Monthly Archives: June 2016
Award Winners
It has been a little over 2 weeks and the recipients of the 2016 Ugly Chick Award have made some progress. Feathers are filling in on their bald red heads. I’m assuming this is the same brood of American Coots since they are in the same area on the south side of Highway 49. The chicks are growing fast and already eating large amounts of aquatic plants. The parents pull up a beak full of underwater vegetation and the chicks swim alongside and help themselves.
Both parents feed the chicks. The chicks alternate back and forth between the two parents. The family likes to take a swim together.
Covert Mom
The constant peeping drew my attention. These Pied-billed Grebe chicks seemed always hungry and never satisfied. They never left Mom Grebe’s side. Where she swam, they swam.
She looks like she’s smiling, but after a while, their incessant cheeps drove her to the breaking point. She dove underwater and resurfaced in an undisclosed location. I couldn’t find her and neither could her chicks. The dazed chicks became silent and drifted in bewilderment.
I moved on and drove further down Highway 49.
How fortuitous that these two egrets crossed paths! The larger one is a Great Egret. His legs are black. His bill is yellow. The Snowy Egret is, obviously, smaller. He has black legs with yellow feet and a dark bill. There is a reddish orange area in front of the eye which is typical during breeding.[1] There are a number of egrets on the south side of Highway 49 today. I might not have noticed the Snowy Egret in the mix if he hadn’t posed next to a Great Egret.
[1] Donald and Lillian Stokes, Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1996), 35.
A Day Late
The last time I checked the Killdeer nest it was Sunday evening. There were no signs of hatching. It is Tuesday morning and I’m looking at an empty pile of rocks! There are no Killdeer, no eggs, and no cute little chicks. When I was considering starting this blog, I thought the Killdeer story would be a great beginning. I expected the story to culminate in photos of the hatching and the chicks resting in the nest. How disappointing! Killdeer incubate their eggs for about 25 days, and then it only takes about 24 hours for the newly hatched chicks to leave the nest. So this little brood is already off to heavier cover and feasting on the abundant insects on the marsh. This was probably the second brood. Killdeer often have two broods with the first brood incubating as early as April. The female will start incubating a second brood while the male takes care of the first brood of chicks.[1] Sadly, I will have to wait until next year for the opportunity to photograph Killdeer chicks.
But the marsh is always teeming with life, so I’m on to the next adventure!
[1] John Eastman, Birds of Field and Shore: Grassland and Shoreline Birds of Eastern North America (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2000), 71.
Eggs, Idioms, and the Unique
The Killdeer has a companion with her today. They are both quietly standing near the nest. I’m surprised that they are not alarmed by my presence and trying to draw me away from the nest. I wonder if hatching is getting close, but I don’t see any cracks in the eggs.
I was trolling for pictures driving slowly along the shoulder of Highway 49 when I saw this spectacular Double-crested Cormorant sitting on a post on the south side of the road. Cormorants need to air dry their wings before they can fly after swimming. Water doesn’t run off of their backs and their plumage isn’t waterproof.[1] I guess that’s why they use ducks, not cormorants, in the idiom “like water off a duck’s back.” Ducks have oily feathers. Plus, “like water off a cormorant’s back” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Hmmm…I’m not sure what this is all about.
I continued driving slowly when I spotted this colorful ball of feathers swimming in and out of the cattails close to the road.
In this case, maybe a picture really is worth a thousand words. Can you guess what it is?
Thankfully, he was swimming with mom so I was able to identify it as an American Coot.
[1] John Eastman, Birds of Lake, Pond and Marsh: Water and Wetland Birds of Eastern North America (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1999), 183.
Camouflaged Cranes Storm the Horicon Marsh!
When I wrote my post about Sandhill Cranes on June 5, 2016, I thought the content was fascinating but the delivery lacked pizzazz. So I asked my brother, who is in the military, if he had some suggestions for making my writing more engaging. This is his version below.
While on my regular reconnaissance of the Marsh, I was shocked to see a formation of Sandhill Cranes conducting maneuvers with their chick. This small squad was patrolling through low vegetation in a farmer’s field on Highway Z as I drove my vehicle from a trip to the Marsh. The adults were probing the soil with their beaks and sharing seeds and insects with their eager chick. The chick actually walked underneath its parent to be as close as possible for its dinner rations.
What is wrong with this picture? Adult Sandhill Cranes have gray feathers. In the area surrounding the Horicon Marsh there is a lot of iron in the soil. When a crane brings its beak out of iron-rich soil and preens its feathers, it leaves a rusty residue on its feathers making them appear brown, which creates first-class camouflage helping the cranes to blend into the terrain.
In addition, Sandhill Cranes have a unique rolling call that can travel for miles and allows them to communicate with other squads. Their trachea, or windpipe, is an amazing 27 inches long! It takes a convoluted journey through the front of the chest on its way to the lungs. Part of this area of the chest is not solid bone but 2 frail plates. Our trachea, on the other hand, is a short 4 inches long. It starts at the top of our neck (below the larynx or voice box) and makes a straight shot to our lungs (the bronchi). If you would like to read more about this fascinating subject, check out the article “The Convolution of the Trachea in the Sandhill and Whooping Cranes” by Thomas S. Roberts written in 1880!
I snapped a few pictures of the cranes and continued my reconnaissance on Dike Road. A Killdeer moved a few yards from where it had been resting when it heard the crunch of the gravel under my car tires. I suspect she was sitting on a nest. I will come back soon to continue my surveillance and get a closer look.
I got a closer look of the Killdeer today and she is faithfully tending her nest. If you would like to read more of my brother’s captivating prose, you can check out his website at traughberdesign.com.
Tenacity
There is no photo today because it’s a dark and stormy day. It is ninety degrees with a deluge of rain. The Killdeer comes to mind. She is faithfully sitting on her eggs protecting them from the storm. Like most mothers, she is a picture of tenacity, perseverance, and devotion. In hot temperatures, Killdeer sometimes soak their bellies in water before sitting on the eggs to cool them down.[1] That won’t be necessary today since everything is drenched.
[1]John Eastman, Birds of Field and Shore: Grassland and Shoreline Birds of Eastern North America (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2000), 71.
Hidden in Plain Sight
I am back on Dike Road to check on the Killdeer. Driving slowly and swerving frequently to avoid the potholes, I see the Killdeer quietly standing beside the road. I usually see Killdeer running here and there, barely pausing to bob their heads up and down. They can actually run up to 5 mph, which is pretty fast for a little 10 inch long bird.[1] She is in the same area, just past the big shrub near the second big weed after the first turnout. I stop the car far enough away so that she is not alarmed at my presence. She waits, looks around, then returns to her nest and sits down. There are clearly 4 eggs, which is typical for a Killdeer. Her nest is a little scrape in the rocks beside the road. It looks pretty uncomfortable to be sitting on eggs and rocks with nothing lining the nest. The eggs are camouflaged with mottled brown coloring, hidden in plain sight.
[1] John Eastman, Birds of Field and Shore: Grassland and Shoreline Birds of Eastern North America (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2000), 70.
A Work of Art
Male Wood Ducks look “as if constructed in an artist’s studio,” said James Granlund, teacher and ornithologist from Kalamazoo, Michigan.[1]
It is one of the most colorful, intricately patterned ducks in the world.
Which of the following are true concerning Wood Ducks? Choose all that apply.
a) It has toenails.
b) It can run up to 7 miles per hour.
c) It has the largest eyes of any waterfowl.
d) They turn their heads while flying.
If you think “all of the above” is the answer, you are right. Who knew? Naturalist and wildlife biologist John Eastman did. He describes Wood Ducks in his book Birds of Lake, Pond and Marsh: Water and Wetland Birds of Eastern North America. Wood Ducks have toenails that allow them to grip tree branches so they can perch in trees. They run faster than any other duck. Their large eyes help them to see better in low light. Not many birds turn their heads while flying, but Wood Ducks do turn their heads.[2] Wood Ducks are not just a work of art on the outside. Their unique qualities reflect how they are amazingly crafted throughout.
[1] John Eastman, Birds of Lake, Pond and Marsh: Water and Wetland Birds of Eastern North America (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1999), 39.
[2] Ibid.
Rusty Feathers
Sandhill Cranes with their chick were strolling through low vegetation in a farmer’s field on Highway Z as I drove home from a trip to the Marsh. The adults were probing the soil with their beaks and sharing seeds and insects with their eager chick. The chick actually walked underneath its parent to be as close as possible for dinner.
What is wrong with this picture? Adult Sandhill Cranes have gray feathers. In the area surrounding the Horicon Marsh there is a lot of iron in the soil. When a crane brings its beak out of iron-rich soil and preens its feathers, it leaves a rusty residue on its feathers making them appear brown.
Sandhill Cranes have a unique rolling call that can travel for miles. Their trachea, or windpipe, is an amazing 27 inches long! It takes a convoluted journey through the front of the chest on its way to the lungs. Part of this area of the chest is not solid bone but 2 frail plates.[1] Our trachea, on the other hand, is a short 4 inches long. It starts at the top of our neck (below the larynx or voice box) and makes a straight shot to our lungs (the bronchi). If you would like to read more about this fascinating subject, check out the article “The Convolution of the Trachea in the Sandhill and Whooping Cranes” by Thomas S. Roberts written in 1880!
I snapped a few pictures of the cranes and continued on to Dike Road. A Killdeer moved a few yards from where it had been resting when it heard the crunch of the gravel under my car tires. I suspect she was sitting on a nest. I will come back soon to look closer.
[1] Thomas S. Roberts, “The Convolution of the Trachea in the Sandhill and Whooping Cranes,” The American Naturalist 14 (February 1880): 108-114, Published by The University of Chicago Press for the American Society of Naturalists, accessed September 2, 2016, www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2449174.pdf.
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