Bird Notes

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

A weekend in photos

This weekend was spent with a walk on the MSU campus, a drive out to the flooded field on Ruppert Rd to look for shorebirds, and a hike through Lake Lansing Park with a group of friends.

On campus I saw:

Tulips

Shadow smelling the tulips

Virginia bluebells

these fancy unique flowers

this yellow flower

a male northern cardinal singing in the magnolia tree

a white-crowned sparrow (which I think is a rare species?)

a chipping sparrow

a cottontail rabbit

mushrooms at the base of a tree

a fox squirrel busy with a snack

licking up crumbs

and the Beaumont tower.

The field at Ruppert Rd was busy with yellowlegs and unidentified peeps (I was looking into the setting sun). There were also a pair of blue-winged teal, Canada geese, a lone northern shoveler drake, multiple (100s?) red-winged blackbirds, and several ring-necked pheasant roosters calling.

The female red-winged blackbird

At Lake Lansing Park we heard: black-and-white warbler, common yellowthroat, scarlet tanager, chickadee, tufted titmouse, robin, song sparrow, and many more birds whose calls we couldn't remember. We also saw a couple of garter snakes. Here are some things we saw:

Skunk cabbage

Morel mushroom

Common violet

I forgot the name of this flower despite being told twice what it is =(

We originally set out to go birdwatching. However, when we came to the first boardwalk over a bog, we were immediately distracted by the thought of salamanders and aquatic insects. Of course being the bunch of scientists we are, we set out to explore the bog for creatures. Soon we were all on our bellies on the boardwalk reaching into the water. We found larvae of trichoptera (caddis fly), diptera (true fly), mosquito, and other things we couldn't identify. We also found fairy shrimp, wood frog tadpoles, a nematode that looked like a string, and tiny crayfish.

Of course a group of adults laying on their bellies across a trail in the woods looks funny and naturally draws attention from other trailgoers. A little boy came along with his young brother and his dad, "Hey! What are you guys looking for?!" We told him insect larvae and other animals that live in the bog. He enthusiastically joined us for about a half hour. He was very knowledgeable about a variety of things we found. We all took turns catching various organisms and letting him hold them in his cupped hands filled with water. It was refreshing to share time with a person so young but filled with just as much enthusiasm for the natural world as I (we?) have.

I took photos of him exploring the bog and emailed them to his father. The little boy wrote back:

"Thank you for letting me touch two shrimp and two crawdads. I liked to look at the fly larvae. I like to hold the fresh water creatures. It was fun! I liked the freshwater tadpole. I saw a stringy worm under water. It was an underwater worm. There was a big larvae. I don't know what it was. I would like to see you and everyone else that was with you again. Thank you for for putting a shrimp in my hands. She put water in my hands too. Our phone number is XXX-XXXX. I will be sending you a thank you note too."

My labmate catching critters for the little boy, perhaps a future aquatic entomologist

I took a break from packing and reading and drove back down to the flooded field at Ruppert Rd. The south winds brought in more yellowlegs. I saw six ring-necked pheasant roosters and one hen. I also saw the pair of blue-winged teal perhaps prospecting for a nest site. The northern shoveler drake was still hanging around as are the Canada geese.

Ring-necked pheasant roosters (one on each side of the road)

Blue-winged teal pair

Greater yellowlegs settling down for the evening as the sun sets.

Get outside and smell the tulips!

Cheers!

A few days outdoors - a few photos to share

Last Friday I went out with my prof to help conduct a mistnetting demonstration for a small group of MSU students. The weather was hot, sunny and windy - not very good for catching birds. We caught two robins and two field sparrows and at the end of the day we caught a beautiful male yellow warbler.

Yellow warbler (male)

That evening I took Shadow for a walk around campus. Shadow retrieved sticks from the Red Cedar River. I took a few photos:

Tree reflection

Sunset on the river (this photo doesn't do it justice)

Saturday I did some schoolwork and ran some errands. I went to a friend's Backyard Wing Ding Spring Fling BBQ which was a super fun time! Her upstairs housemates are musicians with fun instruments like a washtub bass and a saw and bow in addition to guitars. We sang songs and played instruments for a few hours and enjoyed each others creativity and company. I forgot my camera but took many photos with a friend's camera. Maybe I'll post those photos later?

Byron's mom came to visit on Sunday. We picked up another friend of mine for brunch at Sawyer's Pancake House. Then we were off to walk in the 5K Race for the Cure. The weather was perfect. It was awesome to see so much support for breast cancer from men and women of all ages. After the race, we stopped into a chocolate and coffee shop for some chocolate and then we were off to grab Shadow for a walk through the woods at Lake Lansing Park. Shadow romped through the mud and made a mess of himself. We enjoyed the new plants popping out of the ground. We ate dinner at the Blue Gill Grill and then Cindy was off for home. I'm so thankful to live so close to Byron's parents!

Sunday evening around sunset I drove out to the flooded field off of Beard Rd near Perry, MI to look for shorebirds and waterfowl. I found 3 drake and 4 hen ruddy ducks. I also saw several yellowlegs but the light was too low to take any photos. On the drive back to Haslett, I saw a pair of sandhill cranes doing their courtship dance in a flooded corn field off of Perry Rd.


I went back Monday evening to the flooded field off of Ruppert and Beard Roads in hopes of finding the ruddy ducks. The males had been in spectacular breeding plumage and I wanted to photograph them. Instead, I was treated to Bonaparte's gulls soaring in the high winds along with the ring-billed gulls.

On the ground I found greater yellowlegs, some unidentified peeps, killdeer, horned larks and a scuffle between two ring-necked pheasant roosters.

Bonaparte's gulls

Ring-billed gull

Greater yellowlegs

I first heard a ring-necked pheasant rooster call but couldn't find it. So, I cued up the rooster call on the cd player in my car and played the call. The rooster popped his head up and I was able to see him. Ten minutes later, I saw a young rooster move in the brush. He saw the old rooster and hid. The old rooster flushed him out of his hide. The young rooster froze and then began to run then eventually flew to the next field. It was interesting to watch this play out before my eyes. I had never observed ring-necked pheasants like this before.

Ring-necked pheasant roosters
(the old one is on the right and the young one on the left just came out of his hide)

The young rooster runs past the old rooster who then gives chase

The young rooster takes flight toward the adjacent field

This evening I took Shadow for a walk on the trail at Lake Lansing Park. Here is what we saw:

Flowers in the marsh

Bag worms on a black cherry tree in the under story

One of several deer

This last photo is of a deer at dusk. Do you see the deer?

I hope you're enjoying the beautiful wondrous outdoors! I know I am!

Cheers!

Signs of Spring!

After a long, hard week, I spent this weekend doing things I really enjoy. The weather was beautiful - 70degF on Saturday; overcast, cool, light rain on Sunday.

Saturday, I cleaned my house then spent the day outdoors running errands and playing around. I went on a 20ish mile ride following the following route and adding a trip around Lake Lansing:

Sunday, I slept in. I took a birding trip up near Perry, MI (about 20 miles NE) to a flooded field in the country. I found Bonaparte's gulls (50-100), ring-billed gulls, killdeer, greater yellowlegs (2), and one herring gull.

Greater yellowlegs

Bonaparte's gull

Bonaparte's gull (nonbreeding plumage)

Ring-billed gull harassing Bonaparte's gull

Ring-billed gull

I stopped at the Lake Lansing Park for a quick stroll to scan the lake for birds. The weather had deteriorated to higher winds and heavier rain making the lake pretty choppy. I was able to pick out bufflehead, American coot, Canada geese, mallard, and northern shoveler. I saw a pair of brown-headed cowbirds, a common grackle and several American robins picking through the grass. A white-breasted nuthatch hopped down the wall of a concession shelter then into a tree. I love those little birds! Several flowers were in bloom. So beautiful!

White-breasted nuthatch

Brown-headed cowbird (female)

Brown-headed cowbird pair

American robin

Fancy daffodils?

Daffodil

I left the park and headed home to eat a bit of lunch. Then I went to MSU campus to take a walk and see what sorts of flowers I could find in the gardens.

Red Cedar River that flows through campus

The Red Cedar is home to several mallard ducks

Mallard duck (drake)

The garden had a few flowers in bloom

Finally, Shadow's debut on my blog. I adopted him in early February. He is a one and half year old Golden Retriever x Standard Poodle. He weighs about 80 pounds and is a very happy, goofball of a dog.

Here he is sitting very nicely given the fact that a squirrel is scolding him from a tree about 20 feet away.

Shadow intently watching a squirrel while trying to keep sitting

One of many squirrels on campus. This area of Michigan has black squirrels. Pretty neat!

I am officially a graduate student at Michigan State University. My work is going very well and I'm preparing for my quickly approaching field season. Perhaps I'll write more later about what exactly my field season is all about.

Hope you are all well and enjoying the beautiful outdoors as it awakes from a long winter!

Bored at work = Fun with words

It's been quite awhile since my last post. I have several events that I could (should?) have posted about, but didn't due to lack of time and perhaps motivation. Today, boredom is my motivation to post about words and how fun English grammar and punctuation can be.

Some sentences to contemplate:

1) Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

This sentence plays with 1) a proper noun and adjective, Buffalo, as in Buffalo, NY, 2)a noun, buffalo, as in bison, and 3)a verb, buffalo, as in to bully.

2) James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher.

After punctuating this sentence it reads:

James, while John had had "had," had had "had had"; "had had" had had a better effect on the teacher.

Rearrange it and it becomes: While John had written "had," James had written "had had." The teacher preferred "had had."

3) That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is.

Again, capitalization and punctuation are key:

That that is, is. That that is not, is not. Is that it? It is.

4) If the police police police police, who polices the police police?

This is another example of using an adjective, noun and singular and plural verb - all of which happen to be the same word.

Next are syntactically ambiguous sentences, that is, they can be interpreted in different ways.

1) We saw her duck.

Did you see her fowl or did you see her lower her head?

2) Bear left at zoo.

Did someone leave a bear at the zoo or do you turn left when you get to the zoo?

3) They are hunting dogs.

Are 'they' hunting for dogs or are those dogs a type known as "hunting dogs?"

4) Time flies like an arrow... Fruit flies like a banana. - Groucho Marx

Of course you understand "Time flies like an arrow" to mean time flies as an arrow does. But, couldn't it mean to measure the speed of flying insects (flies) in the same manner you would measure that of an arrow? Or you could interpret it as if the arrow had the ability to measure time. It could also mean that a specific type of fly "time-flies" all enjoy a single arrow, much like that fruit flies like a banana.

5) Police help dog bite victim.

Did the police help the victim who was bitten by a dog, or did the police help the dog bite the victim?

6) While the man was hunting the deer ran through the forest.

Did the man run through the forest while hunting deer, or did the deer run through the forest while the man was hunting?

I hope you enjoyed the adventure through the English language. Grammar, punctuation and spelling does count!

I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long.

Cheers!

TIHA

Spring in Oregon

A New Home - A New City to Explore

Before I get in to my tales of exploration, and because I know you are all curious, I want to tell you about my new niche in the Fisheries and Wildlife Wildlife Conservation Disease program at MSU.

I have a corner cubicle deep in the bowels of the Natural Resources Building. So far I like it down here (in the basement). Sometimes it's quiet and other times it's bumbling with activity - the other grad students preparing for class or telling jokes and stories or bouncing ideas around.

My role for now is to help set up the lab and learn the new digital imaging software that runs our fancypants camera on our fancypants microscope in our brand spanking new fancypants lab. I love photography. Naturally, I'm excited to have this responsibility. Once I learn the software, I'll be working with spleens. Yep, bird spleens. Neat-o!

My other role in the lab as a grad student is to...(drumroll please)...READ! I knew you'd never guess! I've been reading a lot and will be reading a lot for the next few years.


On to the Explorations...

Boredom and loneliness comes with moving to a new place. Emily, my fellow lab mate and grad student, had game night at her house a couple weekends ago. It was super fun and I met many other grad students in the department.

I did some researching to see what FREE recreational opportunities exist in the area. I found a trail system at Harris Nature Center as well as the Potter Park Zoo (it's free in the winter).

While snowshoeing on an upland trail at Harris Nature Center, I met some sled dog runners and their fluffy, white Samoyeds. The woods were calm and big, fluffy snowflakes fell gently from the cloudy sky.



I crossed over the road to snowshoe on a lowland trail that followed a stream. Ice tables could be seen on most trees - evidence of the flooding over Christmas. I followed the trail until the sun set - painting the sky and clouds a pale orange and pink.


This weekend is Winter Wonderland at Harris Nature Center. The sled dogs will be there to demonstrate the sport. The center will also have snowshoe and cross country ski rentals for free. I'll be there, will you?

Last Sunday I ventured out of my funk to the Potter Park Zoo. I snowshoed along the river for a bit then went to the zoo. I was impressed with this little zoo. It had a lot to offer for such a small size. It's the oldest zoo in Michigan and it has a rare breeding pair of Black Rhinos - another reason to be impressed! Admission and parking is free in the winter. Visitor traffic is low during the winter - the animals seemed much more relaxed and presented me with better opportunity to photograph them. See?














I hope you are all well and warm!

TIHA