Pronghorn

The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in North America. They are often called antelope because of their resemblance to antelope in Africa but they are not in the same family.The pronghorn is the only surviving member of the Antilocapridae family. There were five different species in the Antilocapridae family when man came to North America but over time the four other species became extinct.

The pronghorn gets its name from the front facing point, or prong, in the middle of their horn. The horn has a core of bone that extends from the frontal bones of the skull. This bone is covered with a sheath of skin and keratinous fibers. Each year this sheath must be shed and then regrown. Pronghorn are found mainly in the grasslands in the western half of the Untied States and parts of Mexico. These were photographed in Yellowstone National Park.

The Sand-hill Crane by Mary Austin

 

WHENEVER the days are cool and clear,
The sand-hill crane goes walking
Across the field by the flashing weir,
Slowly, solemnly stalking.
The little frogs in the tules hear,
And jump for their lives if he comes near;
The fishes scuttle away in fear
When the sand-hill crane goes walking.

The field folk know if he comes that way,
Slowly, solemnly stalking,
There is danger and death in the least delay,
When the sand-hill crane goes walking.
The chipmunks stop in the midst of play;
The gophers hide in their holes away;
And 'Hush, oh, hush!' the field-mice say,
When the sand-hill crane goes walking.

Immature Red-headed Woodpecker

Uria aalge

 Uria aalge is the scientific name for the common murre. The common murre is a penguin type bird that is found primarily in the oceans of the northern hemisphere. They are circumpolar which means that they are often found around the coasts of North America, Europe and Asia. While they can fly they spend most of their time in the water. They are excellent swimmers and can dive to depths of about 200 feet in search of fish, squid, or other aquatic invertebrates. The only time that they usually come to dry land is during the breeding season. They breed together in large colonies on the sides of cliffs. Their eggs are quite pointed at one end, so much so that when they roll they do so in a circle. This is a great advantage when you lay your eggs on the side of a cliff. This common murre was photographed during the non-breeding season off the California coast near Monterey Bay.  

Tuesday Tweets

The Harris hawk is an interesting bird. While most raptors are solitary except for mating and migration Harris hawks often live in groups of up to seven birds. These groups consist of both juvenile and adult birds of both sexes. They will often hunt cooperatively also. Harris hawks hunting as a pack are more successful then birds that hunt individually. Hunting in a group allows them to employ different strategies then would be possible for a lone bird, such as having one or two birds chase the prey while others wait ahead in an ambush. It is believed that this cooperative behavior may have developed because of the harsh desert climates where these bird are usually found, such as the south western United States, Mexico as well as parts of Central and South America.

Welcome to Tuesday Tweets. To join in the fun, just post a photo of a bird on your blog then come here and enter your information in the inlinkz tool down below. Don't forget to put a link back to here on your blog and the pretty little banner photo. Then visit all of the sites that participate to see a lot of cool bird pics.  

Clouded Sulphur

 

Most of the small yellow butterflies that you commonly see flying in the fields during the summer are members of the sulphur family. There are many different sulphur butterflies around the world but the most common in my part of the world is the clouded,or common, sulphur. You can usually see these butterflies flittering between flowers all summer long and even into the fall.

Philadelphia Fleabane

Osprey Chicks

Since it is now June it should not be long before all of the osprey platforms around the city are littered with chicks. When they first hatch they are pretty small and mom has to stay on the nest to make sure that they stay warm so it usually takes a week or two before you begin to see little down covered heads peaking over the sides of the nest.

 By the beginning of July they are big enough to be banded. Back in 2010 I was fortunate enough to attend several osprey banding sessions around the cities. These pictures were taken from the banding at the Wargo Nature Center, which is a nest that I have been watching for Osprey-Watch. They brought in a boom truck to take the thee chicks down from the nest. Then they give them 2 bands, one from the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the other which is a tracking band to help identify the bird when looking at it through a scope or binos. As you can see mom and dad were not too thrilled about the crazy people taking their babies. But soon the babies are back and the osprey win in the end.

Clouds by Chris Lee

 Clouds trickle by, way up in the sky,

They make me ponder, what I've done and why,

Ever changing, ever moving,

and strangely so soothing,

They flutter about, here and there,

Come rain or shine, they never seem to care,

They cover my world with relative ease,

Riding on the back of a casual breeze,

A cloud can be whatever it may choose,

Then drift away, on a relaxing cruise,

Looks so peaceful, gliding on the wind,

No thoughts, no illusions or actions have sinned,

Wouldn't mind trying it out someday,

Could be free to go any which way.

American Kestrel

Three-toed Woodpecker

 The three-toed woodpeckers range further north then any other woodpecker in the world. At one time there was only one species of three-toed woodpecker but thanks to DNA testing they were split into the American three-toed woodpecker and the Eurasian three-toed woodpecker. The Eurasian three-toed is found across Northern Europe and Russia. The American three-toed is found in Alaska, Canada and parts of the northern United States. These photos were taken in the Sax Zim Bog in northern Minnesota.

 Three-toed woodpeckers are usually permanent residents with in their range, however some three-toed may migrate during the winter if food is scarce. They eat the larvae of different wood-boring and bark beetles. Unlike many other woodpeckers they do not usually bore into the wood in search of prey. Instead they use their beak to pry and scrape the outside bark from the tree leaving the insects beneath exposed. They then use their long and agile tongue to suck up the larvae. Three-toed woodpeckers can be confused with the black-back woodpecker, another three toed woodpecker found with in much of the same range, however the black-back has a completely black back where the three-toed has white speckles on black.

TuesdayTweets

Welcome to Tuesday Tweets. To join in the fun, just post a photo of a bird on your blog then come here and enter your information in the inlinkz tool down below. Don't forget to put a link back to here on your blog and the pretty little banner photo. Then visit all of the sites that participate to see a lot of cool bird pics.

Spiney BasketTail

One of the earlier dragonflies that we see up here in Minnesota each year is the spiny baskettail. The spiny baskettail usually begin to emerge around the middle of May. Often they will emerge in mass, this helps them to survive the vulnerable teneral stage when they are out of the water but are not able to fly well. Last weekend I visited Crex Meadows in Wisconsin and there were thousands of these dragonflies flying.

Ohio Soiderwort

Ohio spiderwort photographed at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.

Blue Mud Dauber

 The blue mud dauber is a solitary wasp found through out much of the United States. Like many bees and wasps they drink nectar from flower blooms and in turn help to pollinate the plants. They do not make a hive or nest. Instead the female will take over an unused nest of another species of mud dauber.

 Blue mud daubers are generally not very aggressive unless you happen to be a spider. Females hunt spiders by flying into the spiders web and acting as though they are caught. The spider is attracted to the motion in the web and when it gets close the dauber strikes paralyzing it with its sting. The blue dauber will then carry the spider to its nest where it will include it in the egg chamber as food for the young. One of the common victims of the blue dauber is the poisonous black widow spider which makes the blue mud dauber much more popular with people.