Sparrows
This morning, a white-crowned sparrow was feasting happily on the millet on my deck. White-crowned sparrows look a lot like white-throated sparrows. They have that same black-and-white-striped head that reminds me of a bicycle helmet. But the white-crowned sparrow only has a little white on its throat. It also seems to be less common, at least in these parts. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a white-crowned sparrow before.
Then a slightly larger bird came, and the white-crowned sparrow sidled away. At first I was disappointed, because I thought the other bird was a house sparrow. But when I looked more closely, I realized that the black on the throat and chest ran up and over the head, and that the bird was larger than a house sparrow. The black gave way to distinctive white patches on the cheeks. I finally was seeing a Harris' sparrow.
This was on the list of birds that I particularly wanted to see for the first time this year. (The others: scarlet tanager, gray jay, boreal chickadee, great gray owl, snowy owl, eastern bluebird, mountain bluebird, Cape May warbler, northern mockingbird.)
One other note on sparrows:
Bob King tells me he was taking pictures at Ridgeview Country Club on Monday. The bird he saw the most of out there? Chipping sparrows.
This seems appropriate.
Posted by: John Lundy on 5/13/2008 at 11:40 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Warblers
Birds were especially active at my feeders this morning. Even through closed windows, I could hear a cascade of bird calls. The white-throated sparrow's song -- descending through two notes to a third, then holding that pitch -- came through loud and clear. I'm sure chickadee and robin songs were part of the mix, but I think some others were in there as well.
I also think at least a couple of kinds of warblers were in the yard. The only variety I'm pretty sure about, though, was a Tennessee warbler. Its primary color is a rather dull yellow, but it has a distinctive white eyebrow. I had placed watered-down grape jelly in a half-orange shell on a platform feeder. A squirrel or something had knocked it to the floor of the deck. The jelly is what attracted the warbler.
I've been reading in various places that warblers and other migrants finally are showing up in the Duluth area, although it doesn't seem to be getting any warmer outside.
But the problem with warblers is that they are so small, and move so quickly, and the differences between the various sorts are so subtle.
The solution is to go on a warbler walk. As you may have seen in Northland Outdoors, the Duluth Audubon Society offers spring warbler walks at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout May. The Tuesday groups take the Western Waterfront Trail, meeting at the parking lot that's beyond the Willard Munger Inn on the road to Indian Point Campground. The Thursday groups meet at the Park Point Recreation Center near the soccer field.
The walks are led by experts and offered for free.
I have yet to go on one of these walks, the 6:30 a.m. part being the problem. My flesh is weak, and my spirit is reluctant. I reason that if God had meant for me to be out walking at 6:30 in the morning, He wouldn't have made my bed so comfortable at 6 in the morning.
Perhaps one of these mornings I'll overcome spirit and flesh and do it. Actually being able to sort out some of the warblers would be a great treat.
Posted by: John Lundy on 5/12/2008 at 3:45 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
The color purple
A couple of days after I saw a female purple finch in my yard, I saw a male this morning. Male purple finches (which I seldom see) and male house finches (which I see every day) look quite a bit alike. But the color of a male purple finch is more vivid, and it includes all of the head.
It is, however, not purple, at least not purple in the Minnesota Vikings sense.
I'm not good at colors, but I would describe it as wine-colored. And I think wine finch would be a very nice name for a bird.
Also this morning, George Clooney the cardinal and Renee Zellweger the cardinal showed up together for the first time in a couple of weeks. No clear sign that they've started a family.
Posted by: John Lundy on 5/10/2008 at 9:00 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink
Every day is groundhog's day ...
... at my house. The groundhog seems to have moved in, or at least under, again.
Last year, I wrongly assumed it was a bachelor groundhog. By midsummer, a groundhog family was tromping around the yard.
The men who added a second bathroom to my house last August filled the holes, but the groundhog seems to be living under that part of the house again. The plumber -- who has spent more time in my house than I have lately -- thinks some skunks spent the winter there.
I've been putting millet out on my deck and getting an assortment of juncos, white-throated sparrows, chipping sparrows, house sparrows and mourning doves as a result. Apparently, the groundhog has a taste for millet as well.
I think that's why it ventured up on my deck the other day. Unfortunately, something -- my guess is a cat -- was blocking its way from going back down. A squirrel could leap into a tree. A groundhog has to rely on its speed, which is far from blazing.
It scurried -- that might not be the right verb -- from one side of the deck to the other, frantically peering between the rails. Finally it made a dash for it. Successfully. It was watching me in its nearsighted groundhog way from a hole in my border garden later in the day.
Posted by: John Lundy on 5/9/2008 at 10:58 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Ruffed grouse
My walk today took me on the Superior Hiking Trail from the Skyline Parkway parking lot (at the intersection of Skyline, Highland Street and Getchell Road) to Piedmont Knob and back.
It's a lovely walk, particularly 1) the early section that brings you along a frisky Keene Creek, and 2) a nice stretch along Brewer Ridge with West Duluth, the St. Louis River, St. Louis Bay, Superior Bay and Lake Superior laid out in front of you.
In terms of birds, I didn't see much that I haven't already seen this year, but there were a couple of exceptions:
- Early in the walk, before I got to Brewer Ridge, I watched a ruffed grouse strutting through undergrowth. I don't have much experience with ruffed grouse. Normally, I don't see them until I scare them, and they take off with a thundering rush of wings that scares me. The thing about this bird that seemed unusual to me was the black feathers extending at a right angle from its body at the shoulders. Although I couldn't imagine what it could be besides a ruffed grouse -- it was large, chicken-like and pudgy in a matronly sort of way -- the pictures in the bird book didn't show those black feathers. But I did see them in some of the pictures I looked at online when I got home. Perhaps what I saw was a hint of its mating display, although it certainly hadn't reached its full come-hither look. Nor did it make the drumming sound that is said to remind people of a car starting.
- Much later, a raptor flew overhead, and it wasn't a turkey vulture. I usually see turkey vultures, and I saw a couple of those today. But this bird didn't have the black-and-white pattern of a turkey vulture. Instead, it was almost all white underneath (which was the only part I saw) except for a fringe of black outlining the wing. Based on the bird book, I'm guessing it was a broad-winged hawk, but I'm open to suggestions.
Posted by: John Lundy on 5/8/2008 at 7:20 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
