Birding with John

Sunday, June 13th was a day I had been anticipating for quite some time as this was the day my local Audubon Society had scheduled for a birding trip with one of Minnesota's finest birders, John Hockema. John doesn't do very many local birding trips, so even though Sunday's forecast was for fog and possibly even rain, I knew I would still be at the designated rendezvous point by 7 AM. I had sent John an e-mail earlier last week with my request for a Henslow's Sparrow to add to my life list. His response was that there was a very good chance we could find a Henslow's and asking me whether I would also be interested in adding an Acadian Flycatcher to my life list (YES!)

By 7 AM, our small group of 9 intrepid birders had assembled and divided up into our little birding convoy. First stop: Bill Barnacle Forest Management Area, a beautiful tract of forest and prime bird/wildlife habitat. I knew it was going to be a good birding day when we got out of the cars and an Osprey was spotted flying over the parking lot!
Because of the drizzly weather, the birds weren't quite a vocal as they might be on a sunny morning, but they were still quite willing to respond to recorded calls that another birder provided. He called in a Wood Thrush and Scarlet Tanager for all of us to see. As we ventured further up the hill and deeper into the woods, John finally heard the call of the Acadian Flycatcher. (The sighting of this bird has been particularly exciting for local birders as the Acadian Flycatcher hasn't been documented in Olmsted County for many years, but was discovered just recently during the Breeding Bird Survey that another Audubon member is participating in.) We stopped on the trail and the recording of the Acadian Flycatcher was played to see if the bird could be drawn in for us to see and sure enough, it cooperated. We were all able to get great looks at the flycatcher (although it was too dark and the bird moved too quickly for me to get a photograph).

I enjoyed walking through this forest. Even though the birds weren't plentiful, there were still plenty of interesting plants and fungus to see along the way.

It's located far off the beaten path in rural Olmsted County, but hopefully I'll be able to find my way back there some day. I'm guessing this would be a fabulous place to bird during spring warbler migration!

Our next stop was Chester Woods Park, just east of Rochester. This is a great local park featuring easy hiking trails and excellent bird/wildlife habitat. Before we even got out of the parking lot, everyone got a nice look at a gorgeous rooster pheasant and an extremely cooperative Orchard Oriole. We headed over to the grasslands in search of the Henslow's Sparrow. Along the way we spotted this really nice Wild Lupine in bloom.

Little Wood Satyr butterfly

We continued walking around the grassland trail, but John's super-sensitive birding ears were not picking up the call of the Henslow's Sparrow. As we neared the forested edge of the trail, John thought he heard the call of a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. I pulled out my trusty BirdJam and played the call of the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo a few times. Then someone in our group spotted the bird in a small shrub nearby. Binoculars were raised and John quickly identified the bird as not the yellow-billed, but a Black-Billed Cuckoo! (woo-hoo, Lifer #2 for my day!)

We continued on the trail still hoping for the Henslow's Sparrow and finally, as we got almost to the end, John was able to pick out the small hiccupy tsillik call of a Henslow's. The bird was spotted far across the field, but John was able to find it in the spotting scope and we all got a pretty good look at this little sparrow whose population numbers are rapidly declining due to habitat loss. (Lifer #3!)

It was almost noon, but John wasn't ready to quit birding yet. He knew of a spot where a Lark Sparrow had been seen recently, so the 4 of us remaining in the group headed over to an area of Rochester that used to be known as the 100 Acre Woods, but is currently being developed into a housing subdivision. After only a few minutes out of the car and walking in the grass, the Lark Sparrow flew up to the trees and we got a good look at it. John felt the bird was probably nesting nearby, but we were unable to locate a nest. I hope that area it was in doesn't get developed too soon and that grass stays unmowed for a while. This wasn't a lifer for me, but it was the first time I had seen it in Minnesota, so another good one to check off my Minnesota list!

We also got good looks at this Spotted Sandpiper in the same area. All the rain we've had lately filled up a little pond nearby that was perfect for the birds and dragonflies.

Also at this soon-to-be-developed spot was a large sandpile where a small colony of Bank Swallows was nesting. Unfortunately, some stupid yahoos had decided to climb this hill (on foot and with a bicycle) and as you can see from this picture, the center section of the sand hill collapsed, destroying several of the nesting burrows and actually killing one of the swallows (if you click to enlarge the picture, you can see the bird sticking out of the sand in the lower center part of the picture). While I was standing there taking this picture, a couple of swallows flew out of their undamaged holes on the left, but I'm not optimistic about their future in this neighborhood.

I finally headed for home around 12:30. But even the pouring rain wasn't able to dampen my happiness at being able to add 3 new birds to my life list in less than 5 hours. Thanks John for a leading us on this excellent birding adventure!

St. Patrick's Day, 2010

We both had a day off work today and once the fog cleared late in the morning, Mr. Johnson decided it would be a good day for us to take down the 3 remaining deer stands still up from last fall. It turned out to be a really nice afternoon for spending an enjoyable couple of hours in the woods. Taking down the tree stands is a job that Mr. Johnson could certainly do by himself, but I believe he enjoys having me accompany him for the insightful commentary and helpful advice I provide from the ground. In fact, after struggling to get the padlock open on this particular stand, he vacated the ladder and allowed me to remove this stand and ladder all by myself! (I can't remember for sure, but I believe the words, "do you just want to do it?" were uttered somewhere along the line.)
While hiking from stand to stand, I had plenty of time to walk around the woods and look for signs of spring. I even remembered to bring my camera along this time and there were plenty of photo ops along the way. We've had enough warm weather and rain the past few days, but the only real signs of green in the woods so far was lots of moss. It was so nice to see this moss growing that I couldn't resist getting right down on the ground to take a photo.

By looking close to the ground, I managed to spot some other interesting signs of spring too. Thanks to a Google search on "orange cup fungus" I found out this one is called Scarlet Cup Fungus (Sarcoscypha dudleyi). Isn't it neat looking? I almost missed spotting this. Although it looks really large in this picture, it was only about the size of my pinkie fingertip. It was attached to a little piece of wood about the size of my index finger.

I was keeping my eyes open for birds, deer and squirrels, but the only moving creature I did see was this one small earthworm.

Another special sighting was this small feather caught on the end of a branch. It was mostly white with dark gray on the top edge and very fluffy. It didn't look at all like a turkey feather, so I'm thinking it might have been from a Cooper's Hawk or some other raptor.

Here's an old treestand Mr. Johnson built many years ago that we don't use anymore. It looked to me like there was a corncob laying on top (arrow's pointing at it). That got me to wondering whether the squirrels or raccoons had been using this as a convenient dining table.

Fortunately there were still a couple steps in the tree that allowed me to climb up for a closer look. Aha! Just as I suspected! Now I'm wondering.....was it raccoons or squirrels dining up here? And if it was squirrels, how did they carry those corncobs up this tree? This "table" was at least 10 feet up in the tree.

Finally, the last stand and ladders were all down and loaded into the sled for transport back to the truck. All this equipment is pretty heavy, so it was quite a workout for Mr. Johnson hiking back to the truck. I dutifully followed along behind to keep an eye on the load, while humming "I'll never be your beast of burden" to myself. (yeah, cuz I'm just helpful that way!)

Here's probably the most unusual sight we saw this afternoon.....the farmer who rents this field was picking last year's corn today! Due to the wet and cold weather last October and November, so many of the farmers around here were unable to get their corn crop harvested and are making up for lost time this spring.

And on our drive home, we saw a couple of happy ducks enjoying a sunny afternoon in their little pond that's finally thawed out after our long winter.

Happy Spring!

The View from My Deer Stand - Part 2

Spent another deerless afternoon in the woods today, but I'm not complaining because the outside temp was almost 60 degrees! Pretty unusual for early November and it got me to thinking about some previous deer hunting seasons where there was about a foot of snow on the ground and temps in the teens.

Here's the hill I walk down from the cornfield to get to today's deer stand. Pretty, isn't it? There are always lots of birds in this area because it's much more wooded than the stand I was sitting on yesterday.

This stand is a permanent stand (meaning we don't take it down every year). I built this stand myself 2 years ago. Are you impressed? I was. Mr. Johnson had chosen the tree and I was in charge of the design. I did my drawing of how I thought the stand should be built, took the measurements, and then cut all the wood at home. We carried all the pieces out to the woods and then I built the stand. Amazingly enough, all the pieces fit correctly and the stand turned out exactly as I had envisioned it. I love this stand! It's big enough to set up this little stool and today I was even able to curl up on the floor and take a little nap! (Nope, I'm definitely not a hardcore deer hunter, am I?)

The warm weather has brought out a new hatch of insects. I watched this little stink bug walking up one of the tree trunks.

Of course, there are always several of these pesty little bushy tails wreaking havoc in the woods. I'm always amazed at how much noise such a small animal can make. But on a slow deer hunting day, their antics are always amusing.

Have a good weekend everyone!

The View from My Deer Stand

Well, after a gentle nudge from my dear old Mom (who's experiencing some blog deprivation symptoms) I will be making an effort to become a little more proactive in my blog posts again.

Amazingly enough, I don't think I've even taken any photos in the last 2 weeks. I think that's the longest I've gone without taking a picture since I started this blog! Between work, deer hunting and knitting, it doesn't seem like I've had time to pay much attention to other stuff going on around here. Oh, there are plenty of birds -- flocks of cedar waxwings in the backyard -- but I've been negligent about carrying the camera along with me when I'm outside.

So this afternoon, while sitting on the deer stand, I realized here was a perfect photo opportunity right in front of me! So, here's a view from the deer stand I was sitting in this afternoon. Do you see any deer? Nope, I didn't either! That's because all you can see in almost any direction is corn, corn, and more corn, and that's where the deer are hiding out.
Minnesota's firearms deer opener is this Saturday (Nov. 7th). For as many years as we've been bowhunting, we always have at least one deer in the freezer by this time. This year has been a tough one as October brought us nearly record setting moisture in the forms of rain and snow. Needless to say, the farmers are the ones most negatively affected by this weather and the harvest has barely begun -- especially for corn.

Mr. Johnson is getting seriously frustrated by the lack of deer we've been seeing. Fortunately he has plenty of vacation time and he subscribes to the philosophy that "a bad day of hunting is better than a good day at work!" I, on the other hand, have no paid time off, so my hunting times are limited to afternoons and weekends (as long as the weather's nice).

I'll be staying out of the woods the next couple weekends because those gun hunters scare me and I'm looking forward to teaching a couple knitting classes -- mittens! Watch for a future blog post on that!

A Finished Project & Miscellaneous Photos

Here in Minnesota it's gone from being a dry and summery September to November-like weather--been rainy and chilly here for almost a week now. Somehow, autumn and October just missed us altogether and our weekend forecast is sounding like December with lows in the 20's and snow showers predicted! Oh well, I'm planning to take advantage of a couple sunny days predicted for tomorrow and Thursday and get my lawn mowed for the last time and whatever other outside chores I can accomplish during the small sunny window of opportunity.

As usual, I've been knitting like a fiend while hanging out indoors the last few days and I finally finished this Montavilla Market Tote (a free pattern from KnitPicks--click on this link and scroll down the right hand side where you'll see the title "100+ free patterns") This is a long overdue birthday present and hopefully I'll be able to get it washed and dried tomorrow, so I can ship it to the recipient before her next birthday rolls around!

I have no other blog-worthy items to report, so I'll share a few pictures with you in this post. I thought this was a cute picture of the Downy Woodpecker waiting for the Hairy Woodpecker to vacate the suet log, and it's another good size comparison for these woodies too.

I helped with birdbanding at Quarry Hill Nature Center again last Sunday. Here's the White-Throated Sparrow I was able to get out of the net. This is Glenna's hand holding the bird and after she banded it, she allowed me to release it again. They're really pretty little sparrows and I'm starting to hear quite a few of them in my backyard and out in the deer hunting woods right now too.

And speaking of deer hunting, we were out again last Sunday, but no deer seen. I'm sure the weather change this weekend will bring a change in the deer habits too. And of course, once it freezes hard, there will be a lot less vegetation to deal with in the woods which always makes hearing and seeing deer much easier.

Here are a couple pictures from one of the trail cameras we had out there. These pictures are always my favorite! The deer are so inquisitive and this camera was located on a tree right next to one of their trails. It doesn't make any noise, but there's a fabric webbing that attaches the camera to the tree and I'm sure she was checking out my scent on that webbing.

Here's a cute little guy venturing out on his own (click on the picture to enlarge it and you'll see his little antler "bumps"). Doesn't he have the sweetest face? I don't think his spots have been gone for very long. There weren't any other pictures of deer just before or after this little one, so I hope he finds some other young deer to hang around with for the winter.

Oh and before I end this post, I want to mention that last hummingbird in my post from October 2nd, really WAS the last hummingbird......I haven't seen any since, but I'm planning to leave the nectar feeders up until our predicted hard freeze on Saturday night.

Just in Time!

Just in time for tomorrow morning's bowhunting deer opener, my Go Girl arrived in today's mail.
I believe this may mark a turning point in the enjoyment of my morning mug of coffee AND participation in outdoor activities; plus no more risk of squatting too close to treacherous poison ivy or prickly gooseberry bushes in the woods. I wonder if they're thinking about making a camouflage version??

Another "First" for Me

A couple weeks ago we put the trail cameras up in our deer hunting area and we went down to check for pictures tonight after supper (no pictures--in case you're wondering). As we were walking along the edge of the cornfield and back to the truck, I happened to notice a strange green bump on a milkweed plant........can you see it??

Here's the "zoom" shot of a Cope's Gray Treefrog (green phase). How cute is that??

I think they're pretty abundant in Minnesota, but I've never seen one of these frogs before in my life. Be sure to click on the link above to learn more about them. They're quite the amazing little creature.

Miscellaneous Stuff & Some Knitting

I got an e-mail notice from the owner of my LYS (local yarn shoppe) this afternoon saying she had just given away the last chemo cap and it was time for us to make some more. The challenge thrown out to us rabid knitters was 30 caps in 30 days and I've decided to accept the challenge. So in order to get my 30 caps done, I'm going to have to take a little break from blogging (and probably Facebook too) and concentrate on this knitting challenge and also some other home and garden activities. Before my break though, I'll share some of the miscellaneous stuff and knitting that has been occupying my time these past couple weeks.

We moved the deer hunting ladder stand last weekend in anticipation of the upcoming archery deer season opener. (Actually we had to move it off some private property where our hunting privileges have recently been revoked.) Anyway, Mr. Johnson had this tree in mind and the ladder stand worked perfectly there. In this picture, he's cutting off a large grapevine that's grown up on this tree. This is a perfect spot right at the intersection of two heavily used deer trails, plus not much underbrush in the woods, so it should be good for birding if the deer activity is slow.

I picked the first zucchini from our garden. They have a somewhat stunted shape, but were very tasty nonetheless. There are plenty of blossoms and more little zucchinis on my two plants. I like this golden variety because they're easy to spot (not like the green ones that sometimes grow to the size of a baseball bat because you couldn't see them under a leaf!)

I'm finally starting to see more juvenile birds around the yard. Here's a cute little cardinal who visited the birdbath on Sunday afternoon.

This juvenile Red-Bellied Woodpecker easily figured out how to get inside the cage to the suet log. This is the first one of these youngsters I've seen this summer too. The adults have also been noticeably absent from my backyard--although they were regular visitors during winter and spring.

And now on to the knitting projects. I've been looking for this book ever since I saw it on another knitting blog and last week I found it at Michael's. There are so many cute patterns in here, so I also picked up three balls of cotton yarn to try some of the designs out.

I don't think I have to tell you what this design is.......

This butterfly turned out really cute too.

Sunflower

Leaping Frog

Hummingbird

I'm still working on the square lace shawl, but have finally gotten to the edging. Here's what I've managed to complete this week for the edging. I know this shawl will be much more impressive once it's all blocked out. I'm still not liking this pattern very much--the written instructions aren't very clear and I wonder if the person who wrote it was a really experienced knitter or expected only advanced knitters would be working on it. I've spent plenty of time re-reading sections and scratching my head trying to figure out what she's doing. The real challenge will come when I get to the first corner with my lace edging, but I'm hoping that once I'm there the written instructions will make perfect sense and the chart will correspond exactly to the number of stitches I'm working (I would hate to give up now that I'm almost done!)

I've also been whipping up some of these "coffee cup sweaters." Aren't they cute? And a good way to use up some of my leftover yarn scraps.

Here's a couple more pairs of the knitted half-mitts I've finally finished too. I love the colors in this self-striping yarn.

This color is called Pink Camouflage. (I honestly don't quite get the pink camouflage thing......but I thought the colors knitted up rather cute for these half-mitts.)

Most of these knitted items are destined for my Etsy shop, which is in desperate need of restocking, so between knitting chemo caps, watching birds, pulling weeds and all the other fun stuff going on around here, I hope to get the Etsy shop "shelves" full again.

I'll be checking in with occasional posts when I can and hoping to stay caught up with everyone's activities. In the meantime, I hope you all have an enjoyable summer!

An Evening Walk to the Pond

I haven't been over to the little pond in the woods near our house yet this spring, so after supper last night, Mr. Johnson and I decided to take a walk over there. No development for the home lots or streets has been started yet, although there are some sewer pipes stacked up and a big John Deere digger that's been sitting there since early spring. I count that as one of the advantages of our current economic situation.

We know the deer have started having their babies and I was hoping to see a fawn, but we didn't. However, Eagle Eyes Johnson spotted these tracks in the dirt on our way home, so we know they've started to arrive on this earth. I just love seeing those teeny, tiny hoofprints (less than 1.5 inches long). You can tell this little one was staying pretty close to mama.

I think there are still quite a few deer in this little woods, judging by the number of tracks we saw. Here are some more from a little buck.

Raccoons are pretty common too.

Eagle Eyes Johnson also spotted these turkey tracks near the pond. He never did see any while he was out turkey hunting a couple weeks ago, though.

But the trip wasn't just about animals tracks, we saw some live creatures too. Here's a tent caterpillar.

How about this pretty dragonfly -- a male Common Whitetail. The dragonflies were hanging out on the sun-facing side of that John Deere digger I mentioned earlier. They must have been enjoying some of the remaining warmth from the sun on the metal of the machine.

We did see a couple of white-tail deer, but this one was the only one who allowed me to photograph her--and only from a distance.

We heard and saw quite a few birds--especially several territorial male Indigo Buntings. On my next trip, I'll see if I can't get a couple shots of those guys. Here's a bird I couldn't identify for sure; I think it's an Olive-Sided Flycatcher. At first I thought maybe a Great-Crested Flycatcher because there are so many of them in this woods, and it was about the same size. But once I got home and looked at this photo, I changed my mind, specifically because of coloration and the dark streaking at the sides of its breast. (A positive ID from any of my readers would be greatly appreciated.)

In addition to fauna, we also saw some flora. These little Johnny-Jump-Ups were growing right in the middle of what will be the main street into this subdivision. (I have half a notion to go back over there tonight and dig them up to replant somewhere in my yard.)

I noticed these roses blooming from the edge of the remaining woods. "So pretty," I thought to myself. "Now where did I just see a picture of these???"

Oh yeah, at Heather's blog......I believe it's the beautiful but invasive Multiflora Rose. Oh well, I guess it will be taken care of once the housing development starts here. I commented to Mr. Johnson on our way back home that if we were ever to win the Powerball, the first thing I would do is purchase this undeveloped subdivision from the realtor and just build one house there way back by the pond -- ours!

There must have been a farm or something here at one time many years ago because we see a lot of glass and sometimes other artifacts where the dirt road was been cleared out. I spotted this tiny little cobalt blue bottle just barely sticking out of the dirt and kicked it loose with the toe of my shoe......intact, very cute and a perfect sized vase for a tiny flower.

I cleaned it up when I got home and picked the perfect tiny flower in my backyard.

Now it resides on my kitchen windowsill as a souvenir of last night's walk.