Happy Thanksgiving

May we all have enough, and be able to find it when the snow comes. And may we be thankful for what we have and aware of the needs of those around us – whatever their species.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nuthatches in November

Last weekend I spent quite a while watching both white-breasted nuthatches and the smaller red-breasted nuthatches at our feeders. We've commonly been seeing a pair of each -- the males with their black caps and the females with their blue-gray caps. The light was coming from the southeast, passing through the coiled wire wreath-shaped whole-peanut feeder to cast interesting shadows on the birds on the shelled-peanut feeder. Here are some shots from that morning. (To save space in the captions, I use the four-letter "alpha codes" for these birds: WBNU - white-breasted nuthatch and RBNU = red-breasted nuthatch.)

As always, click on any of the photos to see them larger.

Male WBNU - note the crossed primaries (longest wing feathers)

Female WBNU checking her surroundings

Female WBNU in the less-common head-up position. Look at the span of that foot!

Her tongue is visible here -- it's as pointed as her bill

See the spiral shadow -- and a nice view of the strong bill

Female red-breasted nuthatch 

RBNU with spiral shadow

Other posts about nuthatches:

• Lady nuthatch in repose
• White-breasted nuthatch
• Red-breasted nuthatch
• Chickadee and nuthatch
• First red-breasted nuthatch at the feeders
• Recent observations (early August phenology)
• Yin and Yang on the peanut feeder

Exploring River Bend Nature Center

Recently I joined the board of River Bend Nature Center in Faribault, Minnesota. Faribault is our county seat, roughly 20 minutes' drive south of Northfield. River Bend offers miles of trails on more than 700 acres of restored prairie, deciduous woods, wetlands and riparian habitat adjacent to the biggest bend in the otherwise relatively straight Straight River. The Straight River flows from Owatonna, Minnesota, and joins the Cannon River at Faribault; the Cannon flows through Northfield and Cannon Falls on its way to meet the Mississippi River at Red Wing.

My children have spent more time at River Bend than I have (so far), as it's one of the key field trip destinations for Rice County schoolchildren, offering experiential environmental learning programs. They also offer summer day camps and an Outdoor Adventures Program that gives both youth and adults the opportunity to learn skills like rock climbing, archery, fly fishing, geocaching and slacklining (which is kind of like low-altitude tightrope walking -- it looks fun). I'd been aware that Minnesota State Parks & Trails has a program like this (the "I Can Camp/Fish/Climb/etc." series) at sites around the state, but I only recently discovered that River Bend also offers this kind of skills-based education.

Since joining the board I've been making a point to explore the grounds more. Admission is free every day (but memberships are a great way to support RBNC). Today was a glorious fall day -- sunny, pleasantly cool and free of the brisk winds that have been with us for the last several days. With my camera in hand I walked the Overlook / Walnut / Racoon trails at the north end of the grounds. This was the first time I'd been on any of these trails. Here are a few of the sights. I'll start with my favorite shot of the day, though it's out of sequence.

A perfect hill and sky

I think this is the edible Chicken of the Woods mushroom. Impressive!

I need to learn trees better - I think these are aspens turning gold

Wild grapes

Brilliant sumac amid prairie grasses

Layers of autumn hues

Goldenrod gone to seed

Closeup of the fluffy goldenrod seed clusters

Fall color -- and a paper wasp nest high in the tree on the left

Paper wasp nest seen closer

Transitional Goldfinch

It's the time of year when the male American goldfinch loses his lemon-yellow breeding plumage and takes on his drab winter colors. Here are a couple of photos of a transitional goldfinch at one of our feeders this past week. Kind of a mess, isn't he?

For comparison, here is what a male goldfinch looks like during the breeding season (spring and summer):

And here is a winter goldfinch (this may be a female, as a winter male may have more yellow on his head, but they are not terribly different from each other):

I've written about goldfinches several times: see other posts here.

Bald Blue Jay

About four weeks ago I was startled to see this nearly bald blue jay at our feeder. It's possible that there were two such bald birds, actually, as it/they were quite a common site for a while, but I didn't see two together so I can't confirm that. I quickly learned that this is not an unusual phenomenon. I'd heard of it happening with cardinals, and it turns out it also happens with blue jays.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch page on bald birds notes that most such cases are reported in the summer and fall and may simply be a normal seasonal molt where the bird, for whatever reason, loses all the feathers on its head at the same time instead of gradually. Other causes may sometimes play a role -- perhaps mites, lice, or nutritional or environmental factors -- but the condition is not well understood.

The FeederWatch page cheerfully concludes, "Fortunately, new head feathers grow in within a few weeks." And indeed, this has been the case at our house. The birds we have seen recently are all properly feathered, handsome and sleek, like this one.

Have you seen bald birds at your feeders?