Spring Will Come

I love winter!! But with a 13 month old it is hard to get out and enjoy it. I am looking forward to spring and nature walks and seeing birds other than the ones outside my window. One of my favorite birding locations is Presque Isle Erie. It takes me over 2 hours to get there but what a nice day trip it makes. The bike trail there follows the edge of the isle to the tip and back. Along the way you are taken near the edge of the lake, along smaller ponds and marshes and through wooded areas. The diversity of the environment along the trail makes for some awesome birding. Typically I like to walk the trail and not only have I seen water species but others such as orioles and pine siskins. I can't wait for the chance to go, if only it would stop snowing :(

Ruffed Grouse: Controlled Environment

For my internship at WVU in 2006 I worked with ruffed grouse. Though my degree is in wildlife biology, this internship was not conducted in the great outdoors but at the university science farm. Among all the studies being conducted on farm animals, there was a seasoned scientist who raised ruffed grouse. It may seem a little unorthodox to study birds in a controlled environment rather than in their natural habitat but it allowed me to see and hear behaviors that I may have never seen in the wild.

There are not many people who raise ruffed grouse at a very successful rate. Part of the problem is reproduction. When left alone together a male will stress the female to death in most cases. The key to successful reproduction is artificial insemination. Now even as a pseudo-professional I was not thrilled at the thought of extracting semen from a male and injecting it into the female; but, it is a rare skill that not many possess. And may I say, I got quite good at it.
The process of knowing the right time to conduct this intimate act lies within the behavior of the birds. Having these grouse close at hand allows one to hear different sounds and calls that alert you to their biological clock. By being in tune with these creatures' chirps and actions let you know when the female is ready to except a mate and when the male is ready to produce sperm; you can also tell when she is ready to lay, or if she has already. Having seen grouse in the wild, I have perhaps heard some of these sounds and just had no idea what they meant. But viewing them daily allows you to interrupt each noise they make.

One of the rarest behaviors I witnessed is what is called the "locomotive" behavior among the males. They will shake their heads back and forth slowly accompanied by a hiss, hiss, hiss. Then the act gets faster and faster and louder, just like a locomotive getting up to speed. Then they give one final hiss and lunge forward in a territorial display. I don't think I will ever witness this behavior in the wild.

My advisor was reluctant to approve an internship that seemed blatantly more animal science than wildlife biology. I am grateful that he allowed it and I believe that much is to be learned of animals in a controlled environment as well as their natural habitat.

Awaiting Return

Last winter I discovered one of my life birds in my front yard. A yellow bellied sap sucker was thoroughly working it's way up and down the trunk of my Norway Spruce. This is the first time I have ever seen one. What a beautiful bird. I tried diligently to capture this creature in a photo but failed. My spruce is enormous and very shaded inside and neither of my cameras could do the job. Now armed with better equipment, I'm prepared.

So I wait for another chance.

Oh Winter Birds! Not Everyone Knows You're Here

Who doesn't love our winter birds? The juncos, chickadees, and cardinals!! Surprisingly they get over looked by some. As I asked the clerk at a "feed supply store" where they kept the wild bird seed, she looked at me as though I was stupid. She smugly informed me that they did not provide bird seed "out of season" and she went about her business. "Out of season"; I pondered this as I stood dumbfounded. How is bird feeding out of season? The plethora of birds wintering in our area may beg to differ; they are actively still eating at my bird feeder.
Okay, perhaps some people who aren't fond of our feathered friends may not realize the winter variety of birds. Some may not appreciate that the juncos in their yard may be the same ones that were there last year as they return to the same winter grounds each year. I guess that it is possible not to notice the brilliant red of a cardinal against the bright snow. Or hear the chickadee chirps as you pass by. Heck, maybe they don't know birds even exist until they poop on their car. But I just bought seed in this store in the fall and they dedicate an entire isle to birds. They sell food for numerous animals every month of the year. No other animal seems to go "out of season".

So I ask all who read- How do birds go "out of season"??