Cory Continued

     This is the fourth winter for Cory our "pet" Greater Roadrunner.  Her mate, Gerry, is also overwintering at our place for his third year.  For each of the past two summers, we saw a young-of-the-year roadrunner from this pair.  However, its just the adult pair which favors us through the winter.  And, as is usual, they both have adapted well to begging for their deerburger (ground deer scraps from deer processing.)  And, as is expected, they become more friendly as time goes by and the hungrier they get through the cold season.  They are more of a warm weather bird but are also carnivores.  That means they can scrape up enough mice and handouts through the winter to survive.  Our pair love to sun and spend a few hours in the morning just soaking up some rays by standing with their back toward the sun if its shining and lifting their back feathers so that the warm rays can reach their skin.  They get up late and go to roost early--kinda like my preferred schedule.

Cory getting more used to "hand feeding."

Calling All Gobblers

Quite a wake-up call in the deer blind this morning!  Seems we set up beneath a huge flock of gobblers.  

Deer(Turkey) Woods

Whose woods these are I think I know,

a quiet place Robert Frost would go,

but here we sit in quiet peace,

disturbed by noisy turkey show;

My wife must think it very queer,

I chose to set our deer blind here,

when all we’ve heard and seen this morn,

are many gobblers all quite near;

I give my frozen hands a shake,

to try to warm for shooting sake,

but the only permits yet  to fill,

are for some deer not here this date;

These woods are certainly dark and deep,

we seek venison not feathered meat,

but escapes us now as we retreat,

escapes us now as we retreat.

And of course, later on, they all come right to us.  Number of deer tags to fill--4.  Number of turkey tags to fill--ZERO!

More Gifts of Fall

Ode to Sandhill Cranes

Harken to the skies above

To calling cries of birds I love

Carols of  ancient songs they sing

Lift my spirit both fall and spring;

They glide along invisible seas

In  wistful undulating V’s

Homeward bound to southern shores

To spend winter there once more;

To hear the warbler tweet its tune

Or listen to the woeful loon

Or so many other feathered refrains

Cannot match that of cranes;

Oh dream I do of lofty flights

With gangly groups of such delight

To float on graceful wings of hope

Such inner peace which they evoke.

Crash Cardinal

Meet "Crash."  

     He came to our place a couple of weeks ago and has spent several hours a day crashing into our windows--particularly one on the backside of the house. He never injures himself, only hitting the glass hard enough to make a little sound and scare his mirror image.  In my past job as a nongame biologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, I often talked to folks who had similar issues with over-aggressive birds at their homes.  Birds are territorial, even in winter.  They come to your house, especially if you have feed for them, they see other competitors and want to chase them off.  The competitor in the mirror just won't leave though.  Every day he's still there, vying for the same space at the same place.  

     Crash is driven to keep trying to drive his false competitor away.  Is it a problem?  It can get old hearing and watching him continually crashing into a window.  It does provide some entertainment and certainly some opportunity for close photography.  But, feeling sorry for him, we closed a rag in the window and that seemed to put a stop to his silly, mis-directed behavior.  Crash seemed to have gone on to other Don Quixote windows to fight.

A Fall Collage

     Summer's brutal heat is over and yields to fall beauty.  Life prepares for procreation and hibernation.  Flowers expend their final energies attracting insects which attract other insects which attract birds.  Wildlife is enduring drought just as it has for eons--the fittest gaining advantage over the weakest and carrying on at least some offspring.  Beauty is mostly irrelevant to wildlife.  The most beautiful aspect of a nonchalant fauna is only in the attractive attributes of a mate which prompts the reproduction necessary for sustaining species.  Humans retain the unique quality of appreciating beauty for beauty's sake.  We find intrinsic qualities in plants and animals for the features, colors, and behavior they display to our eyes and other senses.  Aren't you glad for that?! 

       






Monarch butterfly on dotted gayfeather.

Egg-laden praying mantis on prairie sunflower.

Red-breasted nuthatch visits on the way south.

White-tails appreciate a late summer drink at a small watering hole.

Hissy Fit

     I know.  I know.  This is freaking some people out.  But this post is for those who not only appreciate snakes but also for those who just haven't had that much experience with them.  The Bullsnake (a.k.a.  Gopher Snake) is one of those wild animals with...personality.  You'll see these on the road and if you are a kind and intelligent person, you will avoid running them over.  They are harmless to humans and eat tons of mice.  When approached, they put on an amazing show.  From just lying on the road soaking up some rays, they will coil up, hiss, rattle their tail to try to make you think they are something they are not, and will try to appear as mean as possible so you will just LEAVE THEM ALONE.  As is so typical with Bullsnakes, once they've went through their repertoire of scare tactics and realize that they aren't working, they will simple give up.  They then let you pick them up.  Oh, one more trick...they will poop on you as a last little defensive gimmick.  But after all the antics, after all the fake "I'm gonna kill you" behavior, they can end up being the best pet a kid ever had.  After their brief taming down, they can be easily held and admired.  They don't bark or scratch the furniture and only eat once a week or so in the summer.  Mice can be easily caught and be provided as food, yielding yet another incredibly interesting opportunity for feeding observations.   But this day, on this sandy road, with temperatures climbing to the 80's, this personable Bullsnake gave a good show.  I named this one "Hissy" and then let it go on its way.  Go get those rodents Hissy!

Walking Sticks

      One of the coolest wild hand pets is the walking stick.  Kansas is favored with a couple of species.  By looking like a stick, they are able to easily conceal themselves from predators, earning them their name.  While they can be found on various grasses and broad-leaf plants, they really like multi-flowered scurfpea (wild alfalfa).  

     Scout the countryside.  Find a pasture with some taller grass and forbs (broadleaf plants) and search for this leggy insect.  Sweeping the vegetation with an insect net is an easy way to collect walking sticks.  These are great amusements for kids of all ages.  Harmless, they are fun to allow them to explore their temporary human habitat.  These are just another of the very interesting wild creatures of the Kansas prairie which are very easy for handling--another simple cure for nature deficit disorder.