eggs

Each day, Tree Swallows fly above the pond looking like they are doing aerial acrobats for our amazement.  In reality, they are eating -- feeding on flying insects.  So adept in the air, they eat and drink while flying, and rarely spend any time on the ground.  Unlike other swallows, they nest in old woodpecker cavities or human-built boxes. A pair settled in the bluebird box near the pond and started their clutch of eggs.  Each is less than an inch long, white, and oval.  The female places shed feathers from herself and other birds in the nest grass to hide the eggs until she is is ready to incubate them all.

Blackbird fledglings

Hiding in the reeds, unsure of what to do next, these three young Red-winged Blackbirds are waiting for instructions from a parent.  They fledged from their nest today, and flew a short distance. They hatched only 10 days ago (see post on 6/10/2020), then grew and developed to almost their adult size.  The mom will feed them and teach them to find food on their own for the next few weeks.  Seeds are most of their diet year-round, but for summer they will learn to hunt insects hiding among plants surrounding the pond.  Later, once each develops agile flight, they will catch flying insects mid-air.

vibrant thistle color

On 6-7-2020 we posted photos of a lovely rosette of thistle leaves.

The Musk Thistle plant is biennial -- seed germinates in the fall and survives winter as a small plant close to the ground.  Covered by leaf litter, it is insulated through cold weather.

This plant has grown to over 5 feet tall, and branched out to display several flower buds. Each is beginning to show its true vibrant color.

Goldfinches use the downy parts of the seed produced by this flower, and they eat the thistle seed.  But it is an invasive plant and very painful to touch.

cinquefoil

This little 5-petaled gem shines with bright yellow blossoms among the early green plants around the pond.

It looks like wild strawberry before it blooms.

But the petals, with a pointed sepal between each one, tells us its true identity -- cinquefoil.  There are several varieties in the potentilla family.  This is Rough Cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica.

It will add color to the wildflower field all summer long, and compliment the native plants that will bloom later.

alfalfa

Alfalfa Medicago sativa is another forage crop grown around the world. But it escaped and now commonly sprouts along roads and degraded or disturbed areas.  Also called lucerne or purple medic, Alfalfa adds its deep purple blooms to the wildflower palette around the pond.  Known for the remarkable productivity and quality of its herbage, the plant is also valued in soil improvement and is grown as a green manure.  We are glad it is present here to add its color and value to the pond area.

Alsike Clover

Clover is a forage crop around the world.  But it readily escapes cultivation, so it is common in meadows and in disturbed places.  This pond and surrounding wetland was disturbed during transition to a neighborhood, and some native plant seed was sown.  So, we have clover.

Alsike Clover Trifolium hybridum flowers are light pink turning darker pink with age, giving the head a distinct two-tone color pattern as lower blossoms on the globe mature first.

Clover is one of the main nectar sources for honeybees.  The resident Muskrats are very fond of clover.  We see them swimming across the pond, picking a bunch of clover stems and leaves with flowers, then swimming back across the pond to their burrow.

red-winged blackbirds hatched

The female Red-winged Blackbird has been constantly hunting and making frequent trips back to her nest.  This signaled to me that her eggs have hatched.  This species usually lays 2 to 4 eggs per brood.  Sure, enough, there are three chicks in the nest.  They look out-of-focus because, while the other material in the frame is still, the new babies are fuzzy and wriggling.  Their beaks are pointed to lower left in this photo.

With help of tall boots and a pole for my camera, I was able to peer into the reeds and see the beauty of her architecture skills.  Blackbirds wind stringy plant material around several upright stems, then weave in a platform of coarse, wet vegetation. She adds more wet material to shape a cup, plastering the inside with mud. To protect her babies, she lines the cup with fine, dry grasses.

swallows

There are two kinds of swallows that regularly hang out near our pond.  Both species are aerial insectivores, which means they are so agile they can eat and drink all they need while flying.  They “swallow" food with their mouth open as they soar through a group of flying insects.  They dip their beaks to sip water as they glide low over a pond or lake.  They eat mosquitoes, flies, grasshoppers, beetles, moths and other flying insects in mid air.  Small birds with long wings, they can make sharp turns at high speeds in order to catch hundreds of insects each day. Swallows are most often a welcome sight with their voracious appetite for flying insects – a good mosquito control method.

Tree Swallows Tachycineta bicolor are iridescent blue with a white front and underparts  nest in cavities . . .  old woodpecker holes or a nestbox like Bluebirds.

The Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica has a deeply forked tail, dark feathers and rust colored throat and  under parts.  This 6" long bird lives in farmlands, suburbs, and wetlands. Because they make nests of mud in barns, on ledges, or under eaves, the location of their nests sometimes make them a pest.
Photo below: Barn Swallow

thistle

We have been watching this thistle plant, while removing the other "field" thistles from the wetland area.  Probably 'Musk Thistle' Carduus nutans, or ‘Plumeless Thistle’ Carduus acanthoides, the seed germinated last summer.  It over wintered as a rosette protected by leaf litter and a cover of snow.

We noticed this rosette among the ground clutter after the snow melted.  Through May, it resumed vegetative growth.  It is growing tall now, and branching out to produce numerous large flower heads.
This particular plant is just a lot of green now, hiding among more green.

But when it finally blossoms, you will not be able to miss the deep purple magenta flowers!

After blooming and setting seed the whole plant will die, thereby completing the life cycle.
But this plant can produce 120,000 seeds that could germinate this season and form little rosettes to wait out winter.  Rather than allow this species to spread and become a nuisance in the pond area, DNR recommends control before flowering.  We will enjoy the beginning of flowering and try to cut off development of any seeds.

Mallard chicks

A pair of Mallards showed up with ducklings on the pond.  There were only six ducklings today, and they looked older than the brood of eleven  that we saw on May 15.  We can't know if this is the same or a different brood, but it seems like the young here are appropriately more mature.  The bills are longer and their feathers seem smoother than the ducklings we saw before.   (right: closeup of one of the 6)

nestbox terror

Both adult Red-wing Blackbirds have been very aggressive in this wetland area. They regard the entire pond and shoreline as "their" territory.

The male attacks or takes flight after other birds, even larger Crows. He loudly protests Starlings that feed at the shoreline.  He has chased away Chickadees, Tree Swallows, and Bluebirds that tried to nest in the boxes intended for them, just because he does not want them nearby.

The female Blackbird claimed all the seed feeders near the pond as her personal property, and persecuted all other birds who tried to feed at any of them.  When the feeder on our deck was taken away, she stood on the deck rail and demanded we put it back.

RWBB nest

The Red-winged Blackbird nest is hidden in vegetation at the far end of the pond.  The female was in the nest when I approached.  The male adult protested my presence there, flying over my head while squawking loudly. He brushed against my hat several times to make sure I knew he was serious.

Hidden in marsh vegetation, the female had built a sturdy cup of grass a few feet out from the shore.  Suspended above the water and lashed to stiff standing reeds from last season, the nest is purposely hard to reach.  She had built it of grass, reeds, leaves, rootlets, and lined it with fine grass.  While I watched, she only squashed down further in the nest to hide her eggs.

Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus typically have 3 or 4 eggs in a clutch, and they may have a second clutch each season.

Phoebe

The Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe is one species in the family of Tyrant Flycatchers.  Phoebe is mostly insectivorous. It forages by watching from a perch, flying out for insects, and catching them in mid-air.  This is called a "sallying" style – flying up  directly from their perch to catch an insect and then immediately return to the same perch.  In some cases, Phoebe will take an insect from foliage while hovering briefly.  The pond area is replete with insects in the air and on the plants around it.  The branch on the feeder pole is a good 'sallying' perch.

grackle and turtle

Grackles Quiscalus quiscula forage on the ground. Food items might include seeds, acorns, fruits, and garbage. In summer their diet includes grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, spiders, mollusks, fish, frogs, salamanders, and mice.  

Maybe this Grackle was so intent on diet he did not notice the Painted Turtle passing nearby on the shore of the pond.

early meadow rue

Early Meadow Rue Thalictrum dioicum is also called Quicksilver Weed.  The small flowers will open into fuzzy clusters.  The foliage is a pleasing blue-green color.  This specimen is coming up among other plants hiding beneath the young trees.  Early Meadow Rue often likes moist partly shaded areas, so this one will thrive in the position it has chosen near the pond. 

I believe that plants actually move to where they can optimally survive.  If a seed falls in suitable habitat for the plant to thrive and reproduce, then it does so.  If the seed falls in a less-than-perfect place, then it withers. This way, plants move from generation to generation, even as the climate changes.

wildflowers May

Wildflowers are blooming around the pond.  3-1/2" of rain yesterday will encourage more blooms.
Ox-eye Daisy (top), Golden Alexanders (middle), and White Campion (bottom).

Sandpiper

This morning a Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius was finding a meal -- small invertebrates,  crustaceans, or insects -- among the reeds on the shore.

They nest on the ground near water, so we will be looking for Sandpiper nests as we do citizen science for NestWatch this season.
https://nestwatch.org/

eagle nest

The eagle nest near the pond is surrounded by more leaves each day.  The tree is healthy and shelters the Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus family well.  The strong forked branches are big enough to support the huge nest that has been here several years.  Surrounding their tree, the eagles have fields and several wetlands to hunt for food. 

emerged

We have been watching the cocoon since it was re-attached to a willow stem two days ago.  Today the Polyphemus silk moth Antheraea polyphemus emerged.  This adult will live 3 or 4 days. She will not hunt or feed, only seek a mate in her short existence in this form. The life cycle will start again when she lays eggs; the eggs will hatch caterpillars that will eventually cocoon to become as handsome as this adult.  Look closely -- the 'eye spots' are as transparent in real life as they look!

what is it May 2020

I found an unfamiliar object on a twig laying on the ground near the pond. Deer have browsed the willow shoots in that area, and this was cut but left behind. The object seemed like a gall or growth rather than a seed pod.  It has dried leaves curled around it, and looks to be attached to the twig with a web-like or woven material.  I asked my friends on Botanical Wanderings for ID help -- it is most likely the cocoon of a native silk moth. If so, it should emerge in the next few weeks. Hopeful, I tied it to a sandbar willow branch near where I found it, since willow a host plant where giant silk moths lay their eggs.

Tree Swallow pairing

Several Tree Swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, are flying around above the pond, estimating the area as a food resource.  They also checked in to the two nestboxes here.  We think they approve, signaled by them placing a few grasses in the boxes.

Painted Turtle

Lack of rain has exposed some of the rocks in the pond as water level recedes.  The Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta climb on the rocks to bask in the sun.  Females grow to 10 inches, while males are slightly smaller at full size.  They are common in Minnesota, and sometimes called "mud turtles".

Mallard ducklings

The female Mallard appeared on the pond today with 11 ducklings in tow.  It is hard to tell exactly how many hours old they are since we did not track the nest or hatch time.  They stayed by Mom at first, but all swam vigorously as they got used to the water.

muskrat take-in dinner

This adult Muskrat is probably taking a meal home to the nest.  They can bear more than one litter per year.  Carrying this much food, rather than eating on the spot, suggests this adult has a litter unable yet to feed on their own.  In Minnesota, Muskrats, Ondatra zibethicus, eat vegetation they they find and harvest in wetlands.  They weigh 2 to 5 pounds, and live in burrows or domed nests on the edge of ponds or streams.

Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus is setting his territory around the pond.  The water is surrounded by grasses, rushes, shrubs, and wildflowers -- perfect habitat for the nests that female blackbirds will build.  But this bird is a bully -- he chases every other songbird.  The Tree Swallows tried to inspect the nestbox intended for them and the Blackbird displayed his beautiful wing epaulets while screeching at them.