Guess What: Part II

     I love tomatoes and so I baby my tomatoes. I've loved tomatoes since I was a little kid. I'd come home from school and stick three of four tomatoes in my pocket and eat them like apples. I water them with a watering can so that water doesn't get on the blooms. Fussy? I know I am. 


     Today I was watering about 1:00 P M and all of a sudden something moved under a tomato. After I recovered from the shock I saw that it was one of the baby rabbits. So there I was pouring water on a poor little baby rabbit. I'm not a very nice guy! He moved less than a meter and then froze. I ran in the house for my camera and got some poor shots of an awesome two day old rabbit . So this is Part II.

Little guy after a bit of  an unexpected shower.

I don't think anybody can see me!

Nice and shady in here.

Nobody will ever see me here.

    If you read my last post I pompously said that all the baby rabbits had left my yard!! You won't believe a word I say after this. I've completely blown my credibility. So now I will go out on a limb and say that the babies  are all probably in my yard somewhere. I did look around but didn't find anything. When I got back home this afternoon the little guy had disappeared.


    And here I thought I was finished with my baby rabbits?

Accidental Salesman

      Today I was an accidental salesman for a few hours!

       Our Nature Center has a bookstore as many nature centers do. They have tables in the various malls at Christmas. Of course these tables are manned by volunteers. I volunteer a couple of times each season for a few hours. It's interesting because people come to you with all kinds of natural history questions or comments. They will have a bird that comes to their yard that they can't identify. Somebody else wants to know about bats. Another person is totally absorbed by craters. I find these interactions very positive and many times I learn something new. 


      However, I'm supposed to be there selling books? Sales are slow but the main objective is to get the nature center book store name out there and hopefully people will visit the nature center. Any books I sell in the process will be completely accidental!

Mighty Microbes

        I have written from time to time about birds and animals....rabbits, deer, merlins, geese... Some bloggers I follow write about white tailed deer, turkeys, turkey vultures, magpies, harlequin ducks, Canada geese, gray jays, swans, moose, bohemian waxwings goldfinches roses. My list could be very long as about a dozen blogs I follow post on a regular basis about plants or animals. They are all excellent posts ...informative and well illustrated. All of these are rather sexy topics. People really like Bambi stories!

       I have never seen microbes covered in any of the blogs I follow yet microbes are very basic to life and crucial in many cases for life to continue. For example, we have about 40 000 different kinds of microbes in our gut. Most of these are very necessary to keep body functioning properly. If some microbes become over or under populated we usually have a problem. I was diagnosed with one little guy that was too populous and was given an antibiotic to knock down the population. So I ended up with less gas which was great.

      Our soil and water is populated with millions of microbes. When the prairies were ploughed first the  soil was very fertile. After cropping for a few years the microbes were depleted so we started using fertilizer and chemicals. Before the prairie was plowed there was equilibrium with carbon contained in the soil. Now much less carbon can be absorbed in our soil because the little microbes which do the job are almost gone.

    Forests and plants are full of and covered with microbes.

    Where am I going with this? I am a naturalist. (NOT a naturist. I keep my clothes on.) I hope to preserve as much natural habitat as possible. My friends keep saying that it's not being made anymore. Many would have us think that plants and animals we raise can replace the natural habitat. It doesn't. It usually brings problems. Mono cultures of plants are very susceptible to disease. Invasive species come in and compete with the natural habitat and destroy it. In the Chicago Wilderness Area area hundreds of millions of dollars are spent to bring back the natural habitat in the area.

     We have cleared much native habitat for agriculture so the native habitat which is left is fragmented and when not connected many species do not cope well. As a child, on the "isolated farm" less than half the land was cleared. There was an abundance of wildlife under those conditions. Today about 98% of that land is used for agriculture. It's like a desert as far as the population of native species is concerned.

    So I hope that if we look out for the mighty microbes we will also help the larger sexier species as well.

And Another Enchanted Encounter

      Enchanted encounters seem to happen quite unexpectedly. Out of the blue something occurs and it is most memorable. I had one such occasion with my daughter when she was about eleven years old.

     Our city has excellent bike trails and we had gone on a rather long ride. We had ridden about 9kms when our interesting encounter occurred. We were riding through a reclaimed gravel pit as I wanted to take her to a place were each evening I would see a mule deer buck. Sometimes from a distance of 200m this buck would snort loudly and toss his head. This was quite a show and I had told her about it and she wanted to see the buck.

    As we were getting close to the site we began moving slowly and quietly. At that time off to our right we saw a doe. The doe quickly left the area and that was exciting. Then all at once we saw two very young fawns in the area the doe had left. When my daughter saw the fawns she instantly tensed at the magic of seeing these two beautiful creatures. I think she stopped breathing as she realized that she didn't want to disturb the two little beauties. We needn't have worried. The fawns were not going anywhere and after a couple of minutes the one little fellow laid down and the other one moved out of our sight. So watching a fawn lying down for a nap isn't going to hold your attention for long. We quietly left the area and went looking for the buck. This was one of the few evenings the buck was not in the usual place. We turned around and went by the sleeping fawn.

     So in my previous post I was the little child who was mesmerized by the mallard drake and in this post I was the parent who enjoyed sharing the excitement of a youngster experiencing  a very important encounter.

Another Enchanting Encounter

     A comment from a fellow blogger on my last post "Enchanted Encounter"gave me some more writing  topics.

     If you follow my posts you will see that I have a keen interst in birds. I feed birds, watch birds and lead field trips for people to view birds. I've been asked how I came to be so interested in birds. I can remember what started my interest.

    I have commented about being born and raised on an isolated Saskatchewan farm. The opertion was a small mixed farm. We had chickens, pigs and a few milk cows. Somebody always had to go and get the cows from the pasture so that they could be milked. When I was very young, it was my mother's chore to bring in the cows. Sometimes she would have a little toddler and a baby carriage as she could not leave us in the house. 

    One time after she had rounded up the milk cows she asked me if I wanted to see a very pretty bird. She said if I was very, very good and quiet she would show me a beautiful bird. She wouldn't take my little brother as he was too small and might make noise. We walked about 300 meters down the road, through a ditch and some brush and then looked through a barb wire fence. There at my eye level was a mallard drake floating on a small pond. The moment has stayed with me forever. With my 3 year old eyes  picked up the vivid color and the image was indelibly etched in my mind. The duck knew we were there and stopped swimming and eyed us very carefully. We carefully let the brush bend back and quietly left. Mom also explained that the ducks had a nest and there would be baby ducks. I knew about chicken eggs and baby chicks so this made sense.

    Later on my aunt sent us a second hand Taverner's bird book in the paper back edition. This was and still is an excellent bird book. I can remember going through this book by the hour even though I could not read.  It was one of the few books in the house. Today about a third of the old book is still in my brotheer's house which is our original family home.

    So two very important women in my life influenced my interest in birds. A few years ago I asked my aunt if she remembered giving us the book. She could not recall giving us the book. I was able to tell her how the book influenced my life. Unfortunately I was not able to share this story with my Mom as she passed away long before I had time to reflect on how important the incident was in my life.

    So an enchanted encounter led to a life long interest in birds.

Enchanting Encounters

       Today I had an enchanting encounter...one of those you remember the rest of your life. This afternoon I met a mule deer face to face about 15 to 18 meters away!

      I have a piece of recreational property which has very little development on it. I have built a small garage which holds my holiday trailer. Other than that most of the lot is left as it was. Today I was out closing out my camp. It was the day to make a final grass cut and mulch leaves. I also cleaned leaves out of the eaves trough. It's a pleasant task which usually gets done on a fine fall day.

     So at 3:00 PM I was taking some material back to the car. As I turned to make my start I noticed something that was in an empty space of the driveway... a mule deer doe! She probably saw me at the same time I saw her. She stood still and gave me a disdainful stare. She was trying to go to my neighbors who feed birds and sometimes the deer. This doe was obviously going for a mid afternoon snack. She would look across at the neighbors and then back at me. I talked to her. Finally, she decided to take a more secure option and turned tail and left rapidly. So my magic meeting ended. It's always exciting to unexpectedly meet wildlife when they are very near.

     My neighbors have been telling me that deer visit their yard on a regular basis. They also know that these animals come through my yard. However, when I run into a deer like this it's always a thrill. Now some of you will wonder why I didn't get a picture. You know my excuse. I think I learned a lesson and will start carrying my camera more often.

Bird Bonanza

     Yesterday Sept. 21 was a record day for birds in my backyard! I watch birds out of my back windows all year and keep tally of what I see. I usually count 30-35 species a year. It's quite predictable. I can check the calendar and say well, chipping sparrows should be here. Then there are my faithful year round residents who visit my feeders.

      I have also noted in previous posts that the migrating season can get very interesting. Suddenly birds that just go through for migration appear. They make for an interesting and challenging time to watch birds. In the fall migration the birds can look quite different compared to the spring migration when the birds are in breeding plumage.

      So yesterday between 12:45 and 1:15 I had 15 species in my backyard! For me that's a record and the half hour was very exciting.

      So what did I see? Wilson's warbler, Tennessee warbler, orange crowned warbler, yellow rumped warbler, house sparrow, white crowned sparrow, white throated sparrow , chipping sparrow, pine siskin, red breasted nuthatch, black capped chickadee, flicker, downy woodpecker, blue jay and robin.

     So at this time of year I find Sibley's guide to birds very helpful as it illustrates the adult and juvenile colorings. Ordinarily I like birds of Alberta by fisher and Acorn as you only have Alberta birds covered. Lately I've started using on line sources and one I recommend is the Cornell ornithology site. This site will also provide the various calls ans sometimes provide video so that you can see the flight pattern.

     So yesterday for a brief half hour I had a real birding bonanza!

Baby Jack Rabbit with an Attitude

         I received an email this morning which included a couple of pictures of a new born jack rabbit.

        

     My neighbors Mavis and Duane, happened to find this little critter toddling about on their lawn beside the shrubbery. Their first reaction was to get a picture and their second plan was to shoo the little guy back into the shrubbery for his own protection. When they attempted to guide the baby back to the protection of the shrubbery it hissed at them. More than that, it put a paw out as if to shoo them away. So they gave up trying to help and left him to his own design. They did the right thing to leave him alone. Many people pick these little fellows up thinking that they have been abandoned . Not so.

       The doe leaves the new born rabbits about an hour after their birth. The babies leave their birth place almost immediately and go in different directions. Even though they are tiny and young they are very mobile and can move easily. The doe comes back from time to time and finds them and nurses them. They do live a precarious life and a high percentage of them are preyed on by predators. The jack rabbit has come to know that there are fewer predators in an urban setting and the food is plentiful. Therefore we have an ever increasing population of jack rabbits in the city.

      So thanks Mavis and Duane for being alert and getting a picture and telling a story. This little creature displayed a very independent attitude for his age. It's rather amazing that this birth happened on Sept. 5 which is rather late in the season.

Coyote Chases Dog in Red Deer

       Tonight I was out for my usual bike ride and stopped to chat with Mike. We were 100m from the bike trail into Bower Woods.

       As we were talking I noticed a mid sized dog running down the middle of the road away from the bike trail. I thought "wow" a loose dog. About a minute later I noticed a coyote standing on the bike trail about 15m from the side walk. The coyote stood for about a minute and was probably watching us and wondering,"Where did that dog go?" The coyote quietly turned around and went back into Bower Woods.

      You often hear of coyotes chasing dogs and preying on dogs, but this is the first time I have seen an incident. Bower Woods is right beside a residential area. Bower Woods is about 80 hectares of variable habitat with a creek running though. I went on the bike trail a few minutes after the coyote left and there were many people on the trail: walkers, runners, families and people walking dogs.  

     Coyotes are common in this area and are common in Red Deer as we have natural areas left along the river and streams. These natural areas are connected so it's a good habitat for wildlife. Coyotes eat a wide variety of material in the wild. The other side of Bower Woods is a large shopping mall. I would think the coyotes would find much very edible garbage in the mall parking lot each night.

      Let me know if you have seen any incidents where coyotes are chasing dogs.

Red Deer River Summer Vistas

        You saw pictures of the Red Deer River in early April in a post called Red Deer River Vistas.. There were still snowbanks in the shady areas. You commented and caused some more ideas to form on the Red Deer River topic.

       So here are some summer pictures of the same area of the river that was shown in early April. I also found a couple of late July flowers to include. I hope you enjoy these.

Looking up river again on a long straight stetch. You can just see a white house at the top of the bank at the far end.

Looking up river from the parking lot around a wide lazy bend.

Looking down river over a two to three hundred meter long set of rapids.

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Northern Bedstraw(Galium boreale) a common plant a long the edges of the woods.

The Perigrines Have Fledged

        Since mid April I have had a link in the top right hand corner of my blog to a web camera which was in a peregrine falcon nest. The link has been well used, but most important, the web cam views were a tremendous hit. There was a comment space on the site so there was much conversation about perigrines.

      I have posted twice before on the peregrine falcons. Once on April 28 called Peregrine Falcon Web Cam Set up at Red Deer. And the second time on June 10 titled Peregrine Falcon Eggs Hatch at Red Deer.

       We watched as the five eggs were laid. Then incubation began. The incubation period is around 30 days so it was a long inactive process. Two eggs mysteriously disappeared about the middle of the incubation period. The three eggs hatched over a five day period so the one bird was very small and many viewers worried about the survival of the little guy. The young birds  grew slowly at first and then grew rapidly and developed their feathers. Feedings were often and rather gross. Now the nest is filled with left over bones feathers and blood stains.

      Yesterday the peregrines left the nest for the first time. They were away all day. Two of them returned to nest box at night. Soon they will not return.

     I found the whole experience very interesting. It was amazing to see how interested the public was.

     So in a few days the web cam will be turned off and we will be planning for next year. We already have plans to mount an outdoor web cam.

     Thanks to all those who came to the site I am happy that it was enjoyed .

Wonders of Wildflowers

        One of the pleasures of spring and summer is the constant parade of wildflower blooms. We are fortunate to have some natural habitat which provides us with an interesting variety of blooms. I am not a plant expert in any way. I can appreciate and recognize those who do have expertise , knowledge and talent in this area.


        So I'm doing a small post on flowers and I don't have any pictures. My photography is brownie hawkeye technology! Just kidding. I do have a small digital camera which has limited capabilities.


       There are several blogs which I follow where the authors are excellent photographers and display a good knowledge of plants. I appreciate these bloggers and follow them regularly and suggest that you take a look at their blogs.


       Since I have spent time on large tracts of natural habitat when I was young, I came to appreciate wild flowers. Several years ago my brother took me to one of these undisturbed areas when the western wood lily (lilium philadelphicum) was in full bloom. I had forgotten how abundant they were in this area. It was a real treat. My summer is complete once I find brown eyed susans(gaillardia aristata). Who could not love the prairie crocus(anemone patens)? Finding them come up right after the snow melts is a real treat. When hiking in high mountain meadows the crocus is very common in July.


      Last Saturday I had to visit the Gaetz Lake Sanctuary just to see yellow lady slippers(cypridium calceolus). They are numerous in certain areas of the sanctuary.
     Now I could continue with flower sitings I like , but these are highlights for me. We get a treat from our wildflowers all spring and summer

Peregrin Falcon Eggs Hatch at Red Deer's Telus Tower

      The peregrine eggs in the nest on the Telus Tower in Red Deer Hatched this week. What excitement!


      I have a link on my blog to the web cam set up by the Red Deer River Naturalists(RDRN) on the Telus Tower in Red Deer. Since I am on the board of RDRN as chairman I have been more than a little interested in this venture. During the incubation I checked in about once a week. As time went on I became more intrigued by the comments on the chat line. Now don't get me wrong the birds are of major interest as well.


       The quality of the web cam pictures was not great. Color and detail were of low quality. One would think these birds are a brilliant blue. They are not. The female is a gray blue  . One has to use some imagination to get gray blue from the web cam . The male back is a rich dark brown. The birds look to be quite small but the males are 38 to 43 cm long . The females are 43 to 48 cm long. Their wing spans are from 90 to 117 cm. So they are a fairly large tough bird. One would not get these details from the web cam although many viewers did research and found these details. One would think that the eggs are a brilliant red . They are not. The eggs are more a reddish brown. So if you've never seen a peregrine in the wild , you probably wouldn't recognize it from the web cam pictures.


     I had the good fortune to live on the "Isolated Farm" and see many things in nature as the real thing. When I was a boy our chickens didn't come from hatcheries. The hens would quietly disappear and brood eggs on a nest. Sometimes we found the nest and watched the progress. Several times I was fortunate enough to see the hatch. There were many duck nests as the stubble was left in the fall. When spring farm work began many ducks were nesting in this ideal  habitat. So many times we watched the progress of duck nests. Robins were plentiful and we watched them hatch as well. When you've been fortunate to see the real thing, one wonders what kind of perception people take away from TV and web cams which do not accurately represent the natural conditions.


     It was also interesting to note how the "chatters" looked at the birds as if they thought like humans!  Comments relating to birth and children were interesting. So our perception of the birds is clouded by our own perception. It's difficult to make ourselves think as a bird or even imagine how a bird thinks. I was a teacher. I don't think we did a very good job of thinking as children would see the world. Or for that matter men and women have a different make up and we find it difficult to understand one another at times. "Men Are From Mars and Women are from Venus" was a very interesting read. Each bird species has it's own psychological make up which it receives from it's gene make up. As an aside , since they can now do gene studies they think the falcons are closer to the parrot family than the hawk family.


        Now that the eggs have hatched there is much more action in the nest. To watch the behaviour of these birds as they care for their young is fascinating and there is much that can be learned. Many people have been drawn to this site and their interest an knowledge has grown. I hope that some of these people will now get into the field with their new found knowledge.

Spring Bird Count

       Two of my favorite days of the year are Christmas Bird Count and the Spring Bird Count. Today was the day spring bird count was held in our local area.

       Today was overcast and cool 2-3 C . Yesterday we had a major snow storm. Weather conditions determine what you will see and how much. Since the weather was recovering after yesterday's blast, birds were fairly active. They had to get out and start feeding to regain from being limited by weather yesterday.

      I have done the same count area for a long time . It's a heavily wooded coulee with old growth forest. You have to watch for the openings to see your birds. I usually get the same number of species and about the same number of birds. Today was no exception. I saw crows, magpies, robins, black capped chickadees, boreal chickadees, red breasted nuthatches, white breasted nuthatches, house finches, house sparrows, song sparrows, chipping sparrow, and mallards so 12 species. I heard 2 warbler species and two others that I could not identify by sound. I also saw another bird and was not able to identify it because it was too far away. So I had a very enjoyable time.

      Sometimes you will see a species not seen before so that is a bonus. I know there are other species in this area. There will be 4 species of woodpeckers. They are hard to spot when they are nesting. I heard one woodpecker and would say it was a flicker but I'm not 100% sure. I know there are blue jays but blue jays are also very quiet when they are on the nest. So you take what you can get and be satisfied.

Snow on May 29

       It's always a shock when it happens, but we quite often get snow in late May and early June.

      Most of the time there is very little damage. Today a few tree branches have broken. Soft tissue perennials wilt but there is very little damage. They will be later. Soft annuals have to be covered well or brought in. Some young birds will not survive. The adults will likely nest again. Take a look at the peregrine falcons on the top of the 101 meter tower. You can click on the link on my blog.

      I was to lead a bird sighting group at 7AM. Needless to say it was cancelled. Tomorrow is the spring bird count. I will go out but birds will stay close to cover and the count will be poor.

      So other than saying nasty things about the snow we just have to suck it up and live with it.

Early Morning Bird walk at Hazlet Lake May 15

       Click on the link to go to Natural Wise to see a full post of today's walk. http://wearenaturalwise.blogspot.com/

GREAT BIRDING IN AUGUST

     In April, May and June I wrote six pieces on early morning bird walks . These months are exciting because migrating birds are returning. After just winter birds, we see water fowl, shore birds and song birds.


    However, in my backyard in August birding becomes active again. Why? Well, some of the local birds come back to the yard with the young of the year. Some years these birds will nest right in the yard using a nest box or manufacturing their own nest. So when they nest away from the yard, it seems like there are chickadees, nuthatches, blue jays and magpies in every bush when they return. At this time of year it is still easy to pick out the young of the year.


     Then fall migration is beginning. Many migrants go through our urban yards . Some are seen just once and others hang around a few days or even weeks. So in my back yard I see white crowned sparrows, song sparrows, clay colored sparrows, chipping sparrows juncos and the odd other sparrow. Some years we have an eruption of pine siskins and it looks like this might be the year as I am seeing pine siskins each day. Warbler species that visit are yellow, yellow rumped, and Tennessee. We sometimes find orioles having a good feed of ants . This is the only time of the year when I see hummingbirds .

     It seems like when there's dirty weather many more birds appear in the yard. The sparrows take advantage of ground feeders. My vegetable garden is a total jungle at this time so the sparrows run under all the foliage and pick up insects.

      So these activities make it active and interesting in my backyard as far as birding goes.

SKUNK VISITS ALF

     Alf and his Dad were away for three weeks . When they got back a wasp colony had firmly established itself under their back step . Gord (Dad) and Alf were trying to get rid of them as it made the back entrance of the house somewhat risky . The wasps came up out of the ground beside the steps so it was assumed they were a type of ground wasp . A system of spray and killing wasps with a trowel was used . Alf was collecting the wasps and put them in water to drown them.

      This morning Gord came out the back door to find the ground dug up beside the step. A wasp nest was lying beside the step. No wasps were around. I guess the skunk had a huge evening meal with all the adult wasps and larvae in the nest . Alf's eyes were as big as saucers . His Dad was not aware that skunks ate insects . Now the back step is safe from nasty surprises .

     Skunks main diet is from insect material .We often see little digs or scrapes were skunks have retrieved insects or larvae from just under the soil surface . There are more skunks around our yards than we are aware of unless we take note of the places the dig or scrape to uncover food .

photo by Judy Boyd

SUNNYBROOK BEAVER POND

Beaver photos by Judy Boyd

      Eager beaver ? I don't think so . Work like a beaver ? I can buy that .

      Since 1970 I have watched the Sunnybrook beaver pond. The dam across the creek has been active about 50% of the time . Beavers would operate the dam for three or four yours and then move to another area ...sometimes only 200 or 300 meters up or down stream .

      The Sunnybrook pond ,as usual , is in a very well chosen location . A seasonal drainage comes in from the left but it is deep and fairly wide so the beavers get two streams and banks with one dam. Water backs up in the main stream for about 400 meters and in the drainage channel about 200 meters. This gives the beavers a rather large area from which to gather food .

     The beavers work at the dam from mid summer to mid fall . Old dead tree trunks are put in the dam along with smaller brushy sized pieces . Much mud is also deposited in the dam . What we don't see are the many boulders which are in the dam . The boulders are noticed when the dam is abandoned and washed out . We start to wonder were did they find all the boulders as well as marvel at the strength they have to more the rocks .

      There is also evidence of tremendous effort in taking down very large aspens . Once the trees are felled they are cut up and moved to an under water storage area where the bark can be stripped and consumed over the winter.

      In this pond they never build a lodge but prefer to burrow into the bank to make a residence . As you can see the banks are well treed with spruce . The roots make a roof which doesn't cave in .

      So the beavers work hard to make a dam , lodge and plentiful supply of food . They tend to calmly go about their business with little excitement or fanfare . So they log many hours of work in building maintaining and repairing the dam , Many more hours are spent building up a year's supply of food . So I admire the beaver for not only his work ethic but his great ingenuity .

RUDE AWAKENING

     Sometimes rude awakenings happen at the most surprising times .


     I was delivering papers at 6 AM and was about a step and a half from the next mailbox when a jack rabbit jumped up . The rabbit had his butt up against the house foundation right under the mail box . He took a couple of little hops and then stopped and looked at me with an evil eye as if to say "You just woke me up ! " I was also wakened to some extent as delivering papers can be fairly subconscious . I was not expecting to find a rabbit under a mailbox.


     I told him I was sorry for disturbing him but it didn't seem to make him feel any better . It had rained so he was on a dry spot which had been sheltered under the eaves . So the spot was dry and comfortable .


     There are several rabbits which have a territory on my paper route and I see them most days . They keep their cover until you are almost up to them .So when they do move you are very close and it can startle you if you are daydreaming .


       They are beautiful creatures and very pleasant to have in the neighborhood .