Zombie Cardinals?

If you pay attention, you can learn something new every day. And today, I learned that cardinals will eat meat. Yep, they are vicious killers and should be watched carefully around foo-foo dogs,
kitties and such. No, I am totally making that up. But, like many animals, they are opportunists; if food is available, they will snack away.

Nice photo or mug shot? Pic by my big bro, Charles Creamer.

I love puzzles and weird nature stuff, so when Brad Bumgardner posted a story on IN-bird, a birdwatching listserv in Indiana, my interest was peaked. Theresa Rody had discovered a mouse that had fallen into a fish tank at the Salamonie Interpretive Center and drowned. She threw the dead mouse outside into the snow.

Is that snow on this female cardinals beak or bits of brains? Pic by Charles Creamer.

Later in the day, when she and Lynnanne Fager looked out the bird window to see what species were there, they witnessed an amazing thing. Right out of a horror movie for rodents, a Northern Cardinal had grabbed the dead mouse and was eating its head. Now I have heard of zombies eating heads and brains and such, but not our chipper little cardinals! You can view the photos here.

Checking a few sources, I found out this is not the norm, but not unheard of. Birds of North America Online does not mention cardinals eating mice. They eat 29% animal matter, mostly insects, and also spiders, slugs, snails, centipedes and bivalves. 71% of their diet is plant based, mainly berries and seeds. They referenced a paper by W. L McAtee from 1908 called the Food Habits of Grosbeaks.

Don't get any closer, junco, or I'll pierce your eyes and devour them!

Pic by Charles Creamer.

Digging a little more, I checked Bent. Good ol' Arthur Cleveland Bent and his Life Histories of North American Birds. He didn't let me down. He referenced the same paper by McAtee, but added "He mentions that a male cardinal was seen eating a field mouse." Apparently, the BNA didn't have any other collaborating references, so they left it out. I now wonder if cardinals only scavenge on mice that are already dead, or if they will go for live ones as well. Sounds like a research project for a willing grad student. Nature never ceases to amaze!

Wishing for Spring

I like snow. Honestly. But, I am so over it. Four inches yesterday paired with bitter cold just about did it. Yuck.

So, I am wishing for spring today and have been looking through some of my ephemeral wildflower pictures.

Trout Lily

I love Trout Lilies. One of the first spring wildflowers. The speckled leaves, spotted like a trout, give it its name.

Hepatica

Hepatica comes in many color varieties. I have seen snowy white, pale to vivid pink, but this deep blue is easily my favorite.

Bloodroot

Its delicate white petals make Bloodroot a crowd favorite. This is one you have to get out early to see, for a strong wind or rain will knock the petals right off. The root, if broken, produces a deep red liquid similar to blood, hence the name.

Dutchman's Breeches

Like little pantaloons strung on a clothesline, Dutchman's Breeches is a uniquely shaped flower that is realted to Bleeding Hearts. This one always makes me smile. I love hearing kids giggle about the name.

Hope you enjoyed this small taste of spring. I can't wait until it is here to stay.

Happy Groundhog Day????

What a a bizarre holiday. Take an overgrown member of the squirrel family, stick it outside, then gather crowds around to stare at it to determine whether spring will be early or late. Yep, just plain weird.


Groundhog, whistlepig, woodchuck. All names for a large rodent in the squirrel family that has somehow become a traditional predictor of spring.


I have never understood the whole concept. Since my aunt's birthday was on Groundhog's day, my mom would watch the news just to see what the groundhog predicted and would talk about it for weeks. Drove me crazy!


There are a lot of flaws in this whole groundhog-spring-predicting-rigamarole. One, it just depends on whether it is cloudy or sunny whether the groundhog sees its shadow or not. Sunny=late spring, cloudy=early spring. No groundhog needed.


Yet, some say the groundhog is needed in the process. That it must see its shadow for spring to be delayed. How do you know Mr. Groundhog saw its shadow? Maybe it wasn't paying attention. Maybe it was too busy hamming it up for the cameras. How do you tell if a groundhog has actually seen its shadow? Does it do something to indicate it? Growl, chatter, wiggle its bottom?These are questions I would ask my parents and I never got a straight answer.


Another big flaw in the woodchuck-weather-predicting-hoopla. Groundhogs are true hibernators. The wild ones are still asleep in nice, warm burrows under the ground on February 2nd. So they shouldn't be out looking at their shadows, anyway. They eat plants and do not normally emerge until March or April. They don't chuck wood either. The woodchuck name comes from "wuchak", the Algonquian name for the animal.


So, I am not convinced. Yet, for all you believers out there, I will post the results from around the countryside. Boo, Puxatawny Phil, you naysayer! I am going with Malverne Mel's and Dunkirk Dave's predictions. Spring is just around the corner!


Early Spring-Roxborough Jorge Naba
Early Spring-French Creek Freddie
6 more weeks of winter-Buckeye Chuck
Early Spring-Saskatoon Evan
6 more weeks of winter-Balzac Billy
Early Spring-Malverne Mel
6 more weeks of winter-Woodstock Willie
6 more weeks of winter-Jimmy the Groundhog
6 more weeks of winter-Octoraro Orphie
Early Spring-Staten Island Chuck
6 more weeks of winter-Wiarton Willy
6 more weeks of winter-Shubenacadie Sam
6 more weeks of winter-Punxsutawney Phil
Early Spring-Dunkirk Dave

Superbowl Sunday

So who do you think I would like

to win the Superbowl???

Photo by John Howard

Go Cardinals!

White-winged Crossbills!

They're Heeeeerrrrreeee!!!! (Think "Poltergeist"and that creepy little girl...)

Oh, yeah, baby! I have been waiting for these guys for quite a while. Ron Pittaway puts a finch report out every fall that predicts which birds will migrate based on cone crops and observations. There were reports of White-wing Crossbill sightings up north in Indiana. Then, reports of them in Columbus, Ohio, which is directly east of Indianapolis. I knew they would have to show up in Indy soon. I saw a flock in the Hocking Hills region of Ohio the weekend after New Years. Next, Kirk Roth found a lone male on January 3rd at Eagle Creek Park. Most likely a scout, checking out the food situation. Don Gorney had 425 around the Ft. Wayne area the 18th. Finally, on Wednesday, January 21, Mary Lou Stark found a flock of 12 White-winged Crossbills near the Ornithology Center at Eagle Creek Park. Chad Williams found 40 the following day. They have been putting on nice shows ever since. (All the crossbill photos are from Kevin Carlsen who is working dilligently on the new up and coming Eagle Creek Ornithology Center. More on that later in the post.)

So why are they here? No, it has nothing to do with ancient burial grounds. The spruce cone crop up north in Cananda is not up to snuff. With not enough food for all the birds to survive, flocks will wander farther south to partake of the bounty in our neck of the woods.

Above is a female crossbill. Females have greenish-yellow plumage with white wingbars. What fascinates me most about crossbills is their crazy beak. With a beak twisted and slightly askew, crossbills look like a science project gone a little awry. I have taken the photo above and cropped it so you can see a closeup of the beak below.

As you can see on this female White-winged Crossbill, the upper and lower mandibles criss-cross. This makes the perfect tool for prying open seed cones. Interestingly, some birds are lefties and some are righties. There is a blog post about it here. http://nuthatch.typepad.com/ba/2005/12/crossbills_whic.html

Here is a nice capture of the male. Nice red color with black wings and the bold white wingbars that cinch the ID.

So what are these White-winged Crossbilss feeding upon? Eastern Hemlock cones. Their beaks are perfectly adapted for getting into the cones and extracting the seeds. I have heard that they are not too tasty for humans, but crossbills love 'em! Look at this happy guy carrying his prize.

And here are the tasty nuggets found inside each cone. Tiny little seeds that the crossbills crave. They have been witnessed feeding on spruce and pine cones, as well, and I have read they also enjoy sweet gum fruit. The seed photo above was stolen from Jim McCormac's blog. He also has a few good posts on crossbills, here and here.

Special thanks to Kevin Carlsen for letting me use some of his photos. If you are in the area of Eagle Creek and like building objects or painting and creating displays, he can use volunteers at the Ornithology Center, due to open sometime this year. The number is 327-BIRD(2473).

Foxy!

My niece from Delaware sent me this great picture of her resident Red Fox she calls "Foxy". Brenda and her husband Mike Heindl live on a virtual naturalist's paradise at Oversee Farm, a Nature Conservancy property. (I hope they don't mind auntie dropping in for a visit).

Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, is the most ubiquitous wild canine. This species can be found in the U.S., Canada, Europe, North Africa, most of Asia, Japan and it was even introduced to Australia. Weighing anywhere between 6.5 to 25 pounds, they are eating machines. They are omnivores with a diet consisting of fruit, worms, crayfish, rodents, rabbits, birds, eggs, amphibians, small reptiles, fish, carrion and even human garbage. In the U.S., fox weighing in on the hefty side usual reside in the areas to the north, while the daintier ones reside in the warmer areas to the south. Red Fox have small stomachs and therefore can only eat around 10% of their body weight. When they have an abundance of food, they will store it in shallow holes that they dig and position throughout their territory. This act insures if another animal discovers their bounty, all their supply will not be lost.

Red Fox have territories that can be as large as 20 square miles. Though they can be viewed during the day, fox are normally active at dawn and dusk and can even be nocturnal in areas where they encounter frequent human interference.

Red Fox can endure cold weather by growing a thick winter coat. The coat coloration can vary greatly from deep chestnut, rusty red to sandy blonde. There is also a rare color phase of the Red Fox that is black, seen above, which makes up a mere 10% of the population. Photo from Wikipedia. Such an ominous looking beast!

Red Fox can be fascinating to watch, as my niece can attest. These carefree clowns love to romp and rough-house. They are especially amusing to observe as they hunt, leaping high into the air and landing on a juicy vole or mouse. They have acute hearing, and can detect the slightest movement of a rodent under the thick grasses. A master at camouflage, they can lie in wait concealed in the tall grass. A rabbit has little chance at escape when it is surprised by a furry bullet that can reach a speed of 45 miles an hour.

Red Fox can be viewed at Eagle Creek Park and Holliday Park. The ones at Eagle Creek Park have raised young there, and if you are lucky enough, you can catch a glimpse of the kits in the spring frolicking in the park.

Baby, It's Coooollllldddd Outside! -Alberta Clipper

Path of most Alberta Clippers. Photo from Wikipedia.

Okay, waking up to temperatures of 11 below zero is not a treat in my book. I am not a big fan of cold weather. Looovve snow. But I can do without bone-chilling cold.

Anyway, some of you might be interested in why we are having this bit of cold weather. It is the cause of an Alberta Clipper. No, Alberta is not the name of some mean school marm that likes to torture kids. Alberta is the name of a province in Canada. This is where the storm arises. The "clipper" part comes from the fast moving ships of the 19th century, since this type of weather moves very quickly dropping temperatures 30 degrees in less than 12 hours sometimes.

This phenomenom occurs when warm moist air from the Pacific Ocean encounters the mountains in British Columbia and Alberta. This warm air travels down the mountain and brings unseasonably warm air to Alberta, sometimes as warm as 70 degrees F. Okay, I could go for that right now!

Next, the clipper visits the prairies of Canada and mixes with the cold air mass that is here in the winter. It then moves south, where is gets caught in the jet stream, rapidly bringing this cold air mass to our doorstep. It also brings strong winds 35-45 mph. This can cause the wind chill to be as low as 20 -50 below zero. Brrrrrr!!!!

But luckily, this is a clipper that is fast moving. So by the weekend, we will be a balmy 30 degrees. Get out your bikini!