Fox Sparrow

The fox sparrow is a large North American sparrow. They breed mostly along the West Coast, as well as northern Canada and Alaska. They winter down in the south eastern United States so the only time we typically see them here in Minnesota is during the spring and fall migration.
There are 4 different color varieties of fox sparrow. The one in the pictures above is an eastern variety. The eastern fox sparrow breeds up in the boreal forests of Canada. They often stop in Minnesota during migration to feed. They eat insects which the scavenge from the ground. You can often hear them rustling around in dried leaves, looking for food, before you see them.

A Thanksgiving by Lucy Larcom

A Thanksgiving

FOR the wealth of pathless forests,

Whereon no axe may fall;

For the winds that haunt the branches;

The young bird's timid call;

For the red leaves dropped like rubies

Upon the dark green sod;

For the waving of the forests,

I thank thee, O my God!

For the sound of waters gushing

In bubbling beads of light;

For the fleets of snow-white lilies

Firm-anchored out of sight;

For the reeds among the eddies;

The crystal on the clod;

For the flowing of the rivers,

I thank Thee, O my God!

For the rosebud's break of beauty

Along the toiler's way;

For the violet's eye that opens

To bless the new-born day;

For the bare twigs that in summer

Bloom like the prophet's rod;

For the blossoming of flowers,

I thank Thee, O my God!

For the lifting up of mountains

In brightness and in dread;

For the peaks where snow and sunshine

Alone have dared to tread;

For the dark of silent gorges,

Whence mighty cedars nod;

For the majesty of mountains,

I thank Thee, O my God!

For the splendor of the sunsets

Vast mirrored on the sea;

For the gold-fringed clouds, that curtain

Heaven's inner mystery;

For the molten bars of twilight,

Where thought leans, glad, yet awed;

For the glory of the sunsets,

I thank thee, O my God!

For the earth, and all its beauty;

The sky, and all its light;

For the dim and soothing shadows

That rest the dazzled sight;

For unfading fields and prairies,

Where sense in vain has trod;

For the world's exhaustless beauty,

I thank Thee, O my God!

For an eye of inward seeing;

A soul to know and love;

For these common aspirations,

That our high heirship prove;

For the hearts that bless each other

Beneath Thy smile, Thy rod;

For the amaranth saved from Eden,

I thank Thee, O my God!

For the hidden scroll, o'erwritten

With one dear Name adored;

For the Heavenly in the human;

The Spirit in the Word;

For the tokens of Thy presence

Within, above, abroad;

For Thine own great gift of Being,

I thank Thee, O my God!

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Double-crested Cormorant

I photographed this double-crested cormorant near the Ford Damn along the Mississippi River this summer. Cormorants are considered sea birds but the double-crested cormorant is widely distributed across much of the central portion of North America during the breeding season. Cormorants are often seen perched near water facing the sun with their wings spread open. This is because cormorants do not have the waterproof oils that most waterfowl use to waterproof their feathers. Instead the cormorant must leave the water and air dry their feathers.

Spotted Sandpiper

The spotted sandpiper is one of the most common sandpipers in North America. They breed through out most of the northern two thirds of North America and winter in the southern United States, Mexico, Central and South America. They are solitary birds except during the mating season.
What is interesting about the spotted sandpiper is the apparent role reversal between the male and female during breeding. During the breeding season the testosterone levels in females increases by approximately seven times. She is the first to arrive on the breeding grounds and will select and defend a territory. Sometimes females will mate and lay clutches with more then one male. It is primarily the males job to incubate the eggs and care for the young once they have hatched.

Red-bellied Snake

One of the smaller snakes in Minnesota is the red-bellied snake, Storeria occipitomaculata. These harmless snakes only get to be from 8-10 inches long, compare the size to my hand in the photo below. They are a wood snake that is often prey for birds, mammals, and larger snakes. They eat worms, snails, slugs and insects.
Even though they are pretty plain looking and similar looking to the brown snake the scales on their under side are, as their name would suggest red or orange in color.

Banded Argiope

The banded argiope spider, Argiope trifascianta, is a large spider that is found through out North America, as well as many other places around the world. As a member of the orb weaver family of spiders, Araneidae, their eye site is not as good so they spin large orb shaped webs in the tall grass.
I took these pictures in September of 2010 at the Minnesota Valley Refuge. I was looking for dragonflies and spotted the bright yellow color in the grass. Due to their bright yellow color they are often called the yellow garden argiope. Usually you do not see these spiders until the fall. Up to 10,000 spider hatch from the egg sack during the summer but they stay hidden until fall when they are large enough to protect themselves and mate.

Canna Bengal Tiger

I photographed this canna at the water garden at the Como Zoo this summer.

Which is the Beast?

I am not a big sports fan but I do like to watch a little bit of football. So the other day when I was on my way home from The Raptor Center I flipped my radio over to one of the local sports station to see what was happening in the NFL. Even though I live in Minnesota I am not at all a fan of the Minnesota Vikings. Having lived in Mankato, MN, home of the Vikings training camp, for a couple of years while I was going to school I got to see first hand how many of the Vikings players where complete assholes. Now the players may have changed since the many years ago that I went to school but sex boat cruises, drunk driving arrests and guys who beat their wives over the years have done little to change my mind about the home team. On this particular evening one of the Vikings leading defensive players, Jared Allen, was being interviewed by a local radio host. Since Mr Allen did not want to talk about their last game, they lost 45 to 7, the conversation instead turned to the hunting trip that several players had taken over their bye week. The host then asked about the most unusual prey that Mr Allen had ever hunted in his life. The jerk went on to tell the host that he had hunted coyotes using hand guns from the back of a snow mobile. He explained how groups of his friends had joined him hunting coyotes by his farm. They would run over the coyotes with their snowmobiles first then they would come back and shoot them. He laughed and said that it was really cool. The live audience, I think they were broadcasting from a Twin Cities sports bar, gave him a cool response and he did not seem to appreciate that what he had done was completely despicable. Michael Vick went to jail, lost his contract and most of his endorsements because of his cruelty to dogs. I think that what this #@#@#@#@!!! did is just as bad. Maybe one of the animal rights organizations will protest against the Vikings until they get rid of this worthless jerk.

Snow Geese at Dawn

The Bosque del Apache is the wintering home of approximately 30,000 plus snow geese. Snow geese breed up in the arctic tundra of Alaska and Canada. Most snow geese migrate to coastal wetlands along the Atlantic, Pacific or Gulf Coasts however habitat like that which is found at the Bosque also attracts pockets of the snow goose population. Like the sand hill cranes, that also winter at the Bosque in large numbers, the snow geese spend their days out feeding in the fields and the nights on the relative safety of the shallow pools and wetlands. Watching the spectacle of the geese and cranes fly out in the dawn light or fly in at dusk attracts people from all over the world.

Harlequin Duck

For a few years we were lucky enough to have a harlequin duck winter in the Mississippi river not far from home. These interesting looking ducks usually spend their summers breeding in fast moving mountain streams and rivers along the eastern coastal areas of Canada and western coastal areas of Alaska, Canada and down into Washington State. They typically winter in the northern Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters of the U.S. and Canada. That is why it was so strange to have one wintering here in the middle of the continent. It was first spotted in the winter of 2007 -2008 and it returned to the area for two more winters, this photo was taken in January of 2010. Unfortunately no one reported seeing it last winter so perhaps it decided to follow others of its kind to the coast. I am sure that I will head over to Prescott Wisconsin some time this winter when the temps are below zero just to take a look and make sure.

Yellow Warbler

Raptor Release

The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota takes in between 600 to 800 injured raptors every year. The clinic is world renown and they work hard to heal and rehabilitate every bird that is admitted. The highlight of being involved with The Raptor Center is when we get to release a recovered bird back into the wild. Birds are released all the time but twice a year we invite the public to come and join with us and celebrate as we have a big public release. This photo was taken at the fall 2010 release at the Carpenter Nature Center. It is also the featured photo on the 2012 Raptor Center calendar. If you would like to help out the great work that The Raptor Center does you can purchase a fund raising calendar by going to their online store.

Red-shafted Northern Flicker

The northern flicker is a member of the woodpecker family that is found in North and Central America. The northern flicker has two subspecies that were once considered separate species. The red-shafted subspecies, Colaptes auratus cafer, is found in the western portions of North America. As its name suggests the feather shafts of the primary feathers are red. The red under the tail and the red moustache markings also help to distinguish it from the yellow-shafted subspecies, which is found in the eastern portion of North America. I photographed this red-shafted flicker in the Bosque del Apache NWR on our recent trip to New Mexico.

Pearl Crescent

The pearl crescent, Phyciodes Tharos, is a common butterfly found in the eastern two thirds of North America. It ranges from southern Ontario in the north down through Mexico in the south. Adults lay eggs on plants in the aster family, which is the larval host plant. They over winter in their larval, or caterpillar, form.