Northern Cardinal Baby

They say all babies are beautiful, but there has to be some exceptions.  

Nestled in a redbud tree, ten feet off the ground, exposed to the worldly perils of flightessness and helplessness, this baby Northern Cardinal waits to be fed.  Instinctively motionless when surprised, he froze in place. 

I found him by accident while pursuing a different bird through the

trees...House Finch…baby...got away.

  

But this younger baby Northern Cardinal didn’t have the ability to flee.  He was too young to fly…a captive subject.

He could just barely escape sidestepping along a branch.  Predation is a constant threat for young birds.  Some birds eat other birds…it’s just that way.  Raising a brood to adulthood takes good luck and experience in the bird world. 

Remaining unnoticed is a key survival tactic.

Nearby, a 1^st year Eastern Bluebird was foraging on the ground. He looked far more self-reliant than the young cardinal as he hunted alone.  But, there was danger for him, too…cats. Feral cats are a major predator on birds of all ages.  He was finding his own food while keeping an eye on his surroundings.  He found an earwig in the leaf litter and was about to enjoy it.

In the tree above him sat a somewhat older Eastern Bluebird.  He’s just now losing his spotted baby breast feathers and beginning to look more like an adult.

Meanwhile, the baby Northern Cardinal balanced midway between hunger and sleep, possibly dreaming of his next meal.  Composed while still exposed, he waited for a berry delivery from Dad.

I know I was holding up the food service as Dad landed in a nearby tree…beak stuffed with berries…eager for me to go away. 

I, too, remained still, hopefully hiding in plain sight.  I suspect he noticed something was amiss with me however…standing on a two-foot stepstool in a straw hat and flip-flops; I may not have been completely invisible to him.

It made me wonder, though, do Northern Cardinals know they are red and that a red bird in a green tree is not all that difficult to see either?

It didn’t bother me that I was delaying dinner, as berries are easy to find in August in Wisconsin and there would be a rapid recovery of the food service as soon as I left.  It’s not often I find a bird that can’t fly away and I was waiting for the money shot…feeding time.

Then baby cardinal spotted Dad and suddenly all of Dad’s deceptive dodging and stealthy tactics became pointless.  The rapid-fire, high-pitched chirps coming from this little cardinal’s beak notified everyone in earshot of his whereabouts and that he was hungry.

Adding to the danger of being tiny, vulnerable and alone, a Bald-faced Hornets nest was nearby. Bald-faced Hornets are easily excited, bad-tempered and tenacious in their attacks when someone disturbs the nest. Birds and hornets are not natural enemies, but my activity between these two could have tipped the balance…luckily it didn’t.  

Click to enlarge

The hornets came and went about their business without concern for either of us. 

When Dad arrived with a mouthful of fresh berries the young cardinal couldn’t contain his excitement.  Whatever he was chirping, Dad understood.  Dad was being cautious at first, and then darted in to deliver the goods to his impatient little offspring who had endured hunger long enough.

It’s magical how a mouthful of regurgitated black berries can immediately excite and brighten the day of a baby Northern Cardinal.

Allan

Not A Hummingbird

If you’ve seen this creature or a variation of this creature flitting around your garden recently, you may think it's a visiting hummingbird.  

At first glance it’s natural to think you are looking at a real live bird, but in fact it is an insect…a moth.  It is the adult of several species of moths all grouped under the general term hummingbird moths.

 

In its caterpillar stage, we call them hornworms; plump greenish caterpillars about the size of your little finger with a wicked looking, but harmless, horn at one end.   

Sampling blossom after blossom for the minute amounts of nectar in each, the Hummingbird Moth mimics a hummingbird, but there are real and noticeable differences between the two. 

First, the bird has two legs…the moth has six.  The moth has a flexible proboscis which is inserted into a flower whereas the hummingbird has a stiff bill and a long tongue to lap up the liquid.  As small as a hummingbird is, it is still twice as large as the moth.  Moths have antennae, hummingbirds do not.  You might think you’re seeing a baby hummingbird, but baby hummingbirds don’t fly. 

One nice characteristic of the Hummingbird Moth is its approachability.  The moth seems less fearful of human presence.  If you maintain a respectable distance the moth is likely to continue feeding in your company…hummingbirds less likely.  If you have a good supply of flowers and nectar, the hummingbird moth may remain long enough for you to get a picture.

Allan

Green Heron, Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve

Catching a fish is an acquired skill, even for a Green Heron.

When I turned around, this juvenile Green Heron was marching up the boardwalk towards me. 

I was at the Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve, north of Milwaukee, south of Port Washington and along Lake Michigan’s shoreline.

Unaware of me when he landed, he began patrolling the edge of the boardwalk intent on catching something good to eat in the water. Green Herons have a surprisingly long neck when it's not tucked into a football-sized compact body.

Being a juvenile, he may have not yet figured out how he was going to land a fish or a frog from the boardwalk. I'm not sure he'd thought this through, as this would present a new challenge for him.   

Never mind, strolling the boardwalk is easier.

He occasionally peered over the edge, excited by movement in the weeds and water.  Whatever he was looking at  was well out of his reach, so he may have just been reacting on instinct or testing out his stalking techniques for use later.

Stepping along the boardwalk he’d replay the same stop and stare stance over and over, contracting his neck each time in reconsideration.  I suspect this was an exercise somewhere between practice and play.

Meanwhile, an adult Green Heron was hiding behind a nearby tree.  I have no knowledge of these two Green Herons' relationship, but I’d like to think it could be an adult parent still keeping an eye on an offspring.  It’s an observation and a reasonable speculation, but totally unfounded.

Someday junior here will share the blue, green and wine colors of adulthood, but for now he’s still in his adolescent plumage.

More camouflaged than colorful, this may be a 1^st year individual.  His camouflage would serve him better if he weren’t strutting down the boardwalk though, but he'll learn someday.  He looks to be well-fed, independent and somewhat capable of fishing on his own. 

Allan

Nuthatch

Not all birds fly south in winter.  The hardy birds stick around.  The nuthatch is one such sturdy bird despite a wispy appearance.

While maintaining a pair bond and a home territory the nuthatch is a twelve-month resident of Wisconsin.  This necessitates the pair spending long hours gathering enough food to last throughout the winter.  After the first hard frost all the tasty insects will be gone.   There will be lean pickings for them if their seed stores aren’t adequate until spring.

The nuthatch is not a picky eater.   Under the loose bark of slowly departing trees he’ll find all sorts of creeping, crawling critters including ants, beetle larvae, spiders, caterpillars and millipedes.  After the insect life is frozen out, acorns, berries, corn and the kindness of bird-feeding humans get this Red-breasted Nuthatch through lean times.

Black oil sunflower seeds and peanuts seem to be the hands down favorites for the White-breasted Nuthatch.  I have yet to see one carry away a different seed unless it was wrapped in a suet cake.

With continual forays to the backyard feeders, the White-breasted Nuthatch is always looking out for tomorrow.  There is no way a White-breasted Nuthatch can remember the location of the thousands of seeds he’s hidden during the summer, so an abundance is crucial.

  

The seed snatching and storing goes on all day, everyday, with the goal of always having plenty.

Given the possibility many of his seeds are plundered by passing squirrels, good hiding spots are important.

The southbound migration through Wisconsin has started for many bird species already.  Soon only the winter residents will remain.  Make the effort now to supply seeds to the nuthatches…small investment.  They may fill your trees with seeds, too, and provide you with a little kitchen-window entertainment for the winter. 

Allan

Migration Story

The northbound birds that migrated through Wisconsin this spring have long since passed.   The southbound migration from Alaska and Canada has barely commenced. We only have our summer resident birds to enjoy now.

This new 1^st year Cedar Waxwing still looks warm and fuzzy.  He’s attained some degree of self-sufficiency in his short life, but he still needs his parents. He looks to be healthy and able to migrate, but he needs to learn the Cedar Waxwing migration routes yet.

Two juvenile Tree Swallows wait to be fed along a branch .  They weren’t catching their own insects over a nearby pond, nor did I see them being fed, but someone is still caring for them.  Just barely out of their downy feathers, they depend on their parents for nourishment.

A pair of Eastern Kingbirds lingered in a tree as I approached. They didn’t fly away as I expected. They had something to protect. Just barely visible in the branches below was the nest they were guarding.

Eventually they responded to my intrusion by taking to the air.

They hovered above to persuade me to leave. 

Wanting to stay, but needing to go, 

I left.

Another somewhat older, but still  juvenile Eastern Kingbird perches at the top of a tree in Cedarburg, waiting to be shown by an adult which way to fly .

Appearing insecure, curious or maybe a bit cautious, this Baltimore Oriole might be an adult female or a 1^st year juvenile.  Baltimore Orioles are summer residents in Wisconsin.  They will leave soon.

Another summer resident, the Red-winged Blackbird, is well known for his scolding, harassing and  in your face attitude that can get annoying.  Aggressive and protective of his territory, a Red-winged Blackbird could draw blood from the top of your head if you came across a particularly mean one. 

Besides having your hair rearranged by a Red-winged Blackbird, another danger of summer is stepping onto a bumblebee nest. 

I was a half-second away from stepping onto what I thought was a bare patch of ground in an otherwise tall field of grass.  

Not so…bad mistake...I diverted my foot just in time…no harm, no foul. I departed quickly.

The American Goldfinch is a permanent Wisconsin resident. Still in his spring breeding colors, this male was keeping his feathers clean. Males and females will take on a paler appearance during the winter months. Easily attracted to a backyard seed feeder, you could have American Goldfinches  eating outside your window throughout the winter.

The goldfinch’s colors are not the only colors in transition in mid-August. Treetops are changing too and  birds get to see the colors change up close.

The out-migration will begin soon.  Thousands of birds will be passing through Wisconsin and not just the big Canada Geese. The southbound songbirds will be less colorful and somewhat weather feather worn at this time of year, but a recognizable resemblance of their springtime selves.  

Think of the fall migration as another chance to see these beautiful birds in a different light.  

The show is free.  Just look up!

Allan

Killdeer on Tracks

Killdeer are practiced performers.   They put on an enjoyable show.  Their shows are playing over all of North America now, except Alaska.  It is a combination of air shows and stage performances. Killdeer are the main attractions.

Claiming the Killdeer name comes from its call takes a bit of imagination.  If true, my ear is not tuned well enough to hear ‘killdeer’ in it, so I'm not joining that discussion.  What I do appreciate is the Killdeer’s ability to convince a predator she is injured…stop hunting for my chicks…come and eat me instead.  It’s acting…that’s cunning!

Rising into the air, two of the six Killdeer complained loudly as they circled me. I was in this pair’s territory. They were insistent I leave. 

Killdeer lay their eggs on the ground in a scrape barely resembling a nest.  The vegetation along the railroad tracks was low...prime Killdeer habitat.  I searched for their eggs within the acres of short seedlings, but it was like finding a speckled brown marble in a hayfield. The pair hid their eggs well.   They were careful to keep it a secret, too.  Their whole purpose in circling and calling was to get my attention and draw me away.   

Twisting and contorting herself, she put on a convincing performance of an injured bird in trouble. 

The other Killdeer pairs watched this drama from a hundred feet away, but didn’t have a part.  

She played her part convincingly and acted out her dying scene on several stages. 

I watched from my seat sixty feet away…sort of the 30^th row.    

This act worked for her three time.  Each performance took me further and further down the tracks.  She was drawing me away, but I was getting the show for free.

At the end of each performance she would miraculously recover and trot away.  She even took bows…many, actually.  It is in the Killdeer’s nature to comically bob up and down when disturbed. I could interpret this bobbing as laughing at me, but I’d rather think not.  I left satisfied.

I recommend this show…two thumbs up.

Allan