Crane Lake Nature Blog

Gray Jay

a pair of Gray Jays have discovered the deer rib cage that I hung out for them earlier this winter.

Gray Jay

The 2 birds were just frantic in their exuberance in finding the new source of food. One Gray Jay was up on the rib cage pecking at the suet, while the other Jay was on the ground gathering up any scraps that had fallen.

Earlier this winter I had lamented that I didn’t have a deer carcass to hang for the birds. Then a neighbor called me to say they had an extra rib cage that I could have. I jumped at the chance to get a deer carcass! It was super cold when I got the rib cage and it was frozen solid. I conned my husband into hanging in a tree in the backyard, he wasn’t too thrilled about it. But it’s a great way to see wildlife! It will attract many different species of bird and animal. Pine Martens are particularly fond of deer suet and so are many birds, especially Gray Jays and Boreal Chickadees. In fact, Boreal Chickadees don’t eat sunflower seeds like their cousins the Black-capped Chickadee. You can attract Boreal Chickadees with a deer rib cage if you are in the right place up north in Minnesota. At first only the regular yard birds, like the Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees, were pecking at the rib cage, maybe because it was so frozen and “unscented”. But now with the temperatures warming up, the rib cage has attracted what I wanted to find!

Gray Jays are really extraordinary birds, they start nesting now! I have seen young Gray Jays right out of the nest as early as May 7th. So that means those parent Gray Jays had to start nesting really early while it’s still winter. When you think that it takes at least 20-30 days to incubate eggs and then possibly another 20 days for a nestling to grow enough to leave the nest, they have to start laying eggs at least by March 20th.

When they first discovered the new food source, it seemed they were just so excited about it. They were gulping suet and scraps and storing it in their crops before flying off to some secret hiding place to “cache” their store. You see, Gray Jays store food all winter for the spring time when they’re raising young birds. There aren’t too many food sources in April and May for the young birds - there certainly aren’t any bugs out yet! Gray Jays have to rely on their stored food for that reason.

Now, when just one bird starts showing up, maybe it will signal that the other bird in the pair is sitting on eggs. It would be really cool to find an active nest. I understand that it is next to impossible - Gray Jays are very secretive and they’re smart! They hide their nests in very remote places and they might even lead you somewhere away from their nest if they know you’re trying to track them.

Pine Grosbeak

Pine Grosbeak

I just love looking at the back of the Pine Grosbeaks, the pattern of the feathers are so beautiful.

Black-capped Chickadee

Chickadees are not that easy to photograph. They have that black eye in a black cap and it’s not easy to bring the eye out in a photo.

Ruffed Grouse

This Ruffed Grouse is in full display mode.

Ruffed Grouse in display

I couldn’t see the female he was displaying to, but he was so worked up, he looked like he was panting.

Ruffed Grouse backside

Here’s a view you usually don’t see photographed, but even his backside is beautiful. I love to look at the pattern in the feathers.

Now, I wonder if this is a “red phase” Ruffed Grouse. Compare him to the  Grouse in this photo:

Ruffed Grouse, gray morph

Ruffed Grouse stand-off

Pine Grosbeak

I love the way Pine Grosbeaks launch themselves off the branch. They look like little bombs dropping. Then it seems they wait until the last possible second to extend their wings before landing.

Pine Grosbeak, female

Pretty soon they’ll be heading back up north.

Pine Grosbeak

This photo shows some feathers that look like they might cover her nostrils. I suppose that would help when temperatures drop below zero.

Pine Grosbeak, 1st winter male

At this time of the year, the young males are molting into their adult plumage. You can see the bright red feathers as they mix in with the bronze feathers of his juvenile plumage.

Pine Grosbeak, young male

 I always try to get some shots of this stage in a Pine Grosbeaks life, but it is a small window of time. It seems like the adult males leave first, maybe to hurry back to their breeding grounds for the best territory. For a week or so only the females will be at the feeders, then it seems on March 15th they don’t come in to the feeders anymore. They might still be migrating through, but they pretty much stay up in the trees after the 15th. Then by April they’ve all left.

American Goldfinch

The Goldfinches too, are molting, but here the males are molting into their alternate, or breeding plumage. The bright yellow is starting to show up under this bird’s chin. The females molt too and grow new feathers every year, but they keep their dull plumage all year.

Goldfinch, molting

Dogsledders

I want to be the person in the back being towed on skiis. That looks fun!

What a great weekend it would have been for winter camping. These folks must have come from Ely via the BWCAW, what an adventure that would be.

Moose in the Sax Zim bog

Can you tell I was excited? The light was really low, though it might not look like it in this photo. It was after 5:30 pm and technically the sun had already set. I didn’t even look at the settings on my camera so I’m sure they were all wrong. I probably could have gotten a decent shot if I’d taken the time to look and adjust the settings. I was also shaking with excitement and that translated to the camera, darn!

Moose in motion

I tried to get closer to the Moose and sometimes Moose will just stand and look at you, but not these guys. They were outta’ there! (almost as good a sighting as a Great-gray Owl - I don’t know, maybe it’s a tie)

This past weekend I attended the 3rd Annual SAX ZIM Birding Festival at Meadowlands, MN. What a riot! The camaraderie of getting a bunch of birders together at a venue of this sort is a kick. I met a lot of new people and got to meet up with fellow bloggers HASTY BROOK and NATURE KNITTER. Hi Ann and Karen and Sara, it was fun meeting and birding with you. And my sister-in-law, Sandy you are the greatest, thanks for getting me motivated. Sandy R. you are a gracious host, Thanks for letting us use your feeders as props for the photography workshop. And all the great trip leaders you are awesome, and especially Thanks to MIKE HENDRICKSON for organizing a festival of this magnitude. It has to be the only birding festival that takes place in the frigid cold of winter in a remote northern bog. Can you imagine? Maybe only birders can truly appreciate the wonderful birds that thrive in an inhospitable winter landscape like this where daytime temperatures hover around zero and frequently go below zero, especially when adding in wind chill.

The photo workshop that I attended on Saturday was led by Sparky Stensaas and Shawn Zierman, two excellent photographers from northern Minnesota. I have so much to learn. We went to a private feeding station and the conditions were perfect for taking some decent photos.

Pine Grosbeak

Pine Grosbeak, female

Pine Siskin

Pine Siskin

Here you can see the prop that we were using. The red dogwood branch is stuck in the feeder hole.

Pine Siskin

another prop…

Downy Woodpecker

I can’t decide which photo I like better…

Downy Woodpecker

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Black-capped Chickadee

I ended off the day on Saturday by taking a “self-guided” trip. I missed the bus for the evening Great-gray Owl search, so I went off on my own to a spot where I’d heard a Great-gray had been sited the night before. On my way there, I was tearing up the pavement on Hwy 7 trying to reach my destination before it got too dark. As I was traveling along at a rather high rate of speed, I was also scanning the trees and surrounding landscape for Owls. Then I saw something different - What!!! On go the brakes and I quickly checked the mirrors for other cars and did a u-turn. Yes it was what I thought, it was a ……

Yesterday at about 5:30pm on my way home from town, I saw a bird perched at the tip top of a tree. My first reaction was a big raven, but I thought I better take a better look. Rather than speeding by at 60 mph, I stopped the car and got out my good ole “car bins” and was thrilled to see two tufts on its’ head. It was a Great-horned Owl! This was in Buyck, that is the area about halfway between Crane Lake and Orr on County Road 23.

Back in 2007 there was a Great-horned Owl nest up on the Echo Bay Trail by Lake Kabetogama. I got some really fun pictures of the Owl family. That was in early June and the Owlets were close to being full grown. Great-horned Owls are probably the first bird that starts nesting in the Spring, although Gray Jays might vie for that position. Listen for the Owl’s hoots right now as they are setting up territories and looking for the vacant nests of other’s to take over and raise their brood. Their call is pretty easy to pick out: 3 short hoos and 2 long hoots.

Also, we have an over-wintering Cardinal at Crane Lake, he ( a male) has been visiting a couple different feeders in town. This is the first time we’ve had a Cardinal stay around all winter here at Crane Lake.

I would have to make several changes to my body.

If I want to be able to fly, I would have to lose a lot of weight. If I don’t need to fly I would be able to gain some weight as Ostriches, which are flightless birds, can weigh up to 220 pounds. My bones would have to be lightened up considerably, but they would have to remain strong.

I would have to change the structure of my skeleton to accommodate my new body as a bird. Starting at the bottom, I would have to grow big feet, the tarsus would become much longer, and I would have to grow my toenails out to accommodate whether I would become a bird that targets food through predation or if I were to use my feet and toes to perch. My knees would move up my legs as my femur bone became shorter. My ankles would now be where my knees used to be and I would look funny as I walked. Some people would say I turned my knee completely around, but instead that is my ankle.

I would have to grow a bill on my face to replace my mouth. All my teeth would fall out and I would grow a gizzard to grind up my food. My gizzard would be either a hard piece of cartilage with heavy duty ridges, or I could get away with a softer gizzard depending on which foods I chose to eat.

I would grow feathers and my arms would have to be modified to accommodate the flight feathers that would grow there. My wrist bone would be reduced to just 2 instead of the 10 that I have now, and the bones in my hands would be fused together.

I would have to grow a wishbone, or a furcula, to help the huge breast muscles that are growing to power flight.

My general shape would have to change to make my center of gravity lower.

I think the best part of becoming a bird, would be the high energy demands that would require me to eat my own weight at least twice or maybe even three times my body weight every day. The extra nourishment would help maintain my core body temperature of 103 to 111 degrees Fahrenheit. This daily chore would be a pleasure, but could also be a death sentence if the right food couldn’t be found.

During the breeding season those demands would be even more daunting as I would have several other mouths to feed when my eggs hatched. That is why I might migrate to a location where plenty of protein would be available, like for instance, northern Minnesota, where lots of insects flourish during the summer months.

People have always said I’m a bit “Looney”, maybe that wouldn’t be too bad!