see me.
Sounds like he needs glasses.
Driving by Bruce’s drive
I live about 3688.12 smoots from the nearest post office. A smoot is a unit of measurement equal to 5 feet 7 inches.
In 1958, a fraternity at MIT used one of its pledges, the 5-foot-7 Oliver Smoot, Jr., as a unit of measure to mark off the Harvard Bridge in 10-smoot increments.
I used to mosey many smoots out yonder with remarkable regularity. I’d drive some roads over and over. Some had so much traffic it was obvious that someone had left the gate open. Others had so little traffic I had time to notice things.
I drove by one house in Nebraska so often through the years that I recognized changes. I paid attention when a different car lived in the drive or the garden’s size changed.
Last time I went by, the white house had been painted yellow. I had to circle back for a second look. I didn’t approve of that modification.
Nature notes
Count the number of cricket chirps in 15-seconds. Add 40 to that number to get an approximate temperature in Fahrenheit.
Five weeks after Canada geese hatch, the adults molt, which renders them flightless until the goslings can fly at 9 to 10 weeks of age. That’s typically during the second half of July.
Pam Martin of Great Bend, Kansas, said when she was a girl, her cousin had a pet crow that mimicked the sounds of human sneezes and ringing telephones. It was so good, it fooled the family’s telephone-hating dog into barking.
A temporary Texan
“The sun has riz, the sun has set, and here we is in Texas yet.” I could drive a long time without leaving Texas.
It seemed right to read some of Larry McMurtry books in Texas. I enjoyed “Lonesome Dove,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning, 843-page cattle-drive epic that was turned into a TV miniseries, “The Last Picture Show (made into a movie), and “Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen.”
In 2008, the American Film Institute voted “The Searchers” the greatest western of all time. It was filmed at Monument Valley, a wild and sparsely populated region on the Arizona-Utah border, of which John Wayne said, “Monument Valley is the place where God put the West.”
Despite claims, the role of Matt Dillon on “Gunsmoke” wasn’t offered to John Wayne. Wayne considered TV unworthy of his talents.
Wayne, born in Winterset, Iowa, was 6-foot-4. James Arness, born in Minneapolis, was 6-foot-7. Arness played the laconic marshal of Dodge City, Kansas.
According to “True West” magazine, Dillon was shot 56 times, knocked unconscious 29 times, stabbed three times and poisoned once in the 635 episodes of “Gunsmoke” that spanned 20 years.
Arness was shot in the leg at Anzio Beach during WWII. His brother, Peter Graves, starred in the TV show “Mission Impossible” and the movie “Airplane.”
Naturally
There’s more beauty in my ZIP code than I could see or hear in two lifetimes. Sweet sounds of goldfinches greeted me. What is yellow, weighs 4,000 pounds and sings? A two-ton American goldfinch.
The catbirds fed on suet more than I’d seen before. Smithsonian scientists reported 79% of fledged catbirds in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., were killed by predators before reaching adulthood, with 49% dispatched by domestic cats. Maybe the suet feeder is a “catbird seat,” a reference to a position of great prominence or advantage.
I was filling bird feeders when I frightened a chipmunk from a hanging feeder. It jumped from the feeder into the birdbath. I’m sure that wasn’t intentional. He splashed down, jumped from the water and scurried off after a dive that would have made Greg Louganis proud.
A blue jay grabbed a peanut shell holding two peanuts and swallowed. It snatched another hull covering two goobers in its bill and flew away. A jay can transport food in its throat and upper esophagus — an area called a gular pouch.
I tossed a small pizza crust on the lawn to see what would become of it. A crow found it quickly. Later, while mowing the lawn, I found a crow feather in the spot where the pizza had been. A coincidence or a quid pro crow?
Cicadas called. They declared it to be summer. I watched a great horned owl land twice in the yard not long before dusk. I didn’t see it catch anything. It might have attempted to find relief from being mobbed by jays, robins, chickadees, nuthatches, catbirds, woodpeckers and grackles. Mobbing is a loud expression of outrage and a behavior birds engage in to defend themselves or their offspring from predators. The smaller birds worked together like an indignant committee to annoy the owl from the yard. The night would prove generous with its stars.
Q&A
“Do deer really eat birds?” Yes, they will eat eggs and baby birds as trail cams and eyewitness reports have seen.
“Did storks ever deliver babies?” They did until they were required to provide child restraint systems.
Thanks for stopping by
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” — Bertrand Russell
Do good.
©Al Batt 2020
It’s standing room only at the busiest feeder in the yard. I’m proud to be their humble carhop.
This Gray Catbird is jam up and jelly tight.
The squirrel wins yet another game of Twister.
It’s Grey Poupon mustard and Grey Goose vodka, but it’s a Gray Catbird.
The cranes made me look. Sandhill Cranes along the Platte River in Nebraska.
Sandhill Cranes in search of lost kernels of corn.
Dreams of Chilkoot Lake near Haines, Alaska.
Chilkoot Lake near Haines, Alaska. A place to rest and feel better about the world.
I’ve trained my pet Bull Thistle to attack any raccoons that are doing what I don’t feel they should be doing.
And circle gets the square. Baltimore Oriole.
Each year, right around this time, I give a happy whoop when I see a Silver-spotted Skipper.
Each year, right around this time, I give a happy whoop when I see a Silver-spotted Skipper.
Grape jelly, the official breakfast of Baltimore Orioles.
As the great philosopher Adam Sandler sang, “Oh, so many things for me to wonder. Oh, I love grape jelly!”
A Painted Lady. Some nasty rumors claim that Miss Kitty on the “Gunsmoke” TV series was a painted lady. A different kind of painted lady, I guess.
A Rose-breasted Grosbeak in need of a napkin.
The heat gets to everyone. Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
A Gray Catbird strikes a martial arts pose.
I don’t know what the question is, but the answer is “butterflies.”
A thistle was trying to fly.
The boys are back in town. Mallard drakes.
A leucistic American Robin.
The sight of a swallowtail is easy to swallow.
There was a cormorant or a pelican eye looking everywhere.
What is there not to love about a Rose-breasted Grosbeak? Nothing, that’s what.
Somewhere, I know not where, this bear is doing you know what in the woods.
By Al Batt for The Caledonia Argus
For the Birds
Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting
I told my wife I wanted to be cremated.
It’s good to talk about those kinds of things.
No, it’s not. She made me an appointment for Tuesday.
Driving by Bruce’s drive
I have a wonderful neighbor named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive, thoughts occur to me, such as: The days go by too quickly. I tried to make one day seem as if it’d last forever by walking in the rain. Rain was no strain for Mother Nature as she’d become one of those gardeners whose answer for every problem is, “Just water it more.”
Mosquitoes thought I was a meal they’d ordered from room service. For every drop of rain that fell, a mosquito grew. Mosquitoes can breed in a bottle cap of water.
A picnic beetle bit me and I heard myself snarl, “I’ll fix your wagon.” I remember hearing my father say that very same thing as he stalked a fly with a flyswatter.
I fled the Batt Cave for a few hours to go to a farmer’s market. I followed my new mantra, “Wash up, mask up, back up.”
We’ve had social distancing all my life. It’s called loaning someone money. I’d feel odd without a flu fence on my public face. It’s a second face.
Lou Christie sang, “Two faces have I. One to laugh and one to cry.” In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates and doorways. He was depicted as having two faces, one looking back at the past and the other towards the future.
Duck, duck, what?
When I was in grade school, a group of kids sat in a circle, facing inward, while one child who was “it,” walked around them tapping each seated player and calling each a “duck” until declaring one a “gray duck.”
The “gray duck” arose and tried to tag the “it,” before the “it” was able to run around the circle and sit where the “gray duck” had been sitting.
If “it” succeeded, the “gray duck” became “it” and the process was repeated. If the “gray duck” tagged the “it,” the “it” remained “it.”
I’ve heard rumors that Minnesota is the only state that plays “Duck, duck, gray duck.” The other states play “Duck, duck, goose.” The game was brought to this country by the Swedes. There were two versions of the game in Sweden. One translated into “Duck, duck, goose.” The other to “Duck, duck, gray duck.”
The hypothesis is that the Swedes playing the second version were the ones who settled in Minnesota. Or maybe it was because no Minnesota child wanted to be labeled a goose. “Duck, duck, gray duck” is the proper and righteous way to play the game and will undoubtedly become an Olympic event.
Naturally
The red admiral butterfly feeds on tree sap, rotting fruit and bird droppings. Its caterpillar eats nettles. This makes them nearly impossible to cook for. When I was a dear boy, I called the painted lady a “thistle butterfly.” Thistles are host plants for the caterpillars.
I watched an aggressive eastern kingbird fight with a crow, a couple of blue jays and a robin all in one day. Why attack a robin? It must have considered it a threat and the kingbird granted no pardons to anyone. It has a forceful personality.
Eastern kingbirds often perch in an exposed position in the high trees or along utility lines or fences. They fly in shallow, rowing wingbeats, typically accompanied by electric, sputtering calls.
The perfume of flowers lingered in the air. In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the cricket chirps tonight. In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the cricket chirps tonight. Go outside at dusk and listen to a chirping cricket. Count the number of chirps it makes during a 15-second period. Adding 40 to that number will give you the approximate temperature in Fahrenheit.
I look forward to seeing northwestern crows in Alaska each year. Considered a cousin of the familiar American crow until a recent study on the genetics of the two species prompted the American Ornithological Society to conclude that the two species are actually one and the same. It’s a variation within a species.
Mallard drakes have yellow bills. Hens and juveniles sport orange-and-brown bills.
Q&A
“What do squirrels eat?” Acorns, hazelnuts, walnuts, butternuts, hickory nuts, tree seeds, fungi, buds, corn, fruits, berries, sap, eggs, nestlings, sunflower seeds, insects, caterpillars, small animals and snakes, carrion and goodies from the garden. When it comes to a diet, they don’t carrot all. It might have been easier to list what they won’t eat.
“Do rabbits tunnel?” The eastern cottontail rabbit doesn’t dig its own burrows. They use deserted burrows of other animals, woody vegetation, decks or brush piles to escape the elements. A Michigan study showed only two out of 226 tagged cottontails lived 2 years. Other studies found about 30% of rabbits survive a winter. A cottontail’s range is around 5 acres.
“What’s the point of a yellow jacket?” It’s on the opposite end of their heads. Seriously, a yellow jacket gives you something to wear with those light orange pants. Yellow jackets are beneficial insects. They feed their young caterpillars, flies and other insects that damage crops and garden plants.
“What kind of gopher is Goldy Gopher?” The mascot of the University of Minnesota isn’t a pocket gopher. He has stripes and looks like a thirteen-lined ground squirrel, which is often called a striped gopher. The original design was based on a thirteen-lined ground squirrel. The state nickname derives from a political cartoon by R. O. Sweeny, published as a broadside in 1858. The word “gopher” is a generic term for any rodent living underground. Some people think the original model for Goldy must have been a chipmunk, an animal more commonly seen than the thirteen-lined ground squirrel (other nicknames include striper, squinney, leopard ground squirrel and striped ground squirrel). I’ve heard a ground squirrel called a grinnie, but that term is more often used for a chipmunk.
Thanks for stopping by
“Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one’s own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality.” — Sheri S. Tepper
“A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself. — May Sarton
Meeting adjourned
“Kindness is not without its rocks ahead. People are apt to put it down to an easy temper and seldom recognize it as the secret striving of a generous nature; whilst, on the other hand, the ill-natured get credit for all the evil they refrain from.” —Honore De Balzac.
Do good.
© Al Batt 2020
Eastern Kingbird photo by Al Batt
A poor excuse for a photo of a lovely Question Mark Butterfly on the roof of my house. I asked why it refused to pose elsewhere. It had no answer. You can see the white question mark on its wing.
A young American Robin takes a break from bob-bob bobbin' along, an exhausting enterprise.
It was just another day at the sulphur butterfly factory.
A Painted Lady Butterfly trying not to fall off the world.
The Cardinal Vine is lovely, but so far it hasn’t grown a single Northern Cardinal.
A small grandson made a bird feeder for me and it works — it really works.
This pair of Canada Geese raised a large number of goslings. Now they are all flying together, a family of aviators.
A hybrid Canada Goose/domestic goose gives my eyes a goose in the right direction.
Meanwhile, back at the Self-Defense Class for Geese, one participant practices kicks.