Summer in the Country

Seen around Christian County, KY

Butterfly and thistle

This dead tree stands on a hill.

It's a favorite perch for buzzards and hawks.

Last year, cattle were grazing in this field.

Probably the corn will go into ethanol.

Around Christian County, KY

Scenes of early summer

Wheat is ripening. Some fields were harvested last week.
This wheatfield is across the road from our house, and
the wheat seems to be a particularly tall variety. Our
neighbor will harvest both straw and grain.

Native daylilies are blooming in the road ditches.

Starbucks Coffee in Hopkinsville is hosting half a dozen 

bird nests, built into the big letters on the side of the building.

I suppose these cavities are the best substitute for holes in a cliff 

that the birds could find. Hurry, Mama! Baby's hungry!

Freddy The Pig, Rediscovered

Found at Florence, KY

When we took Isaac to the Cincinnati airport last summer, we discovered Half Price Books, a great bookstore in Florence, KY. We revisited the store on our way to Cleveland a few weeks ago.

Isaac sold a few used books and bought at least twice as many as he sold. I bought a couple of books for Dennis, and for myself, a copy of The Art of Freddy. It was well worth the $2 it cost, just for the memories.

Freddy and me

The Freddy series was written by Walter Brooks and illustrated by Kurt Wiese. Freddy is a pig. He and all the other animals on Mr. Bean's farm can talk. They are very good at solving mysteries and getting into complicated, dangerous situations that always turn out all right in the end.

There are 26 Freddy books (I know this from counting the book covers shown in The Art of Freddy, and Wikipedia verifies it.) I think the Rock County library had 15 or 20 of them when I was a kid, and I read every one.

I read Freddy's Perilous Adventure, dozens of time, because we owned it. It was a library book originally. I left it on the windowsill, and a summer thunderstorm soaked it. The cover was warped and the pages were wavy, so my mother had to pay the library for the book.

Freddy's Perilous Adventure was my main book for the rest of that summer, along with whatever I could find around the house to read, because I was grounded from the library. I was glad when I got back to school and the bookmobile! I liked Freddy and his animal friends, but I was ready for them to have a different adventure.

They're still adventuring!

Isaac was still shopping, so I enjoyed the illustrations in my Freddy book for a while. Then I walked out of the store to put my books in the car. After getting reacquainted with Freddy and his friends, it was a bit surreal to see these geese strolling across the parking lot. I wouldn't have been surprised at all if they had wished me a good afternoon or asked for directions.

Rowe Sanctuary Crane Cam, 2011

Experience the migration!

The spring Sandhill crane migration has begun again, and the Audubon Society's Rowe Sanctuary has its Crane Cam running.

Rowe Sanctuary is located on the Platte River in central Nebraska. Thousands of Sandhill cranes gather on the Platte before flying northward for the summer. It is one of the great natural spectacles of North America.

Right now on the Crane Cam, I can hear many bird calls in the background. The Platte appears to be running briskly. It has snow on its banks, and some chunks of ice are floating in the water. What a marvelous thing to see and hear those things while sitting at my computer in Christian County, Kentucky!

Facebook users can "like" the Rowe Sanctuary at this link. However, it would benefit the Rowe Sanctuary much more if you showed your support with a monetary donation, even a small one.

Thanks, Carolyn and Fred, for reminding me that its time to post this link again.

----------------------------------------------------
Read more about Sandhill cranes in the Prairie Bluestem archives:
Sandhill Crane Webcam 2010
Sandhill Crane Cam 2009
Rowe Sanctuary's Crane Cam 2008
Sandhill Crane Webcam 2007

Sandhill Crane Webcam, 2010

Crane Cam at Rowe Sanctuary

Carolyn Hall of Bassett, Nebraska, sent the following link for this year's Sandhill Crane Webcam at the Rowe Sanctuary.

http://www.rowesanctuary.org/crane%20cam.htm

I'm writing this at about 9:30 p.m with the webcam running in another window of my browser. It is dark on the river, but I can see the moon and hear an occasional bird sound over the gurgle of the water.

Sanctuary volunteers run the camera in the morning and evening during the hours the cranes are active on the river.  The rest of the time, the camera is stationary. The Crane Cam will be running through April 10, 2010. 

The Rowe Sanctuary is located on the Platte River at Gibbon, Nebraska (southeast of Kearney, Nebraska). The Platte River is an important staging ground for Sandhill cranes on their migration north. The birds spend their days in the fields and marshes near the river. At night, they return to the sandbars of the Platte River, where they are safe from coyotes and other predators.

According to the Rowe Sanctuary website,

In the morning, cranes shuffle up and down the river waiting for the sun to pop up over the horizon. As the sun rises, cranes head out to feed and loaf in the surrounding fields.  During the day, cranes "dance" to relieve the stress of migration and strengthen pair bonds.  Cranes are very "social" birds and in the evening, congregate in wet meadows before heading back to the river for the night. (Source)

More:
► The Rowe Sanctuary has a Facebook page where you can post questions and comments and read the responses of volunteers.
► YouTube has several videos of Sandhill Cranes at Rowe Sanctuary. This one shows hundreds of cranes arriving at the river at sunset.

Credit:
Sandhill crane image from pdphoto.org.

Backyard Wildlife

Highlight of my day so far

Driving into our yard a few minutes ago, I startled some birds out of the apple trees and off the ground under it. I saw a mourning dove, two blue jays, a cardinal, a red-bellied woodpecker, and a brown thrasher. I enjoy seeing the various birds that live in and pass through our yard. That's one of the nice things about living in the country.

I've noticed that we seem to have a large population of rabbits this year. Every time I drive into the yard at night, the headlights of my car freak out several of them. I think the big piles of brush that still remain from last year's ice storm have provided extra habitat, and the wet summer gave them plenty to eat.

Wild Turkey Sightings

Wild turkeys reestablished in Christian County, KY

Wild turkeys in northeastern Christian County

I saw a little flock of wild turkeys a few weeks ago in northeastern Christian County (KY). They weren't frightened enough to fly away. Instead they trotted down the road in front of my car for at least two hundred yards and then ran across the field to a little creek which they followed into the woods.  Every now and then, I could see their heads bobbing along through the tall grass.

Several days later, in the southeastern corner of the county, I surprised another little flock of turkeys on a remote rural road. It was a startling experience for me, too. The turkeys immediately took flight, rising into the air right in front of my car with a great flapping of wings. They didn't fly high -- they were hardly ten feet above the ground -- but they flew fast.

My third turkey sighting of the spring came about a week later. I was driving up the lane to our house, As I reached the top of the hill, where the woods end and the field begins, I saw a turkey with his feathers all spread out -- a tom, I assume. Three other turkeys were with him, and I assume they were females.  They all flew into the woods as soon as they saw me.  That is the second time I've seen turkeys near our house.

According to the Kentucky National Wild Turkey Federation website, a flock of 62 wild turkeys was released in Christian County in 1978. Thirty years later, they seem to be well-established -- at least, in some rural areas that I travel.

Still, the turkeys aren't as plentiful as they once were. In Perrin's history of Christian County, KY, he mentions the stories an old timer told of "enormous flocks of wild turkeys" in the area around Lafayette, in southwestern Christian County.

And in Muhlenberg County, Christian County's neighbor on the northeast, the big birds were so numerous that they were considered pests. People said that a corn crop was in danger of being eaten by turkeys from the day it was planted until the day it was harvested.

In 1845, an effort was made to kill as many turkeys and squirrels as possible within a 60-day-period. It was apparently quite successful; according to the old story, the farmers were able to raise good corn crops for many years thereafter. (Source: A History of Muhlenberg County (p. 100) by Otto Arthur Rothert. Published by J.P. Morton, 1913.)

I've heard some of our farmer neighbors talk about the quantity of grain that the turkeys consume in the fields. I am sure that it can be a problem. From my viewpoint as an interested observer, though, I'm glad the turkeys are back.

Related posts:
A Big Flock of Wild Turkeys
Wild Turkey Breaks Bus Window
Grass, Water, and Trees

Sandhill Crane Cam 2009

Watch the Sandhill cranes at Rowe Sanctuary

Rowe Sanctuary's Sandhill Crane Cam is on the internet again this year, March 7 through April 8. Via the webcam, you can see and hear the great flocks of Sandhill cranes on Nebraska's Platte River as they rest and feed in preparation for the next leg of their migration.

Carolyn Hall, a retired lady who lives in my old hometown, Bassett, Nebraska, goes to Rowe Sanctuary every year as a volunteer guide for the Audubon Society. Hundreds of visitors come to observe the cranes from blinds at the river's edge.

In the morning, great flocks of cranes rise up from the river and fly out to the fields in the area to feed, and in the evening, they come back to the river for the night. It is a spectacle of nature.

Carolyn described the return of the Sandhill cranes this evening: "Great pink/orange sunset with thousands of cranes flying and it looked like landing on the meadows north of the river. The river is iced over except for a narrow ice filled channel."

Sleet, icy roads, and cold temperatures caused many people to cancel their tour reservations today, but the volunteers still kept the webcam going.

Carolyn will be running the camera on Thursday morning (March 12). She says that by 8:00 AM (CDT), there is enough light to get a good view of the river and the cranes. This morning in the cold and sleet, the cranes didn't leave the river until after 10:00 AM.

Ducks in a Row

Natural order

I saw these colorful ducks at Target last weekend. I like them, but I don't need them. I can't accumulate a big collection of spring decorations. The shed is already full of Christmas decorations. Besides, I already have the fireplace mantel ready for Easter with a cute little family of white ceramic rabbits.

The expression "get your ducks in a row" has a solid basis in duck behavior. Little ducks will follow their parent in a fairly orderly fashion, whether waddling through the grass or gliding through the water. It's a fascinating thing to see.

It's common to see even adult ducks swimming in a line or perched in a row. The same instinct for formation helps ducks fly with the flock in migration.

Herding ducks is another matter altogether, as any herd dog in competition would tell you.

In English, we mean "getting organized" when we speak of "getting our ducks in a row". Personally, I don't have a strong natural herding instinct. My ducks are usually all over the place, despite my barking at them. While I'm busy getting a couple of ducks in line, the rest of the flock wanders away.

Whooping Crane Migration

Helping endangered cranes survive

Carolyn Hall, of Bassett, NE, sent a link for Operation Migration, a group that is helping to establish a new flock of migratory whooping cranes. This flock will winter in east Florida and summer in central Michigan.

Eggs are collected in the wild and hatched in incubators. Even before the eggs are hatched, the baby birds are imprinted with the sound of ultralight aircraft, the "birds" that will eventually lead them as they migrate. The imprinting with ultralights continues as the baby birds are born, grow, and learn to fly.

This year's "crop" of whooping crane chicks is now migrating from Michigan to Florida, and the ultralights are teaching them the safest route. You can read a daily log of their progress in the Field Journal. Start at the bottom of the page to read the entries in chronological order.

Today's entry includes a video of the young whooping cranes taking some exercise after a couple of days on the ground due to weather conditions. With a wingspan of 7 to 8 feet and long legs stretched behind them, they are beautiful in flight -- and a joy to see, because they are rare and precious.

According to Operation Migration's Crane Count, the total population of all whooping cranes (wild and captive) was 539 on July 14, 2008.

Related: Whooping Cranes Threatened by Wind Farms

Audubon State Park

Camping at Henderson, KY

Another pleasant outing in the faithful Coleman tent

John James Audubon, noted American ornithologist, lived at Henderson, KY, from 1810-1819. Today, the Audubon State Park preserves some of the old-growth forest where Audubon roamed along the Ohio River, observing the birds and collecting specimens to paint.

Isaac and I camped two nights at Audubon State Park, while we were sightseeing at Henderson, KY, and Evansville, IN, last week. Isaac had just three days free from both work and school. Dennis was still obligated at his job for part of that time, so Isaac and I went by ourselves.

The Audubon State Park campground is near the Ohio River, just off Highway 41 at Henderson. In fact, the traffic on the busy highway is clearly heard at the campground. Nonetheless, it's a beautiful site with tall trees and many squirrels. We were the only tent-campers there, and there were only about half a dozen RVs.

Isaac really likes camping, and Boy Scouts deserves the credit for it. I'm glad that he has a wholesome hobby that he can pursue all his life. When I camp with him, we don't rough it too much. We get a site with electricity so we can hang the "trouble light" in the tent for reading after dark.

This time, I also brought along a tiny television set, so I could see the McCain vs. Obama debate. To my surprise, half a dozen stations came in clearly with the small antenna. I watched most of the debate while reclining on my air mattress in the tent. Near the end, rain began falling, so it seemed prudent to unplug the extension cord and listen to my little radio instead.

Our campsite was under several black walnut trees. We set up the tent at the edge of the walnut area, but we still had to clear a spot by kicking dozens of black walnuts out of the way.

Whenever the squirrels ran through the treetops, the walnuts rained down. We weren't hit by any of them, but one did fall on my car's hood so hard that it made a little chip in the paint. Oh, well. That's a hazard of parking near walnut trees this time of the year.

The museum in the park has some of the Audubon sketch books, original paintings, and early prints. It's quite interesting. I didn't take any photos because there's a sign at the museum entrance that says, "No Cameras."

One interesting thing I learned at the museum was that Audubon set very high standards for himself. He went through his work every year on his birthday and destroyed everything that was not up to his current level of painting skill.

Like every other Kentucky state park I've visited, much of the infrastructure at Audubon State Park was put in place by CCC and WPA workers. The museum (photo below) was built in 1938 as a WPA project.

Next time we camp at Audubon, I want to hike some of the trails to see more of the forest. This park deserves more time than we were able to give it on this trip.

Hummingbird Nest

Great photos

Over the weekend, take a few minutes and visit a hummingbird nest. There are five pages in all, with photos that document the eggs in the nest, the birth of the fledglings, and finally, the empty nest.

The empty nest is the most impressive photo of all. It's so very tiny.

Special thanks to my cousin Alta who sent this link.

Bird Update

Feathered friends

Recently, I wrote about a mystery bird who is fixated on getting inside our house. Sarabeth and Mark thought it might be a bluebird female. Heelers hoped it might be a little robin.

I got out the bird books again and read about the markings of female and juvenile bluebirds. The books said to look for patches of blue on their backs and wings.

Then, I tried to get a good look at my little bird's back and wings -- not an easy thing to do! When he approached the windows, his wings were moving much too fast to see their color. He often landed on the outside window sill, but he flew away in a fright everytime I tried to look through the window at him.

So, I had to foil my little feathered friend. I opened the window about an inch -- just enough so I could peek through the crack. When the little bird came back, he fluttered around the window, trying to get in. Then, as is his custom, he perched on the window sill. I peeked through my little viewing slot. His wing was directly before me, and yes, there was a small patch of blue on it.

My opinion is that he is indeed a bluebird. (Sorry, Heelers.)

The bird books say the juveniles have speckled breasts. I didn't see even a hint of speckles, but I do think it's a juvenile. Surely an adult female wouldn't spend so much time, day after day, trying to get into the house. She'd be too busy with nest-building or egg-setting or baby-feeding.

In other news on the bird beat, a red-bellied woodpecker has been visiting the hummingbird feeders recently. He is not a particularly large red-belly, but he's heavy for the hummingbird feeder. When he lands on the little perch, the feeder lists to that side. In a day's time, he drinks or spills a couple of inches of sugar water.

All in all, it's been an interesting spring for bird watching.

Birdies in the Treetops (and Elsewhere)

Random bird stories

When I was working in the garden yesterday afternoon, I noticed how quiet it was. The only sound was the birds, singing all around the yard. This, I told myself, is why we live in the country.

Blackbirds

The blackbirds must have a nest in the tall grass and bushes along the back fence. Two of them had a fit about Casper, our cat, who was lounging around the garden. They broadcast their warning so well that even I, a human, heard and understood. Casper is such a twerp that I was ready to laugh if they dive-bombed him. If they had been mockingbirds, they would have, but since they were blackbirds, they just "chirred" from the tree above him.

Mystery bird

A bird has been trying to fly into the windows of the house for days now. It just doesn't give up. It approaches the windows again and again and tries to find a way inside.

Yesterday, I had my car by the garden to unload some stuff, and the little bird wanted to get inside my car. It flew up to the windows repeatedly and fluttered around. I tried to get its picture, but it wouldn't let me get very close. Here it is, sitting on the side view mirror.

It has a reddish breast and a brown back. It's not nearly large enough to be a robin, unless it's a juvenile. Also, its back is not gray like a robin. I've looked through the bird books for an hour and I still can't decide what it is. I think it may be a female since they're often more drab.

Wrens

A wren has nested in the wren house that hangs on the trellis where the grapevine grows. I really must move that house next year. It's along the sidewalk, and the poor little wren thinks she has to fly off her nest every time someone goes by. Some days she isn't bothered much, but when we're all home and working around the house and yard, the little wren has a very bad day.

Hummingbirds

The hummingbirds let me know this spring that I needed to set up their feeders. One evening, I looked outside to see a hummingbird flying around the shepherd's hook where the feeders had been last year. It was obvious that he expected to find food there, so I quickly brewed some syrup, cooled it down, and filled the feeders. They hadn't been in place five minutes before the little hummingbird found them.

Birdies in the Treetops

"Birdies in the treetops" is a phrase from a little song we sang in Sunday School, many years ago. The rest of it goes like this:

The birdies in the treetops sing their song;
The angels chant their chorus all day long;
The flowers in the garden blend their hue;
So why shouldn't I, why shouldn't you, praise Him too?

(Author unknown)

Rowe Sanctuary's Crane Cam 2008

Migratory birds rest at Nebraska's Platte River

Image (792K) from Wikipedia's article about Sandhills Cranes

Each year, 500,000 (or more) Sandhill cranes spend a few weeks in Nebraska's Platte River Valley as part of their long migratory trip north.

On and along the wide, shallow Platte River, the birds rest and build up fat reserves for the rest of the trip north. They need enough strength to fly, and then to mate and reproduce at their final destination.

The Sandhill cranes, tall gray birds with a 6-foot wingspan, begin arriving in February. Their presence in the Platte River wetlands triggers a migration of birdwatchers to the area that ends only when the last cranes leave in April.

Each morning, the cranes rise up from the river in flocks, and each night, the flocks land on the water together. They spend their days in the fields surrounding the river, feeding on insects and fallen grain and dancing with each other (pre-mating behavior.)

Rowe Sanctuary and the Crane Cam

The Rowe Sanctuary on the Platte River south of Gibbon, Nebraska, provides a 2000-acre safe haven of wetlands and roosting area along the riverside. The Sanctuary offers a number of blinds from which the birds can be observed on the river. Tours for individuals or groups can be arranged. Sometimes the cranes land (or take off) just a few yards from the blinds.

Many of us will never make it to one of the blinds, but we can experience the birds through the National Geographic Crane Cam. The website states that the best viewing hours are 6:30-8:30 AM CST and 7:00-9:00 PM CST. A "Real Player" plugin is needed.

At any time of the day, you can see and hear birds on the river via the webcam. Hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese are in the area along with the cranes.

Note: This article is about the 2008 Crane Cam. See this blog article for information about the 2010 Crane Cam 

Rowe Sanctuary Volunteer

Carolyn Hall of Bassett, Nebraska, (my old hometown) has spent the past week working at the Rowe Sanctuary. She has been taking tour groups to the blinds, running the webcam, tending the guest register, cleaning restrooms, helping in the gift shop, and being useful in just about any way she can. It's been a busy week, but she's enjoyed it. Her daily letters included this account:

I helped with the strawbale blind tonight. We had 24 people and two college students. We got to the blind about 6:40 and gave our speel about the birds and the river, when at 7:20 the first cranes landed on the edge of the river about 1/4 mile downriver. From then to 8:10, it was flock after flock of birds landing. We must have had at leat 10,000 cranes and a few geese within 1/4 mile of us. In the end they were landing right in front of the blind. We managed to get everyone out of the blind and back to the parking lot without spooking the birds. We had a happy group of people!

Source: E-mail from Carolyn Hall, March 15, 2008.

Shikepokes, shypokes, and Sandhill cranes

When I was growing up in the Nebraska Sandhills, we often saw tall birds at our lakes, ponds, and marshes in the spring. We called them "shikepokes."

A few years ago, I read that Sandhill cranes are sometimes called "shypokes" or "preacher birds." Then, I realized that the shikepokes of my memories may have been Sandhills cranes, passing through Nebraska during migration.

However, the name "shikepoke" can also refer to various herons and bitterns. My memory of our shikepokes' appearance is not too clear, so I don't know if they were Sandhills cranes, but they might have been.

My Secret Chicken Love Affair

A collection I am resisting

True confession: I am attracted to chickens. There's nothing kinky about it. I simply admire their handsome appearance.

I've been admiring the currently-popular chicken knick-knacks ever since the fad started. At Clarksville yesterday, I saw some nice tributes to chickens at Hobby Lobby, but I resisted buying any of them. I didn't even look at their prices. I just took their pictures.

I've only had real chickens once in my life, about 32 years ago or so. I was working at Empire Gas of Hermitage, MO, and I rented a little mobile home near there from a lady who wanted to move back to Kansas City.

My landlady had about a dozen chickens, which I inherited when she moved out and I moved in. My favorites were the black-and-white speckled ones. I think they were Barred Plymouth Rocks.

My boss liked my black and white chickens, too. He was always wanting me to bring in some of their little speckled fuzz-feathers so he could make them into fishing flies. He had a spell of good luck catching crappies with them, and he always hoped to repeat that success.

You can see a couple of good drawings of Barred Plymouth Rock chickens at the Oklahoma State University Animal Science website. Another good photo has been uploaded to Mother Earth News by Robin Arnold of Port Clinton, Ohio.

At the blog, "Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere," Sarpy Sam sometimes posts some good photos of his Darling Wife's chickens. You can find them by visiting the Sarpy Sam's photo archives and typing "chickens" into the archives. (You'll find many beautiful photos of Montana ranch country there, as well.)

Though I like chickens, I don't think I'll probably ever own another flock of them, real or otherwise. I am not that excited about the responsibility of taking care of them, and really, we don't use too many eggs.

The family got me a nice large rooster with metal tail feathers last Christmas. Unfortunately the cats knocked him off his perch, and his body, which wasn't metal, shattered.

I do have a set of rooster salt and pepper shakers which Keely gave me, and a hen-on-a-nestegg bank that my friend Cynthia gave me a couple of years ago. However, I refuse to start a serious chicken collection. I have plenty of collections already.

Pigeon Games

Life in Christian County, Kentucky... More About Birds and Animals...

Our homemade pigeon trap

We made a pigeon trap today. As you can see, it's nothing fancy. It's just a box with a flap cut in the up-side (that is, in the former bottom of the box.)

The idea is that you prop the box up with a stick. When the bird goes under the box to eat the grain, you pull the stick out with the attached string. The box drops over the bird. Then you reach through the flap and hold the bird.

A helper then lifts the box a little and somehow, between the two of you, the bird is put into a cage. My idea is that we should slide something flat under the box and carry it to an enclosed area before making the transfer. We haven't reached that step yet because we haven't caught the bird.

He came close to the box a few times but he didn't go under it. He is finding fallen seed from the feeders and also the rice we threw on the ground for him yesterday. He doesn't seem interested in the grain under the box.

Tomorrow morning, I will rake that area and try to remove some of the extraneous food. Maybe then he'll be more interested in the food in the trap. I hope we can catch him soon because I have other things to do!

This afternoon, he was sitting on the roof (photo below.) I don't know where he is roosting tonight. I don't think he's in the tree where he spent the last two nights.

Dennis and his brother Steve had pigeons when they were kids. They didn't have racing pigeons, but they had rollers and tumblers (named for their distinctive flight patterns), kings, and fantails. Grandpa Netz fixed a pigeon loft in the barn, and the boys took care of them every morning before school.

That's why Dennis immediately realized this stray was a lost homing pigeon. I had no clue. I'd have guessed the bird was banded for some sort of scientific study.

Related post: A Pigeon Is Visiting Us

Lonely bird

Technorati tags: homing pigeon, lost pigeon, pigeon trap

A Pigeon Is Visiting Us

Life in Christian County, Kentucky... More About Birds and Animals...

I'm excited about seeing a pigeon in our yard today. There are several reasons why this is a noteworthy event:

• In 17 years, we've never seen a pigeon in our yard before.
• The pigeon is extremely tame.
• The pigeon has a red band on one leg and a green band on the other leg.
• The pigeon is roosting in the tree outside our living room window tonight.

We think he is a homing pigeon that is supposed to be in a race but has lost his way. I don't know when he arrived, but I first saw him about 2 p.m. He was looking for dropped seed under the bird feeder.

We gave him some water in a dish and sprinkled some sunflower seeds on the ground for him. They are probably not his favorite food, but he ate them.

After pecking around for a while, he nestled against a tree trunk and fluffed up his feathers. He rested there for a couple hours. Then he ate some more. Finally he flew up into the tree late in the afternoon. He's sitting on a little bump on a branch about 25 feet above the ground.

We were thinking about trying to catch him tomorrow to read his legbands, but now I don't know if we should. I've read a page about lost homing pigeons that says the owners want the bird to fly on. Food should be offered just for a couple days, they say.

At least, now I do know what to feed him -- popcorn (unpopped) and rice (uncooked). We'll try that tomorrow.

The pigeon is very jaunty looking -- beautiful, really. He has an irridescent neck, nice markings, and a very smooth set of gray feathers.

I didn't get his picture while he was on the ground. I tried to photograph him in the tree with poor results. So if you want to see what he really looks like, LeggNet has a good photo that looks a lot like our pigeon.

UPDATE (Sunday afternon): We didn't see him this morning and we thought maybe he had flown on. After church, I drove to Murray, KY, to see Keely but my husband came home. He called to tell me that the pigeon was back.

I bought some bird food that has cracked corn and millet in it, and we will try to lure him into a trap with it tomorrow.

Then maybe we can see if any information is on his bands and contact the Pigeon 911 group, as has been suggested in the comments.

There are still several hours of daylight, but he has already roosted high in a tree in the yard.

Pigeon roosting on a bump on the tree branch

The pigeon saga continues: Pigeon Games

Related website: U.S. Navy instructions on carrier pigeon care (from 1912)

Technorati tags: homing pigeon, lost pigeon, pigeon race

Wild Turkey Breaks Bus Window

Some Interesting News...

This story goes into the "Not surprising" file:

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A school bus driver suffered cuts Tuesday when a wild turkey crashed through the windshield of her bus on Interstate 84.

The bus was carrying 36 fifth-graders and four adults on a field trip from Windham Middle School to Indian Rock in Meriden when a flock of turkeys flew into the bus' path, police and school officials said.

One bird went through the windshield, police said...

Source: Wild Turkey Injures School Bus Driver

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP) says their turkey toms can weigh 15 to 25 pounds and turkey hens can weigh 8 to 12 pounds.

The CT DEP also gives this bit of general information about their local turkey species:

In the United States, five subspecies of wild turkey inhabit 49 states except Alaska. The subspecies which exists in Connecticut, Meleagris gallopavo silvestris, ranges from southern Maine to northern Florida, west to eastern Texas and north to North Dakota.

Given the size of the bird and the inertia of a bus traveling 55 mph or more, it's not really a surprise the window broke. The driver suffered cuts from the glass but will be all right, apparently. There were no other injuries, though some of the kids had glass in their hair.

I haven't yet had a dangerous road experience with a turkey, but I've had a close call with a turkey buzzard that flew up from a roadkill morsel toward my windshield. They're big birds, but not nearly as large as a turkey tom.

Technorati tags: accidents, school bus safety, wild turkeys

Mourning Dove Nest

Life in Christian County, Kentucky... More About Birds and Animals...

This mourning dove nest is about 20 feet up in a silver maple near our house. Mourning doves are well known for constructing flimsy nests, and this one could be described as "sprawling" as well.

During nesting, the male gathers the nest materials and lands on the female to hand it to her so she can work it into the nest. Somehow I missed seeing all that.

In summer, mourning doves inhabit all 48 contiguous states of the USA, and they winter throughout the continental USA except for the very coldest regions.

I believe mourning doves are the same bird that we called "turtle doves" during my Nebraska childhood. John James Audubon, the great naturalist and ornithologist, called them "Carolina pigeons."

Audubon thought that the closest relative of his Carolina pigeon was the now-extinct passenger-pigeon. I suppose that is correct, but I really don't know. I am too sleepy to research it tonight, so you're on your own if you decide to quote that fact.

More information:

• Cornell Lab info page with sound file of the mourning dove's call
  
• Chipper Woods Bird Observatory page about the mourning dove
• 1932 Smithsonian Institute info sheet about mourning doves

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