My World: Minnesota Valley NWR

For this weeks edition of My World I would like to welcome you to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

The refuge, which was established in 1976, consists of 14,000 acres of habitat running along side the Minnesota River between Fort Snelling State Park and Belle Plain, MN.

Since the refuge stretches out over such a low distance and covers such a diversity of different habitats it is broken down into 8 different units to assist in its management. Besides the 8 units there is also the Visitors Center which is located at the north end of the park in Bloomington, MN. For this post I will be focusing on the Visitors Center, pictured above, and its surrounding grounds.

On the front side of the Visitors Center, next to the parking, is a small field dedicated to native grasses and wild flowers. The sign above, if you can nit read the caption, says, "A Kaleidoscope of Color." Obviously at this time of year the only color that you see is white, that is if white was truly a color.

However during the summer this area is alive with blooming flowers, dragonflies, bees and butterflies, like this monarch that was photographed here in the summer of 2008.Bird houses are spread out through the area and attract cavity nesting birds, like the bluebird above, which add to the kaleidoscope.

The Visitor Center, which was built in 1989, contains informational displays on the park, classrooms, gift shop, refuge offices, and a viewing area which looks out at the feeding station which is located behind the building.

This feeding station is one of the better places to look for birds in this area during the winter. The various types of feeders, such as suet feeders, tube feeders, platform feeders, hopper feeders, and ground feeders, and seed bring in a variety of winter visitors.

Some of the birds commonly seen during the winter are juncos, house sparrows, cardinals, goldfinch, nuthatch, downy, hairy, and red-bellied woodpecker.

This variety of passerines sometimes brings other types of birds to the feeders looking for food. Last winter a sharp-shinned hawk, pictured above, was a constant visitor to the feeding station.

In back of the Visitors Center there is a path leading to an overlook on the river bluff. From here you can see most of the Long Meadow Lake. Looking further south you can see the smoke stack from the power plant on Black Dog Lake. Both of these lakes are part of different units of the refuge.

For a little bit of exercise you can walk the half-mile hillside trail which takes you through hillside forest, prairie, and wetland habitats. Many of the birds that come to the feeders to eat live in the trees that occupy the hill around the trail.

There are not only birds to see at the refuge. Mammals, such as squirrels, opossum, raccoons, skunk, beaver, muskrat, fox coyote, rabbit and more, can be found in the various habitats surrounding the visitors center.

Unfortunately the snow levels in Minnesota during the winter make traveling up and down the hillside difficult and so during the winter the trail is closed.

I thought about going over the barricade any way to go check out the wildlife in the woods but then I noticed that I was under surveillance and I decided against it.

Flowers in the Fields

The Bass Ponds is part of the Long Meadow Lake division of the Minnesota Valley NWR. It consists of a series of man made ponds that are all interconnected. The ponds were originally used to breed fish to stock Minnesota lakes but now they are mostly used by people who enjoy nature, like myself, as well as joggers, people walking their dogs, and kids fishing.
The land around the ponds consists mainly of marshes and fields, except for the wooded portions in the north. During the summer the fields are a carpet of color as wild flowers of many different color go into bloom.
The blooming flowers attract many insect looking for nectar and/or pollen. Like the bumble bee pictured above. When this bumble bee returns to its hive it will do a dance, a couple of acrobatic passes over the hive, similar to what a returning honey bee forager does when it returns. However the honey bees dance communicates the location of a good food source, where the dance of the bumble bee seems only to encourage the bees to go out and forage and does not communicate any location.
Bumble bees where not the only stinging insect that was present. While they are a member of the same suborder, Apocrita, the yellow jacket is actually a wasp and not a bee. Wasps have a noticeably different body structure then bees do and are not covered in hair. Wasps can also be omnivorous. The adults usually feed strictly on nectar while the larvae primarily eat other insects. Social wasps like the yellow jacket will forage for insects which they bring back to the nest for the larvae.None stinging insects that were enjoying a drink at the flowers included this monarch, which was drinking from the blooms of a milkweed plant. Milkweed is the host plant of the monarch larvae or caterpillar. Although the nectar and pollen of the milkweed plant are food for many insects, the plants them self contain chemicals that are toxic to many insects, birds and small mammals. The monarch caterpillar ingests these poisons making it distasteful and dangerous, as a larvae and adult, for many predators to eat, which acts as a defense mechanism.

The painted lady butterfly is not so lucky. It does not have a defense mechanism like the monarch does. The painted lady Caterpillar prefers to eat things like hollyhock, sunflower, mallow, malva and thistle. The painted lady above is perched on a thistle bud. Painted ladies can be found all across North America as well as Europe, Asia and Africa. Unfortunately the painted lady's life expectancy, in its adult butterfly form, is only a couple of weeks, so this butterfly needs to hurry up and get to the business of procreation.

Baltimore Oriole at Old Cedar

Another colorful bird that I found near the Old Cedar Ave Bridge in the Minnesota Valley NWR is the Baltimore oriole. There are nine different types of orioles typically found in North America.
All the North American orioles are colorful, with some combination of orange and black or yellow and black feathers. These orioles where named for similar looking birds from Europe however they are actually part of the Icteridae family which includes blackbirds, grackles, and meadowlarks.
When researching Baltimore orioles I found that they are supposed to prefer open areas with many tall trees for habitat. However I found this oriole in the same area as where the redstarts were nesting. The area is not very open and has a lot of brush beneath the trees. I also have seen quite a few at Wood Lake Nature Center in heavily wooded areas. So I am not sure how much open area that they actually need or prefer. It has been my observation that they do like to spend a good bit of their time at the tops of the trees, which makes them more difficult to photograph.

American Redstart Nesting at Old Cedar

Another warbler that we often see during the summer here in southern Minnesota is the American redstart. The American redstart is easily recognized by its orange and black wings and tail, which it frequently flashes to help flush insects.

In June I found several redstarts nesting by the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge in the Minnesota Valley NWR. The female redstarts are less colorful then the males which makes them a bit harder to find. This female was carrying feathers probably for nesting material.

The nest is cup shaped and usually made of grass, bark,leaves, sticks, moss, feathers, and spider webs. The nest is fitted between the branches of a tree or large bush located in a wet deciduous forest with plenty of bushes for hunting insects.
During the winter these birds migrate south, most ending up in southern Mexico or South America, although there is a small percentage that will winter in southern California or Florida

Busy feeders at the MN Valley NWR

There were a few birds other then redwinged blackbirds that I photographed on the 24th at the Minnesota Valley NWR visitors center. Most of these other birds are winter or year round residents.

Dark-eyed junco's are a winter resident here in southern Minnesota.
House sparrows are year round residents through out the United States
Red-bellied woodpeckers are year round residents
Gold finch are year round residents however many non-birders do not recognise them in winter since the males do not have the bright yellow plumage that they do in the summer time.
House finch are year round residents through out the entire US
Northern cardinals are year round residents in the southern half of Minnesota.
A more appropriate name for the northern cardinals would be eastern cardinal since they are not found very far north and are pretty rare in the western half of the US.
Blue jays are also a year round bird here and throughout the eastern half of the US. Like the northern cardinal they are pretty rare in the western half of the country.
It was a pretty busy day at the feeders. Spring was in the air and all the birds, and even a few non-birds, were out enjoying the nice spring weather.

Accipiters and Buteos at Minnesota Valley NWR

On Tuesday the 22nd I had my usual couple of hours free time between my full time job and my part time job so I decided to forgo a nap and headed over to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge visitors center in Bloomington, MN. I have had several opportunities, in the past, to photograph a sharp-shinned hawk who has been hanging around the feeder station and spicing up my bird watching. When I arrived on Tuesday the sharpie was not around but while I was setting up the birds all scattered and I knew that I would get more sharpie pics.
The sharpie came flying in over the visitors center and perched on a branch above the feeders.
All of the smaller birds had already vacated the area but the sharpie decided he wanted to take a closer look so he moved down to stand on the feeder itself.
Sharpies are members of the genus accipiter. Accipiters have shorter wings and longer tails then other hawks, who are members of the genus buteo. The compact wings help these forest dwelling hawks to navigate through the trees. The long tail acts as a rudder helping to provide the hawks with extra maneuverability. This maneuverability is important since a main part of their diet comes from smaller birds.Sharp-shinned hawks, Cooper's hawks, and goshawks are all members of the accipiter family that live in North America. All other North American hawks belong to the genus buteo. Buteos have longer wings. They use their long broad wings to soar over open fields where they hunt mainly for rodents, rabbits and squirrels. While I was at the Minnesota Valley NWR that afternoon I also spotted a buteo. Red-tailed hawks have proved to be very adaptable to living around man. While other species have declined, as their habitat has been destroyed by a continually growing society, the red-tailed hawk has thrived. You can often see them perched on poles on the side of the road. The roadsides are a haven for rodents, who feed off of the garbage thrown from cars. These rodents are a favorite prey of the red-tail. Some red-tails have adapted so well to mankind that they now look at the world in a different way.After all who needs binocular raptor vision when you can have closed circuit TV vision instead. LOL

Sharp-shinned adventures at the Minnesota Valley NWR

Last Thursday we actually had some clear weather so I headed over to the Minnesota Valley NWR Visitors Center to check out the feeders. When I arrived I noticed right away that everything was quiet at the feeders. I knew that the Sharp-shinned hawk, that I have seen on numerous visits must be around. A quick scan of the trees reveled the small but deadly predator.
The sharp-shinned hawk is an accipiter. The accipiter family includes sparrowhawks, which we do not usually see in North America, goshawks, and a few other hawks including the sharp-shinned and coopers hawks. Accipiters have broad, short wings and a long tail which helps them maneuver when they fly. Accipiters also have relatively long legs which come in handy to hunt and capture passerines.
After a while the sharpie flew off and the birds began to return to the feeder.

Northern cardinals

White-breasted nuthatch

Red-bellied woodpecker

Downy woodpecker

Even a pileated woodpecker. I think that pileated woodpeckers are pretty cool but when talking to other birders I am never sure which way to pronounce it. Some people pronounce it pill-ee-ay-tid and other people pronounce it Pie-lay-tid. Usually now I call it both, because some birders are crazy and can get hostile if you do not pronounce it the way that they do.

Then suddenly all of the birds at the feeder scattered except one lone downy that was stuck frozen at the feeders.I knew that the sharpie was back before I ever saw it.Fortunately he perched in a pretty good spot for me to get some pics before he spotted the left over downy.And the chase was on. Fortunately for the downy he was able to out maneuver the sharpie and escape, this time.