Black Saddlebags

In a previous post about Black Saddlebags, I mentioned that these dragonflies are seldom seen perched except in the treetops. This individual hung low in the undergrowth, allowing Erika and me to get quite close at the Ritter Farm Park in Dakota County, Minnesota. We were surprised by the blue stripes on the thorax and the amount of yellow on the top of the abdomen. These markings are probably the signs of a young female. In this photo, you can clearly see the large dark splotches on the hind wings that give this species its common name.  Paulson (2011) reports that Black Saddlebags are migratory here in the north, prefer to mate near lakes, and, as they deposit eggs, are often taken by bass.

Anna's Hummingbird

Because the Anna's Hummingbird thrives in urban settings, its range has expanded since the 1930s, when it occurred from northern Baja California to San Francisco. Now it reaches British Columbia and Texas. Last March, Erika and I found this individual along the northern California coast. This bird is named after the duchess of Rivoli. She and her husband owned the original specimens, which were collected by Lesson in 1829.

Although hummingbirds are not songbirds, this species' songs are "learned and complex" (Clark et al. 2012). As the males sing, they turn their heads from side to side, thus flashing their brilliant red heads. Females defend feeding territories separate from males. Pairs associate only to copulate--the female then makes the nest, incubates the eggs, and feeds the young.

Oak Titmouse

On our March road-trip, after leaving Morro Bay, we began to dodge stormy weather. During our visit to the Seal veiwing rest area described in my last few posts, we had to backtrack--the California Coast Road was blocked by landslides. The weather inland was balmy.

We found this Oak Titmouse at a picnic area along Lake Cachuma, northwest of Santa Barbara. These titmice mate for life, defend territories all year, and never make flocks as do other chickadees and titmice (Cicero 2000). They quickly responded to our squeaking noises.

Until recently, Oak and Juniper titmice were thought to be the same species, the Plain Titmouse. Recent genetic evidence concludes they are two species, with the Juniper Titmouse inhabiting dry interior junipers and the Oak Titmouse nesting in oaks and pines along the Pacific Slope of California.

Water Lilies

Inspired by a recent Star Tribune article on the Lebanon Hills Regional Park that reported that this Dakota County park is a touch of the North Woods, Erika and I hauled the canoe on top of the car and explored. We had a good time following a paddle and portage route across about a half-dozen small lakes linked by quarter-mile portages. Except for power lines and the unceasing roar of aircraft landing and taking off from the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, we were almost up north. We would not recommend a weekend visit, when it must be crowded, but we saw few people on Friday.

Highlights included White and Yellow water lilies, common on many Minnesota lakes. Yellow Water Lilies are usually found in more shallow water than White Water Lilies.  The Ojibwa ate cooked White Water Lily flower buds and made tea from the roots, which was said to combat diarrhea.  The root was also "used as a sore throat gargle, a cure for baldness, and a  lotion for boils, sores, and ulcers..." (Walshe 1980). White Water Lilies are food for moose and beavers (Moyle and Moyle 2001). The yellow species also was exploited by native peoples, who used rhizomes for ulcers and broken bones, and drank tea to combat a wide variety of ailments, including heart problems, asthma, and tuberculosis (bcadventure.com). Naturally, gentle readers, I advise against trying folk remedies and I take absolutely no responsibility for those who do.

Brewer's Blackbird

As we left the Seal Observation Rest Area along the Coast Highway (see previous posts), a Brewer's Blackbird called goodbye. This blackbird has an interesting nomenclatural history. Audubon collected several in 1843 along the upper Missouri River. Thinking the birds were new to science, he named them Quiscalus breweri. Thomas Brewer was a Boston physician and ornithologist. However, Johannes Wagler first published a description of the species in 1829, naming it Psarocolius cyanocephalus. The Law of Priority kicks is applied to cases like this one. The correct name is the first published one, starting with Linnaeus' 1758 12th edition of his book, Systema Naturae. Thus Audubon's scientific name is no longer with us, but his common name, Brewer's Blackbird, has survived (Martin 2002).

Prior to 1914, Brewer's Blackbirds were a western species, not found east of western Minnesota. During the next 40 years, this blackbird expanded its range east (at least 1200 km) and north (some 300 km). Conversion of forest to agricuiltural land is cited for the reason. Now the species is common in the winter in the southeastern United States (Martin 2002). Brewer's Blackbirds and Common Grackles compete where their ranges overlap. Apparently Brewer's Blackbirds prefer grasslands, whereas grackles thrive in urban situations.

White-winged vs. Black Scoter

Near the Surf Scoter of the previous post, Erika and I found this male White-winged Scoter. Identification of White-winged Scoters is usually fairly easy--if you can see the white wing patch. That was not the case in the second photo, taken at Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Aberdeen, South Dakota or in the third photo. The white patch was very difficult to discern, and we had to rely on the round shape of the anterior white face patch.

I took the third photo at Lake Oahe several years ago. The bird on the left is a White-winged Scoter, again with the white wing patch not visible. But the shape of the anterior face patch is round, not vertical as in a Surf Scoter. The right bird has a smaller bill and is clearly smaller bodied. Note the white cheeks, This duck is a female Black Scoter.

Black Scoters breed in Alaska and northern Quebec and winter off both coasts of North America. White-winged Scoters have a similar winter range, but breed from Alaska through the Canadian prairies. In Minnesota, the three scoters are "uncommon to rare migrants on Lake Superior, more often in the fall" (Eckert). White-winged Scoters are most often observed. The three scoters are rare fall migrants elsewhere in the state.

Surf Scoter

In the surf at the Seal Rest Stop along the California Coast Highway, swam a female Surf Scoter. She is recognized by her two patches of white on her head head. The anterior patch is vertical, not rounded. A few days later, along the Oregon Coast, we photographed an adult male Surf Scoter (see lower photo).

Surf Scoters breed on arctic North American freshwater lakes and winter along both coasts, south to Baja California and Texas. Unlike the other two scoters (Black and White-winged), the Surf Scoter is only found in North America. Until recently, little was known about Surf Scoter breeding biology. Females with broods are not territorial but are defended, nevertheless, by their mates. On crowded lakes, broods get mixed, and young are occasionally raised by step-parents (Savard et al. 1998).

Connecticut Warbler

Last Monday morning I banded a young Connecticut Warbler. Although the Minnesota Ornithologist's Union considers this species to be "regular" in Rice County, this bird is only the second of the species I have seen here (see blog post of 14 September 2010). The record is noteworthy enough to appear on Jack Siler's eBird Rarity Map, a website I discovered only today.  Here you can see where all the uncommon birds are being seen in the United States. Click on the little Google Map pins and see what rare birds are being seen! The map is updated daily. 

Connecticut Warblers nest in boreal forests across central Canada, dropping south to breed in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. They are shy and inhabit boggy thickets. These warblers winter in northern South America in the Amazon Basin. Note the tick embedded on the upper left quadrant of this warbler's eye-ring. Perhaps the tick will hitch a ride to South America.

Black and Yellow Garden Spider

While picking raspberries at our Community Assisted Agriculture farm, Erika came upon the Black and Yellow Garden Spider (also called Black and Yellow Argiope). These spiders are usually common from southern Canada to Costa Rica. They are found in gardens and fields. Like all spiders, they are venomous predators (University of Michigan). Their bite, however, is said not to be dangerous to people, perhaps no more than a bee sting. (I have been told, however, that bees kill more people through anaphylactic shock than do all other wildlife in America.)

This spider bites and eats smaller arthropods that become stuck in the spider's web. The female's carnivorous habits are a problem for their males, who are much smaller than the female in these photographs. Another problem is that this spider has poor vision. Not wishing to become dinner, males will often vibrate the edges of the web to announce their identity. It is almost (but not quite) like a suitor playing a love song on a guitar.

Surfbird

Erika and I did not visit the Elephant Seal Rest Stop on the California Coast Highway to see seals. I was chasing my number one nemesis bird, the Rock Sandpiper. A nemesis bird is one that eludes you regardless of effort. For years I searched for Rock Sandpipers along the rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean. This year, armed with eBird, I tried again. According to eBird, a Rock Sandpiper had recently been seen at the seal stop.

No Rock Sandpipers. Instead we found Surfbirds among the rocks. We were disappointed, despite the Surfbird's being an interesting sandpiper. This species has one of the longest but narrowest range of any North American bird. Surfbirds winter from Alaska to Chile, over 17,500 km, but only within the first few feet of the tide line. Early ornithologists were incredulous when Alaskan natives told them that Surfbirds breed on Alaskan mountaintops. One hundred and fifty years elapsed before searchers found the first nests in 1927 in the mountains of central Alaska (Senner and Mccaffery 1997).