Nature’s Q and A

Al Batt, Nature's World

Published Saturday, October 11, 2008

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“I’ve finally figured out our economic system. It’s based on the Three Stooges.”

“What?” I say.

“Larry breaks something. Moe slaps Larry. Then Larry slaps Curly. Curly is the low man on the totem pole. Guys like you and me, we’re Curly. I am as nervous as a nudist climbing over a barbed wire fence.”

“Is it the economy?” I ask.

“No, I got pulled over for attempted speeding yesterday. The state trooper lectured me about my driving. He was writing out the ticket, but had to keep swatting the flies buzzing around his head. I said, ‘Having some problems with those circle flies, are you?’ Well, sir, that trooper paused in his jotting to take another swat and said, ‘I guess, if that’s what they are. I’ve never heard of circle flies.’ I told him, ‘Circle flies are common on farms. They’re called circle flies because you find them circling the back end of a horse.’”

“Oh, oh,” I say.

“The trooper started writing again and then stopped to say, ‘You wouldn’t be calling me a horse’s rear end, would you?’  I told him, ‘Oh no, officer. I have too much respect for your badge to ever do that.’ ‘That’s a good thing,” the officer said and then he went back to writing the ticket. I waited a bit and then added, ‘But it’s hard to fool those circle flies.’”

The robin

The American robin is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin. It is considered a symbol of spring. A 19th-century poem about the first robin of spring is “The First Robin” by Dr. William H. Drummond, was based on a Quebec superstition that whoever sees the first robin of spring will have good luck.

Spider

Ron Hansen sent me a beautiful photo of a spider. It’s of one of my favorite spiders — a black-and-yellow argiope (pronounced “are-gee-o-pee”). It is an orb-weaving spider that makes an excellent photographic subject because it doesn’t react to a camera lens. It has rather poor vision. It does not rely on sight to catch prey, but rather on the vibrations produced in its webs. The black-and-yellow argiope is also called the banana spider, yellow garden spider, zipper spider, golden orb weaver and writing spider. It is called the writing spider due to the unique patterns that it builds in its web. In years past, it was sometimes called the “McKinley spider” because in the period before the election that brought McKinley to office, someone claimed the stabilimentum (web decorations) of one spider’s web spelled out “McKinley.” The function of web decorations is thought to make the web more visible so birds won’t fly into it, to make the spider appear larger, to camouflage the spider or to attract a male.

Everything is just ducky

If the duck tips its rear end into the air while feeding in the water, it’s a dabbling or puddle duck. This group includes mallards, wood ducks, gadwalls, pintails, black ducks, wigeons, shovelers and teal. Dabblers bound directly upward off the water when taking flight.

If the duck dives beneath the surface of the water to feed, it’s a diver — a group that includes canvasbacks, ring-necks, redheads, scaup, buffleheads, mergansers, goldeneyes and ruddy ducks. Divers must run along the surface of the water in order to become airborne because their legs are situated toward the rear of the body to facilitate diving.

Q and A

“What birds sing at night?” A number of birds are vocal in the dark. Here’s a long list: American robin, American crow, killdeer, great horned owl, eastern screech owl, barred owl, red-winged blackbird, many kinds of sparrows, American bittern, least bittern, American woodcock, sora, Virginia rail, Canada geese, coot, pied-billed grebe, common loon, common snipe, great crested flycatcher, whip-poor-will and ruffed grouse. 

“I saw what my book says is a Eurasian collared-dove near a grain elevator. Is that possible?” Until 1900, this dove was mostly found in India. It reached Hungary in 1928, Scotland in 1960, the Bahamas in the 1970s and Florida in the 1980s. By 1988, this chunky appearing dove was in Minnesota.

“Why do so many crows roost in cities?” Cities are often warmer than rural areas, an advantage in cold weather. Cities offer refuge from human hunters. Great horned owls, a predator of crows, likely number fewer in urban areas. Artificial light aids crows in watching for owls at night.

“What is the difference between striped and black-oil sunflower seeds?” Other than appearance, the shell of the striped is heavier and more difficult for smaller birds to crack. Cardinals, blue jays and grosbeaks have no problem with the shells. 

“How do spiders spin a web?” Spiders spin silk through three tiny holes called spinnerets in a brownish disc on the underside of their bodies. This liquid silk oozes out like toothpaste from a tube. A spider is able to harden the thread by pulling on it. A single strand may be as thin as 1/4000th the diameter of a human hair. Silk is considered to be at least five times as strong as steel and twice as elastic as nylon.

“Why do pigeons bob their heads?” A pigeon move its head forward and then brings its body to meet its head. It reminds me of the locomotion of an inchworm. A pigeon’s eyes are located on the sides of its head. The world moves by the pigeon like it does for us when we are seated in a fast moving train. The movement of the head allows the pigeon to get a good snapshot image rather than a long, blurred one. Chickens and other birds use the same method.

Nature lessons

Sun dogs are bursts of light on one or both sides of the sun. They follow the sun around like a dog. The Mandan Indians interpreted the triptych to mean that it was so cold that the sun built little fires to stay warm.

The blue jay has an expandable throat and esophagus that can hold three white oak acorns.

Thanks for stopping by

“The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.” — Willa Cather

DO GOOD.

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. E-mail him at SnoEowl@aol.com.