Western Kingbird

Western Kingbirds are a dime-a-dozen in South Dakota. Until yesterday, when Gene Bauer texted that he had one at the Prairie Creek Wildlife Management Area—Koester Prairie Unit, I had only seen this flycatcher three times in Minnesota. This sighting was my first for Rice County.

As its name implies, the Western Kingbird inhabits western North America. Western Minnesota is as far east as it normally occurs. The white outer-tail feathers distinguish this kingbird from other closely related species. Western Kingbirds have expanded their range since the late 1800s. Tree planting in the prairies facilitate this kingbird’s abundance. Fence and power lines also provide perches from which to hunt. Western Kingbird populations continue to expand (Gamble and Bergin 2012).

Virginia Waterleaf

Virginia Waterleaf is a common, early-spring flower under moist, deciduous forests. By midsummer, they die back to the ground. The plant grows across most of eastern United States and southeastern Canada.

This photo may be somewhat misleading, since the leaf in the background does not belong to the waterleaf. I think it is nettle. Also called Shawnee Salad, waterleaf is said to be edible in salads. Teas made from the roots have combatted diarrhea (practicalplants.org). But be careful to correctly identify the plant. I imagine a raw nettle salad is quite painful. You should also be aware that, in some regions, waterleaf is a protected species (Davesgarden.com).

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

This spring, we witnessed a wave of migrating Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Recently I posted, “Sapsuckers are famous for drilling sap wells, and often damage trees in the process. In the spring, the wells harvest upward moving sap in tree xylem. Later wells capture downward-flowing phloem sap. Insects trapped in the sap wells are also consumed.”

Sapsuckers are common migrants in Northfield; a few breed here. These woodpeckers are important community members. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds follow sapsuckers through the forest. Hummingbirds use woodpecker holes both for their sap and the small insects trapped there. Sapsucker nesting holes provide roosting sites for other birds and some mammals (Walters et al. 2002). Note the red throats of the birds in the first two photos—they are males. The white throat of the last woodpecker indicates that it is a female.

Bald-faced Hornet

Catching wasps and hornets in my banding nets is not my favorite occupation. These insects tend to make knots out of the net. They are never happy. On 22 May 2016, I captured this Bald-faced Hornet, a type of yellowjacket. These aggressive wasps construct the giant paper nests that you occasionally see in trees. They fiercely defend these nests (King, pers. comm.). They repeatedly sting trespassers.

Bald-faced Hornets are found across the United States and southern Canada. The wasp in the photo is probably a worker. Queens lack “hair.” Workers are males and are produced by unfertilized eggs. Females have two sets of chromosomes. Queens control the number of workers by the number of unfertilized eggs they lay. If too many workers are produced, the queen kills the surplus male offspring (Wikipedia).

Four-spotted Skimmer

About a half-dozen Four-spotted Skimmers invaded Erika’s garden yesterday afternoon. These dragonflies are found in the Northern Hemisphere, across North America, Asia, and Europe. As this species matures, it is often found away from water. The migrations of European populations have not been documented in North America (Paulson). I do not know if our skimmers were migrants or wandering immatures. In either event, their amber wings sparkled in the sunlight.

Florida Herons

During our 23 March 2016 visit to the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, we saw about a half-dozen species of herons and egrets. Among them were these three, a Tricolored Heron (first photo), a Little Blue Heron (middle photo), and a Snowy Egret. The Tricolored Heron is recognized by its white belly. The Little Blue is uniformly dark—unless it is in its white, juvenile plumage, which tends to complicate matters. Finally, the Snowy Egret has a black, needle-like bill and yellow toes. I have linked the names of these herons to a few of my previous posts.

Common Whitetail Male

Since Saturday, Erika’s garden has been filling with Common Whitetails, Plathemis lydia. Females first appeared. Yesterday males, like this immature, showed up. As they matures, their abdomens will become bluish-white.

Who was Lydia? Dru Drury described this dragonfly in 1877. My best GUESS is Lydia Bowen, who was famous for coloring many of Audubon's plates, and was probably known by Drury. Lydia was sought after by many printers and artists of the day (Leach 2013). Do any of you know any better?

Common Whitetail

On Saturday, I found Common Whitetails in the Carleton College arboretum and in Erika’s Garden. This dragonfly is a female in the arb. Yesterday, I took the second photo of yet another whitetail in the garden. This is the second Minnesota species I listed this spring, the first being Common Green Darners. The darners did not stop long enough for a photo.

In this blog, I have previously written about Common Whitetails.  Their name describes their abundance across much of North America. This dragonfly is an important component of many aquatic ecosystems. They can occur, however, some distance from water.

American Alligator

One thing you have to remember, while walking in the Florida Panhandle’s St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, is to watch your step. Total absorption in birds and dragonflies is not advised.

According to Wikipedia, “As humans encroach into their habitat, attacks are few but not unknown. Alligators, unlike the large crocodiles, do not immediately regard a human upon encounter as prey, but may still attack in self-defense if provoked.”  This source also assures us that feeding alligators in Florida is illegal. In 2010, the Archbishop of New Orleans ruled that, for catholics, alligator meat is considered to be fish. See my previous alligator post for a few more tidbits of information on these reptiles.

Marsh Wren

Last Wednesday, 17 May 2016, John Holden and I drove over to the 180th Street Marsh in nearby Dakota County. We encountered these territorial Marsh Wrens. Most territorial defense occurs in early spring. Males chase intruders, often singing vigorously. These squabbles can last for hours. When humans approach nests, however, females are more responsive. Then they call intensely, while the males appear to ignore the intruders (Kroodsma and Verner 2014).

I suspect these wrens are males, but there is no way of telling for sure. In any event, the wren in the bottom photo is one angry bird. This singing bird almost stood on its head, pointed its tail at us, and let us know what it thought of our being in its territory. Alternatively, this wren may have been upset at the presence of the Marsh Wren in the first photo.