Birdwalking

Late this morning I decided to take a walk to try out my newly downloaded Cornell University "Merlin" birding app. It is free! I had heard of it but hadn't tried it before. On Saturday's walk several of my co-walkers were using it and I decided to try it at my earliest convenience.  I started the walk at about 11:30 a.m. and kept at it till about 1 p.m.  Along the way the Merlin app detected the songs of twenty-five birds. I have never made a real effort at learning bird songs, but maybe this app will help me. The high pitched little squeaks if the Indigo Bunting and the Eastern Towhee's loud and distinctive "TOE!!! we-ee-ee-ee" (some folks say "DRINK - your tea-ee-ee-ee!" may stick with me. 

I wish I could have actually SEEN more of them -- especially the Indigo Bunting (pics are from Wikipedia):

..

and the Summer Tanager...

I know the app is not foolproof, but it was correct about the few common birds that I did get a good look at.

Besides those my list today included the usual robins, sparrows, finches, titmice, wrens, chickadees, starlings, grackles, crows, geese but also: Swainson's Warblers, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Easter Wood Pewee, and a few others. 25 in all.

T.R.E.D. Nature Walk

Sheila and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the Mt. Berry Trail with thirty or so fellow ecological enthusiasts on this beautiful Spring day. Our leader was Owen Kinney. The walk was sponsored by T.R.E.D.* Owen did a great job of pointing out all sorts of natural wonders along the way. I will definitely steal a few of his talking points for my walks at Arrowhead. 

We were pleased to see several of our friends along the way, including Rob Innis who took this picture of us...

 

... and two pictures of this bird ...

... that Owen had identified by its call which Owen says sounds like "Peep, You're Weird"

The rest of my photos are from my own iPhone:

I noticed a Great Blue Heron in the pond near the trailhead. Owen talked about what a patient and efficient killer the heron is as it plods about shallow water at the edges of the pond spearing unsuspecting frogs, fish, and even turtles with its huge dagger of a beak.

Several folks, including Owen, used their "Merlin" smartphone app to pick out the calls of several other birds. Other used their "iNaturalist" apps to ID plants along the way.

Owen found an insect gall in a Goldenrod stem and picked it apart.... 

...and passed through the group to show the larva nestled inside.

At the forefront of the group is another friend Marilyn Lindholm (in the green blouse). Marilyn is a fellow member at Trinity United Methodist Church and also a fellow storyteller.

Owen found another example of an insect implanting its offspring in a host -- this time a leaf. Here he shows it to Sheila.

These muscadines have put on a lot of fruit...

... I'll keep an eye on these as they mature!

Woolley aphids on a blackberry cane

This was a fascinating little demo. Owen picked up a Daddy Longlegs by its head. He applied slight pressure to it and it produced an excretion that smelled like chocolate! This is an adaptation intended to repulse predators. No permanent harm to the arachnid!
Here is an article with some interesting Daddy Longlegs info.

On the walk back we noticed that silt from spring flooding was head high in the leaves of this Sweetgum.

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* T.R.E.D. = Trails for Recreation and Economic Development of Rome/Floyd County

PTSW: Pantoum

 Tricia at the Miss Rumphius Effect gave us a challenge several years ago: Write a "pantoum". To get the lowdown on pantouns check out Tricia's post. Then write your own and join the fun!

I love watching the Cliff Swallows along the Oostanaula as they build their mud condominiums under the bridges, and range in neverending swoops and dives over the levee capturing tiny insects to feed their families.

The Cliff Swallow

He dips and dives and soars and swings
from bank to bank and bridge to stream.
He stops to dip his muddy beak
and sculpt from mud his cozy home.

From bank to bank and bridge to stream
he snaps his food and dips again,
and sculpts from mud his cozy home
up high and sheer on concrete face.

He snaps up food and dips again.
A hundred hundred times or more
up high and sheer on concrete face,
he dabs the mud and flies again.

A hundred hundred times or more
he stops to dip his muddy beak,
and dabs the mud and flies again,
to dip and dive and soar and swing.

by Terrell Shaw

I have written before about our cliff swallows.

Gleaning Facebook: Hummingbird Abode 2

 ANOTHER abandoned hummingbird nest! This one is attached to the string light on Brannon & John’s back patio.

Gleaning Facebook: Cowbird

Here is another amazing photo from Gena Culbertson Flanigen. The cowbird fledgling on the left is being fed by the warbler "parent" on the right. Cowbirds are brood parasites. They make no nest of their own, but instead lay eggs in the nests of other species. The unsuspecting surrogate parents raise the aggressive cowbird chicks which often out-compete their foster siblings. In the case of the warblers, can you imagine any of the young warblers surviving in a nest with this big sister?

Cowbirds have been known to lay their eggs in the nests of over two hundred different species --- even hummingbirds and raptors according to Wikipedia! Can you picture a hummingbird successfully hatching and raising a cowbird chick?

This photo gives graphic evidence of the cowbird's success. On the other hand I am somewhat cheered to read that many species rid themselves of the invading egg by pushing it from the nest or burying it into the straw at the bottom of the nest or even deserting the nest altogether and allowing their own eggs to perish as well.

This warbler parent seems to have fully accepted the giant adoptive child.

Later Note: Gena has IDed the little warbler as a female Black-throated Green Warbler.

 

Gleaning Facebook: Fauna of Arrowhead

The well-feathered Barn Swallow nest on the front porch at Arrowhead is home to four speckled eggs as of Tuesday.

 

I may have interrupted this female Spiny Soft-shelled Turtle as she was preparing to lay some eggs right in the middle of the drive. After our extended photo shoot she ambled off the road and back to the lake.

Gleaning Facebook: The Riverwalk Today

My iPhone camera is greatly improved over its last iteration, but is still inadequate for a Great Blue Heron a football field away in the river.

http://normsfarms.com/elderberry-recipes/

Sarah Echols -- I'll pick the clusters, you wash, sort, cook and prepare the dishes. I'll also help eat.

Magnolia

Sweet Schrub
Deborah Lake Dawson

I have these all over my backyard. Mine are finished blooming now though.

Sheila and I were thrilled to run into two outstanding botanical experts on our Riverwalk. Richard T. Ware and Max Medley were...  ...checking out a "new" Leather Flower along the banks of the Oostanaula.

 ...checking out a "new" Leather Flower along the banks of the Oostanaula.

 

Gleaning Facebook: Wren Wrescue!

This Carolina Wren somehow snuck into our old house to take shelter from the storm.

 

Armed with a butterfly net and the assistence of two daughters and another refugee -- Hillary -- I captured it and dug it gently from the net for some souvenir pics.

Still with all due care, I carried him out the back door and propelled him smoothly into the atmosphere of our yard, whence he shot like a buff and brown snitch escaping the dull clumsy participants in a muggle quidditch match.

PTSW : Pelican

I found this naughty little limerick at Granny J.'s Walking Prescott blog. In early 2007 Sheila and I participated in the Enviroinmental Educators' Alliance conference at Jekyll Island GA.

One of the field trips was an afternnon cruise along the coast on the DNR's Research Vessel Anna. The Anna is a shrimper that the DNR uses to sample marine life along the coast to keep track of marine populations. The pelicans chased us the entire voyage. The photos on this post are three of the dozen or so pelican pics I took that day. Wonderful birds indeed.

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican,
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week
But I'm darned if I know how the helican!

-Dixon L. Merritt

Miscellaneous Nature

A few nature shots to share from the last few days:

This salamander lives in our little brook which flows into Armuchee Creek in Floyd County GA. Is there a herp buff out there? Who is this fellow?



This pair were very upset with their reflections in my truck mirrors and windows. Am I safe in calling them Eastern Bluebirds?





This guy looks like the Eastern Kingbird in my book. A very handsome, formally attired guy hanging around our classroom garden.



Rat snakes are seeking an education in our area. The first fellow slithered right through the middle of two or three hundred eight, nine, and ten-year-olds at recess. Imagine a circle of fifty fascinated kids out of the camera's line of sight.





Then his cousin wandered across the drive. He was lucky I was there to fend off the only-good-snake's-a-dead-snake caucus.






Our Virginia pines look like a very rude kid has passed by - spittle bugs are eveywhere.



The beautiful Tulip Tree blossums litter the nature trail after a spring rain.



The Indian Pinks are not real showy yet, but they are getting there.



An Eastern Comma butterfly visited the stream as we waded.



I take this fellow to be Downy Woodpecker.



And the darners are all over the pond area.



These red aphids are feasting in the library garden. (Uroleucon ambrosiae?)



Dadgum William Shakespeare for mentioning Starlings in his writing.



This squirrel likes our black walnuts.



And our state bird, the Brown Thrasher looks for morsels in the lawn.