Dixon snowy

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The second rare visitor to delight Sue Wagoner and her fellow Illinoisans was this snowy owl that hung around Dixon all winter. (Must be a good place to pass the time. With all the harsh weather, the snow white owl must felt at home.)

Tundra dwellers in summer, they do venture into the U.S. occasionally in winter, primarily along the Northern Tier. Occasionally a snowy will migrate as far south in winter as the Volunteer State, one made it to Tennessee in January 2009, but I didn't get a chance to see it.

Thanks again, Sue.

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almost a seasoning

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Recently I heard from my friend Sue Wagoner who lives near the Mason-Dixon Line (in this case, Mason and Dixon, Illinois) in Aurora. She sent me two photos of different rare birds she had encountered this past winter.

The first (I'll post the second tomorrow) is a western species of duck that rarely turns up in the east but the above cinnamon teal spent quite a bit of time 0n a pond in Lincoln Park in the middle of the Windy City, much to the delight of bird-loving Chicagoans, Sue and other wildlife photographers who kept plying it corn to entice it to stay, which of course it did.

Fame and notoriety, plus free eats. Why go anywhere else?

There was only the lone teal, had there been more I would have reveled in posting that a group of cinnamon teals is known as a "seasoning" of teals.

Delightful.

Thanks, Sue.

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and to the north

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“A wonderful bird is a pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week;
But I'm damned if I see how the helican.”

"The Pelican" (1910) by Dixon Lanire Merrith (often misattributed to Ogden Nash)

Once again I've heard from my friend Sue Wagoner from Aurora, Illinois, and she sent photos. My goodness, don't you just love that tuft of feathers at the top of this pelican's head.

Sue writes, "The American white pelicans start coming at the middle to end of March. Flying in, circling slowly as they descend on Nelson Lake Marsh. Every year the numbers have increased—last year the highest count was over 300.

Word spreads fast among birders and non-birders alike and the parking lot overflows. It is a good teaching time as we explain to newcomers that these are not tropical birds like the brown pelican, they nest in Canada and northern states; that they fish by ducking their heads under water to scoop up the fish, often in unison; that they are very social and swim together in lines and even form circles to trap the fish. Both males and females have an upper mandible plate during breeding season; it later falls off.

These birds are huge—about 5 feet long with a nine-foot wingspan—but they are unbelievably graceful in their flight. They fly smoothly over the water seemingly just to exercise. When it is time to move on, they leave in groups, slowly circling and soaring upward on the thermal air. It is sad to see them go."



Wow! Thanks Sue.

- Photos by Sue Wagoner, Aurora, Illinois

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sandhill calling

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"I thought you might enjoy what our spring looks like up here—at least our nearby forest preserve and marsh. The sandhill cranes migrate over us in droves. We see them and hear them—their graceful soaring and distinctive wing-flaps, and their unmistakable loud rattling calls.

We usually have a few that stay the summer and fall, and rarely, the winter, and sometimes they nest and produce young. This little guy (?) was all alone and calling for his brethren (only far-away calls in return)... and so absorbed in his calling he hardly noticed me snapping away. Happy spring-to-be to you too!"

One of the most rewarding things about working at the nature center is that you meet people from different parts of the country. I first met Sue Wagner on a bird walk last summer. She was in town on a visit but soon returned to her home in Illinois. From time to time, she sends me photos of what's happening in her little corner of the world.

- Photos by Sue Wagoner, Aurora, Illinois

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on their way

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Sue Wagoner sent me this photo from Illinois. The hermit thrush was passing through headed south for the winter.

One place they overwinter is here in the Tennessee Valley and at Ijams Nature Center, although I have yet to spot one along one of our trails. As the name suggests, they are loners but are NOT shy and will often give you a good look.

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spunky

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We do not get many house wrens at the nature center; we’re in Carolina wren country.

Recently I received an email from Sue Wagoner in Illinois, deep in the heart of house wren nesting country.

Sue wrote, “The house wrens have plenty of personality and, of course, SPUNK. They are really vocal all summer and busy, busy, busy, all day long.

“I had a house wren fledgling in my backyard in early September. He ‘dropped’ in front of me as I was walking, so I watched him go from the shock of seeing me, to taking cover in the garden plants, then fly short distances and finally reach the top of this stump.”

She was then able to get the above photo.

Thanks, Sue

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unknown trifle II

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I posted this "unknown trifle" a week ago with the hope that someone might be able to identify the odd little thing. The photo was taken by Sue Wagoner in Illinois.

Sue heard from an entomologist who taught a class she once attended. Here is his reply:

It's an "Ambush bug (in the Reduviidae family of the Hemiptera order). They get their name from sitting on flowers (most common on goldenrod) and 'ambushing' pollinators such as flies, moths, bees, wasps, etc. They often attack prey many times their size. In fact on more than one occasion, I have wondered why a butterfly wasn't moving on a flower only to look closely and see it was being eaten by an ambush bug! They don't show in the photo, but their front legs are raptorial (almost like a preying mantis)."

It seems that every rose may have its thorn but Queen Anne may have her assassin.

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