Birding for the Faint of Heart

Things have been busy rapping up the last weeks of my internship, but I wanted to update everyone on my life list status. Since my last post on birdwatching, I've got ten new species. Unfortunately, many of my pictures from my field notes are not ready to be posted but in the near future, I hope to offer a more complete picture of my time spent in Indiana. Until then, here are the new birds for the list:

Unfortunately, we've all seen this picture before. I should have new

pictures for posts coming in the near future.

132: Wild Turkey - I rather enjoyed encountering these strange birds. The first time I saw them was about eight years ago or more near Yellowstone National Park. A few of them were in the distance as we drove past an opening in a forest by the highway. It was a fleeting glimpse. This summer, I saw several more on the side of the railway tracks from South Bend to Chicago. Most recently, one was seen at Indiana Dunes State Park on the 27th of July. Walking down a closed boardwalk (due to flooding) I heard something rustling in the brush along the edge of the swamp. I crouched for a closer look and determined that some creature with a bushy face was crawling out from under a pine tree. Its rear end emerged and a long curved tail spun around. Of course, I'd been looking at it backwards--the tail was its neck and head. They are strange but beautiful birds.

133: Red-headed Woodpecker - On a suburban road near the Tippecanoe River. Startlingly brilliant.

134: Tree Swallow - Also at the Tippecanoe, swooping low over the water, often juveniles, either practicing flight, playing games, or catching insects. Undoubtedly the adults were after mayflies or the like.

135: Black-billed Cuckoo - Skulking around the lakes at Notre Dame. Cuckoos have always struck me as very exotic, as I mentioned in a post when I saw the yellow-billed species.

136: Tufted Titmouse - Also at the Notre Dame lakes, these birds were much larger than I expected.

137: Rose-breasted grosbeak - My final trip to Potato Creek State Park turned up three new species for my list, including this one, seen at a bird feeder outside the nature center.

138: Eastern Phoebe - Seen hunting invertebrates above the trail in Potato Creek's forest canopy.

139: White-eyed Vireo - A family of these birds was seen off of one of the trails at Potato Creek State Park.

140: American Black Duck - Undoubtedly, many of the "mallards" at Notre Dame are actually American black ducks, I only just noticed them now.

141: Snowy Egret - I thought it was a great egret at first but, on closer inspection, it was certainly too small for that.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Brown-headed Cowbird

Do you notice anything wrong with this picture? I was walking to dinner yesterday (June 17th, 2014) on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana when I happened upon this fascinating scene. A chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina) bounced up to a chirping, young icterid (blackbird family). As the young bird increased its excited begging, the sparrow dropped a morsel down its throat. Of course, by then I knew exactly what was going on. The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a parasite!
A female brown-headed cowbird can lay over 30 eggs a spring but most of these will never develop. While many eggs are rejected by the host birds, other young cowbirds are left to die after they hatch as the victim parents discover the truth about their youngster. Cowbirds don't always pick the right nest, either. If the host bird is a fruit eater, the baby cowbird can't get the protein it needs to develop and survive. Yes, life is hard as a cowbird. To help with this, cowbirds make life very difficult for bird families that won't "adopt" their babies. If an egg or young cowbird is rejected from a nest, the cowbird parent will terrorize the nest, often killing the natural young inside or destroying the nest altogether. In the case I photographed above, it appears as if the only surviving youngster in the family was the cowbird.
The bird gets its name from its previous way of life in the midwest and great plains; following the great herds of bison (Bison bison). Although the bison herds are largely dissipated, the cowbird has found living in suburban areas suitable. You've got to respect a bird that has adapted to a lifestyle among the causers of the disappearance of its previous way of life.
I had to wait about 15 minutes under the tree before the sparrow returned once again to feed the cowbird chick and I was able to get this photo. Although many people work against cowbirds to try to eradicate them, I appreciate the cowbird's way of life as a natural part of a cursed world. It's just like predation: it's not pretty, but it is a natural part of life (and death). And besides, the thinning of the species actually increases the amount of parasitism that takes place because cowbirds do not desert as many parasitized nests when populations are low (see reference below).

Reference:

Hall, Ackert. 2008. “Cowbird Removals Unexpectedly Increase Productivity.” Ecological Applications. 18(2):537–48. Retrieved June 18, 2014 from http://www.k-state.edu/bsanderc/2008ecolappl.pdf

Species: Common Musk Turtle

Sternotherus odoratus

July 7th, 2014. The first wild musk turtle I have every held.

I first started thinking about this turtle way back in the early 2000s as a teenager. I was trying to single-handedly determine all the original created kinds (an arduous task) and I started with my favourites, the reptiles. I became troubled with the Kinosternidae (mud and musk turtles) and Chelydridae (snapping turtles) in particular because the former seemed to be miniature versions of the larger, with slightly more of an emydid (pond turtle) look. The question was, were they the same created kind or different. I emailed entomologist Mr. Gordon Wilson and veterinarian Dr. Jean Lightner about the dilemma because they were involved in a baraminology study group at the time. Mr. Wilson seemed to be leaning toward the idea of two different created kinds. I am still undecided to this day, although it seems that most creationists continue to lean toward the idea of separate holobaramins (created kinds).

This week, I was reminded of these distant thoughts. Morning of June 7th, a Saturday, I was walking redundantly around the lakes on Notre Dame's campus when I noticed a small turtle in the grass at the lakeshore. I moved to make a capture but stopped. What was she doing way out here? Of course! Closer inspection revealed that her hindquarters were lowered in a shallow depression. Under there was a hole, carved out by here hind legs for the deposition of eggs. Not willing to miss a magic moment, I sat down on the grass a ways off and waited. She huffed and wheezed, apparently expending a significant amount of energy expelling the eggs from her 5 inches or so of length. It was a half hour later the her rear started to move; burying her eggs.
Common musk turtles are not particularly common, unfortunately. Nest survival rates are incredibly low with only about 15% of nests going undiscovered by predators. Among hatchlings, few of those make it to adulthood. In parts of the US the musk turtle is considered a threatened species and it is considered endangered in Canada. The female I found was fully grown, but quite small compared to other turtle species. She certainly looked delicate and vulnerable laying her eggs in an open weedy area like the one she had chosen. Maybe the heavy human traffic, who were largely oblivious to the turtles presence, keep predators off most of the time.

When she had finished and started moving back to the water I carefully picked her up and inspected her closely. She seemed a little tired. I set her back down on the bank where she rested a moment before sliding back into the water. I turned my attention to the nest. She had done a pretty good job of covering the eggs, but had left on small, white egg sticking out of the top. I know painted turtles typically go to great lengths to make sure their eggs are concealed. Perhaps she wasn't comfortable with me watching her. The nest was fairly well hidden simply because of its location down in the weeds, but I obligingly covered the single exposed egg anyways. An extra help the little turtles can have at life would be appreciated, I figure. I'll be back in Canada when they hatch around 100 days after laying.

Birding Update: Now 131 Species!

Yellow-throated vireos are gorgeous, eh?

Amazing that this, of all years, would be the one I chose to do a little Big Year. Without birding as my primary purpose I've dodged back and forth from the two farthest corners of the continent. From the Pacific northwest to the southeast and back. Well, now my pursuit of biology as a career has brought me to the midwest, under the Great Lake Michigan. My list is rising rapidly and I have a good feeling about making it to 150. Maybe I should raise the bar to 200, eh?

Bird 123: Sandhill Crane on May 28th
Although this bird was only seen for a fleeting moment as it flew over a farmers field on a tile drain water sampling trip for my ecology internship, it made a great impression. It seemed to be suffering under the constant and determined harassment of a blackbird. Why a blackbird would have any reason to give a gentle crane a hard time I haven't any idea. I only very rarely see cranes in the wild, and they always seem to be high in the sky flying in formation. I love they way they fly with their necks outstretched. Very unlike herons and egrets which fly with and S-curve in their necks.

Bird 124: Black-crowned Night-heron on May 29th

I think if I was a female yellow-throated
vireo, I'd be all over this guy.
He's a beauty!

I'll be honest; I didn't expect to see this bird so far north. Last time I saw night-herons it was in a hot muggy Texas swamp. He did seem a little out of place; at a suburban lake putting up with a lot of human foot traffic and noise from some kind of giant generator on the lakeshore of the University of Notre Dame. When I entered this bird into my list on eBird, they notified me it was a rare bird for that area, but I double-checked my pictures and there can be no doubt that it is a black-crowned night-heron.

Bird 125: Chipping Sparrow on May 29th
This is one of those birds you hear a lot about from different people and I kind of thought I would see one long before now. There were a couple under a young hardwood of some kind on the lawn of one of the academic building's on Notre Dame's campus near the lakes. It's about time I saw a sparrow besides the introduced house sparrows which are all over campus.

Bird 126: Chimney Swift on May 30th
Another American classic. I have seen several of these darting around the campus skies.

Bird 127: White-breasted Nuthatch on May 30th
I kind of thought that this bird was already on my list somewhere, but there is no record of it in eBird so I must just be remembering last year. Nuthatches are some of my favourite birds; they bounce around tree trunks and limbs with no regard for gravity. I don't think it matters to them which side is up.

Bird 128: Yellow-throated Vireo on May 30th
Another one nailed at the lakes on campus at Notre Dame. First time EVER that I've been able to identify a vireo positively to the species. I'm getting better at this.

Bird 129: Orchard Oriole on May 30th
Actually, eBird doesn't know it, but I saw this bird about four minutes before the vireo, so they should really swap numbers. Anyways, it was a pretty rough looking young male of its species. Kind of frazzled and obsessed with preening.  Just like a teenager.

Wood ducks are always a pleasant find and there must be
3 or 4 pairs of them living on the lakes at Notre Dame.

Bird 130: American Woodcock on June 1st
Flushed out of the bush Sunday evening when I went looking for deer off trail in Potato Creek State Park. One deer. The woodcock might have been a bonus but I am fascinated by these woodland sandpipers and, if I'd known it was there in the first place, I would have sneaked more lightly to perhaps see some behaviour of this shy bird.

Bird 131: Yellow Warbler on June 1st
I didn't even realize that this was a new bird for my list. I've seen yellow warblers before and I figured they were already on my list. However, this was the first time this year I'd seen one, eBird informed me. I'm happy about that because it puts me over 130. Now I have to get to 150. Things have been to good to let down my search. I have a haunch that I will make it to 200 if I'm aggressive.