Gleanings of the Week Ending February 12, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Why the Dutch embrace floating homes – Maybe other coastal areas around the world should be looking at this kind of development…or mitigation strategy. Otherwise - there is going to be a lot of migration away from coasts that will become more and more prone to flooding in the decades to come.

New Antarctic Penguin Colonies Discovered Further South than Normal – Good news for the Gentoo penguins - there is more space on Antarctica now; previously the areas were too icy for these birds. On the downside – there is less area suitable for penguin species that previously lived there and there might be less food available for them all as warming continues.

Three people with spinal-cord injuries regained control of their leg muscles – There has been a lot of research in this area over the past decade; perhaps we are coming to a point where rapid advances are going to be made.

Why to flickers knock on your house? – Not just why they knock but other interesting behavior…made me consider putting up a flicker box to give them a place to raise young.

Dog feces and urine could be harming nature reserves – A study providing rationale for requiring dogs on leashes and owners removing their dog’s feces in natural areas.

Top 25 birds of the week: February 2022 – My favorite this week is the Great White Pelican. Somehow pictures of birds from the front like this always give them a rather assertive appearance.

US household air conditioning use could exceed electric capacity in next decade due to climate change – Not good. Implementation of mitigation strategies need to ramp up quickly. As an individual homeowner, I am thinking: 1) increase efficiency (heat pump or geothermal, more insulation, solar screens on any window getting full sun sometime during the day, maybe upgrade windows/doors) and 2) solar panels on the roof with storage battery.

Threats from QAnon conspiracists force butterfly sanctuary to close – Sad. My husband and I visited the butterfly sanctuary on a rainy day during the Rio Grande Birding Festival in 2017; it wasn’t a good day for butterflies, but we always thought we’d come back on a warmer/sunnier day during some future visit to the area --- then the border wall and the conspiracists has ended it all.

More spice could help seniors avoid salt – Yes! Lemon pepper (the kind without salt in it) is one of my favorites…and any of the components that come under the heading of ‘Italian seasoning.’ I dry my own orange peel (any time I eat an organic orange…the peel gets processed and dried). It helps to use fresh ingredients too (i.e. avoid no-salt version from cans…they have never tasted good to me no matter how they are prepared).

Star Bright: What are Dark Sky Reserves? – Staunton River  (where we’ve been for ‘star parties’) is a Certified IDA International Dark Sky Park….maybe we’ll visit one of the Reserves post-pandemic. Right now – the closest one to us is the one in Canada (just north of Vermont/Maine).

Birds through my Office Window - January 2022

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There seemed to be a lot of bird activity visible from my office window this past month. The most common ones – juncos, sparrows (white-throated and house), finches (gold and house) - do not feature as much in my photos but they were always around.

Mourning Doves are too heavy for the feeder, but they are frequent visitors under the feeder on the deck and out in the yard. They also perch in the maple. They look largest when it is cold, and their feathers are fluffed.

The Northern Cardinals come to the feeders and flit all over the yard and trees. They seemed to be more activity in January than usual because there were more of them around. We have a resident pair that are around all year but in January there were at least 2 other pairs that were occasionally coming for food…and the interactions of both the males and females were high drama to watch.

The other resident pair that we usually see all during the year are a male and female (pictured) Red-bellied Woodpecker. Hopefully they’ll have young again this year. The birds dig through the seeds at the feeder…always leave with a peanut or sunflower seed.

There was a hawk that was around occasionally. Once it was at the edge of the forest diving into the leaves…came up empty. Another time I heard a tussle on the deck and glanced out to find the hawk on the deck railing – also without prey that it had probably been stalking. I was particularly relieved that it didn’t kill one of the birds coming to the feeder!

I’ve noticed Northern Flickers more in our yard. They blend into the leaves so well they are hard to spot…don’t come to the feeders.

The White-breasted Nuthatch comes to the feeder and is very assertive – drives away all except the Red-bellied Woodpecker.

There was a mixed flock of Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds (pictured) that flew into the treetops of at the edge of the forest. I was glad they didn’t come down to our feeders! There were occasionally some cowbirds that came in the subsequent days; hope they don’t stick around for nesting season.

The downy woodpecker doesn’t come to our feeders frequently; they must be very hungry when the do because they eat quite a few seeds!

Trek to and in Druid Hill Park – Part I

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Last weekend we drove into Baltimore for an Audubon sponsored birding walk at Druid Hill Park. It was our first birding event since before the pandemic – outdoors for 1.5 hours in a park with less than an hour to commute into the city and the back home afterward. It was a cool, cloudy morning – cold enough to wear a mask comfortably which we both did once the group started the walk and it was hard to maintain distance.

The walk started at 8 AM and the clouds occasionally parted enough for good lighting. I saw more birds that I was able to photograph. Canada Geese flew overhead and there were ruddy ducks, buffleheads, grebe, and gulls on the lake in the park. They were too far away for great pictures…but I like the light around the gulls. There were also a lot of smaller birds – cardinals, Carolina wrens, down woodpecker, gold finches, house finches, etc.. The only one I photographed was a norther flicker what perched almost right overhead!

There was still some great fall color. The rose bushes (red leaves) were enjoying the cooler weather.

There were some areas of the forest that still had lots of leaves on the trees…like our backyard was several weeks ago. I also saw a small tulip poplar tree; I hadn’t realized that there leaves get much larger when they are young; this one still had green leaves while the big trees around it were already bare showing off their many seed pods.

More tomorrow about our trek to the park…and then home again…through Baltimore.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/7/2020 – Macro Cecropia

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Taking pity on the red-bellied woodpecker’s contortions…..refilling the bird feeder. I noticed the woodpecker late in the day on Monday…waited for it to dry out a little yesterday morning before I refilled the feeder. The pictures are clips from our birdfeeder cam videos.

Putting away groceries. The non-perishable groceries had been sitting in the back of my car since Saturday evening. We had put them there after they were delivered….to give any coronavirus time to dry up and die before we put them away.

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Washing the plastic table covering – making a Zentangle mosaic. I’ve had the covering for over 20 years and have generally just wiped it down thoroughly. It was time it seemed grubbier than usual, so I put it in the washer with a few towels. I hung it over some deck chairs to let it dry thoroughly afterward. Then I made a mosaic of Zentangle tiles under it when I put it back on the table. Now we have new art to look at while we’re eating…during the pauses in conversation.

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Creating some face mask variations. My husband discovered that his favorite pizza place does not deliver to our area….so he will pick it up as he has done in the past. He’ll wear a face mask as recommended by the CDC. I got some hair ties (covered rubber bands) in our last grocery delivery and I have coffee filters on hand. He had some old handkerchiefs to make his. If I must go out, I’ll make mine from a bandana or washable silk scarf. We are not going out very often so it will be easy enough to launder the cloth part of the mask after each use.

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Catching up on Charles Cockell’s Life in the Universe Pandemic Series:

Noticing a Northern Flicker in the yard – next to a robin. I saw the robin first through my office window then noticed the other bird when it moved. I had on my computer glasses, so my distance vision was not great. Then I used the zoom on my camera to id the bird…and take the picture in the next second.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

And now for the first installment of macro photography with our mail-order bugs. Today I am featuring the Cecropia Moth. It’s the one pictured in the lower part of this picture – our order from The Butterfly Co.

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I used my smartphone with a clip-on macro lens for this session. The Cecropia is the largest moth in Maryland. This one is a male based on the antennae. They are somewhat feather-like in that they have a central rib…but the stems off the rib are different. The Cecropia stems seems to be in pairs and there might be tiny fibers connecting each pair. I’ll have to get more magnification with a loupe next time (and be very careful not to break the antennae off).  

A few years ago, we had the caterpillars at the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens, so I am more familiar with the caterpillar than the adult moth. I didn’t unpin the specimen for this round of photographs but I know that it doesn’t have mouth parts….all the calories for the life of these moths are eaten when they are caterpillars. The adult form is only mating and laying eggs!

The wings have scales – sometimes looking like scales on butterfly wings…other times looking fur or hair-like. Another opportunity for my next round (using the loupe rather than the clip-on lens).

The downside of the loupe is that it works best sitting on the specimen…and inevitably some of the scales will come off. I am giving my husband the opportunity to photograph the bugs before I do anything that might damage them. Tomorrow’s post will be about the Luna Moth.

Through my Office Window – November 2019

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There has been a lot of bird traffic visible through my office window in November. The Blue Jays are frequent visitors – at the icy bird bath (we’ll put the heated bird bath out soon), in the trees, on the gutter, and in the yard.

Both male and female Northern Cardinals enjoyed the seeds on the deck and from the new feeder.

The Downy Woodpecker pair comes to the feeder and finds seeds between the deck railings and insects(?) in the knots of the deck boards.

The House Finches have returned

As have the Dark-eyed Juncos. It took the juncos a few days to discover the feeder. They were finding enough seeds on the ground underneath it before that.

The Mourning Doves are always around.

The Northern Flickers (yellow shafted) rarely come to the deck but they are around – probably more frequently than I see them. The pictures are not as good because the birds are farther away from my window – usually on a neighbor’s roof or in the red maple. One picture shows the yellow shafts very clearly.

The White-breasted Nuthatch is fun to watch – sorting through the seeds until it gets a sunflower seed. The bird has a unique shape and behavior!

The Tufted Titmice move around a lot but are frequent visitors to the feeder. They always look like their eyes are too big their head.

There are other birds that come to the feeder as well. The chickadees come frequently but are so fast that it’s hard to get a picture of them.

The squirrels stay in the trees most of the time. They come to the deck for water – but are frustrated by our feeder that has turned out to be as ‘squirrel proof’ as advertised.

Birding through a Window – February 2019

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It’s great to see birds from my office window – I take a little break to observe while staying warm…and I get other things done between sightings.

Some kinds of birds I see every day.

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The Blue Jays generally make a lot of noise, so I notice when they are around. They come for the water in the heated bird bath and then for seed if it’s spilled out from the feeder (the feeder itself does not work for jay-sized birds). Somehow, they always seem to be looking in my direction when I take a picture of them.

The Dark-eyed Juncos are also around every day. They come for the seed and, sometimes, the birdbath.

The Northern Cardinal also is a frequent visitor. We have a resident pair that stays around our area. They made their nest in the bushes in front of our house last season. Sometimes more than the pair are around…but not every day.

Mourning Doves are plentiful. One morning we heard one seemingly very close to our breakfast area door but couldn’t see it. My husband opened the door and it flew from it’s hiding place under the deck railing. These birds are also too big for the feeder, but they enjoy any seed on the ground and the bird bath and just sitting around on the deck railing or the roof of the covered deck.

The Tufted Titmouse makes rapid transits between the feeder or birdbath and the red maple. It must feel safer in the maple. We have at least one pair, and maybe more, that frequent our deck.

The Carolina Chickadees are very similar to the titmice in that they don’t linger on the deck. They prefer to get seed and take it back to the maple.

This year we have more American Gold Finches coming to the feeder. In previous years we’ve had more House Finches but I’ve only seen one this year and I didn’t get a picture.

And there are birds I don’t see as frequently.

One American Robin came to the bird bath – and I got a picture. There will be a lot more of them around soon.

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Sometimes we have Northern Flickers visit – usually as a pair. They like the heated bird bath in very cold weather. The area under the pines appears to be a good place for them to find insects.

The Downy Woodpecker returns again and again to some damaged branches not that far from my window. I’ve seen a male and female…only got pictures of the female this month.

European Starlings are not an everyday occurrence in our yard. There must be better food sources for them elsewhere. That’s probably a good thing.

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We have a White-Breasted Nuthatch that comes to our feeder occasionally. It moves very quickly and goes back to the forest.

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There are birds that I remember seeing but didn’t manage to photograph this month: Red-winged blackbirds, Turkey vultures, Black Vultures, Pileated woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, and House sparrow. Overall – not a bad month for birding through window.

Through the window….a flicker

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With the leaves falling off the trees, it’s easier to see and photograph birds. Last weekend a female Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted) flew into our maple and I managed to get my camera fast enough to take two pictures through my office window. My computer glasses do work so well through the camera viewfinder, so I relied on the camera to focus. The bird turned slightly to show off the red blaze on the back of the head.

I don’t see these birds as frequently as our resident cardinals although the flickers might be here all year. They are hard to spot in foliage and grasses. I’m always thrilled to see them around.

Birding through a Window – March 2018

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I was out and about more during March than earlier in the year so I wasn’t around to see birds through my office window as much. I did catch the birds that seem to always bee around: the blue jays,

The cardinals,

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The mourning doves,

The juncos (they’ll be leaving for their nesting grounds in the north soon),

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The titmouse, and

The Carolina wren.

There are the ones I see less often – so continue to view them as special:

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the pileated woodpecker and

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The northern flicker.

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There seemed to be more flocks of birds in the yard and around the feeder/bath: cowbirds,

Crows,

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Grackles,

Starlings, and

Robins of course (I always associate springtime and flocks of robins coming through…some staying for the season and others continuing northward).

All in all – a good number of birds around in March through high winds and snow….the swings of temperature. It’s been a wild weather month.

Zooming – February 2018

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I use the zoom on my camera a lot to get the picture I want. What’s not to like about a photograph of the moon that is better than I can see with my eyes!

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These water droplets were on the top of a tall pine…and I took the picture from the comfort of my office!

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I’ve posted a lot of the bird pictures but not this one. I like it because it shows more detail of the flicker’s feathers…..where the down fluffs to keep the bird warm on a cold day. Without the zoom, the feathers have a sleeker look.

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I appreciated using the zoom for the skunk cabbage since there was standing water or mud around them…and it was too cold to risk getting my feet wet if my boots leaked.

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The ice crystals were so delicate I did not want to get close and risk breaking them before I could get the photo I wanted. The zoom also makes it easier to avoid working about casting a shadow.

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Of course – the squirrel would have run away very quickly if I had been closer. As it was, the pose seems like something Beatrix Potter would have used for one of her characters!

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Birding through a Window – February 2018

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I’ve posted many of my bird pictures for the month already (bluebirds bathing,  before (woodpeckers) and after the Great Backyard Bird Count) so this post will have the ‘best of the rest.’ There were birds that just come to the birdbath – like the blue jays (we have a small flock that makes the rounds in our neighborhood most days with a stop at our bird bath…one bird at a time)

And the flickers (sporadically).

Sometimes the little birds visit the bird bath together. I managed to photograph a chickadee, goldfinch, and nuthatch together. It’s interesting to see how chunky the nuthatch is compared to the other two birds.

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I saw the nuthatch and chickadee several times during the month…but didn’t get any more worthwhile pictures. The goldfinches comes to the feeder and bird bath more frequently. They are still in their winter plumage…I keep looking for the more brilliant yellow feathers to appear.

At the bird feeder – a house finch and downy woodpecker shared for a few seconds. The woodpecker is a little bigger than the finch…but they both are light enough that their combined weight does not pull down the metal ‘flowers’ to cover the seed holes (the squirrel proofing of the feeder).

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The house finches are probably the most frequent visitors to the feeder. We have a resident group that makes rounds in our neighborhood.

The resident cardinal pair prefers seed on the ground but has developed a technique to flutter near the feeder and get seed when there is not enough scattered around underneath.

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A mockingbird came to the bird bath recently….which is unusual for us. They are around our neighborhood (I hear them and see them) but we haven’t had one that frequents our deck…maybe this one will stick around.

Birding through a Window January 2018 (2)

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Continuing from yesterday….

The goldfinches come to our bird bath frequently. They are still drab in their winter plumage. Maybe it is wishful thinking but sometimes think they are looking a little more yellow.

The house finches keep their color even in winter. They seem to like the sycamore and the maple more than the bird bath.

Northern Flickers visit our yard during this time of year. They are hard to see with a back drop of pine needles or fallen leaves….but stand out at the bird bath. The amount of yellow in their wing and tail feathers can be seen sometimes.

The dark-eyed juncos are winter visitors to Maryland…and come in groups to our feeder and bird bather. They explore the gutters too.

The pileated woodpeckers are infrequent visitors to the woods behind our house. If I added a suet feeder maybe they would come….but I’m content to see them in the forest. I got a fleeting glimpse of a red-bellied woodpecker this month as well….but was not fast enough to get a picture.

There is a red-tailed hawk that visits the edge of the forest – watching the open area between the trees and our house. Typically, the small birds leave the vicinity when the hawk is around.

The Titmouse always seems to have bigger eyes than other birds of its size.

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