mallards' finest feathers

 

Mallards arrived this week on the pond.  Last year, after nesting and before migrating, mallard ducks molted: each lost and replaced all of their feathers with new drab plumage. This is considered their 'basic plumage.'  In the early spring, just before breeding season, they shed some feathers and put on their handsome 'alternate plumage' to look more attractive and help attract a mate.

These two stood on the rocks to preen their feathers, close to water but not in it.  The male showed off his iridescent green head, bright yellow bill, and orange-red feet. The female revealed the white-bordered bright blue patch in her wing feathers.

geese in early Spring

 

open water

Open water around the edge of the pond.  Now we watch for the ducks and geese to arrive with Spring.

snow covered rocks

Two big rocks are still visible this winter under the snow. This spot, at the edge of the pond with grasses behind, is where we usually see turtles sunning, frogs croaking, or birds hunting in warmer seasons.

winter gardening

Some of the wildflowers need special treatment before they can reproduce.  This is not the desired form of 'special treatment' for people, but some seeds germinate only if they first endure a few months outside in the cold. I sowed several seeds in these small containers, hoping they germinate in early Spring. One benefit is that I know where they are, rather than hiding among the many other wildflower seedlings.  When they sprout I can nurture them until it is time to move them to a permanent spot.

Read more about the process at https://northerngardener.org/winter-sowing-perennials-works/

 

bulrush

 Some plants stand through winter, displaying their structure and form with monochrome colors frosted in snow.

ironweed in winter

 

velvetleaf

Many plants, which bloom and fruit in the warm growing season, stand bravely throughout the winter to ensure its seeds are fully distributed.  This fruit capsule opened as it dried out in Autumn, and seeds have been coaxed out by the breeze.  Now, it stands despite snow and hoarfrost.

Velvetleaf Abutilon theophrasti blooms in late summer with orange-yellow flowers on stems and leaves that really look and feel like they are cloaked in velvet. There were a few growing in the riparian buffer around the pond, but we pulled them because this plant is not native.  It can form dense monocultures in place of native plants, suck large quantities of water and nutrients from the soil, and can inhibit germination of other plants.

This in one of the plants that probably spreads from nearby crop fields, and that we try to keep out of the pond area.

mourning doves

The seed feeders hang outside the deck railing. Sometimes the Mourning Doves line up on the rail, watching for their turn at the feeder. On some days they just sit here to crack and savor the seeds.  We've seen ten at a time here, waiting or enjoying the food.

crow

This American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos is hunting near the frozen pond for something to eat. 

It may be preparing to migrate . . .  or not. 

Individual crows are consistent in whether they migrate or stay in the winter. Partial migration (where only some of a species migrate) might give crows enough flexibility to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Some we see in Minnesota now may have come south for the winter from Canada. Others, who breed and nest here, may have gone to Nebraska for the winter. Crows return faithfully to the same breeding territory each year.

tracks, cracks, marks, mysteries

Snow overnight.  A thin sheet of ice on the pond beneath the slush.  Wonderous tracks and marks this morning.  Maybe the muskrats, or the mallards, or other birds, or the mice or voles?  Maybe all of them, cavorting at dawn!  Tracks in a row, wandering.  Slide marks in the slush like a runway with bunched snow at the end.  Cracks expanding in the ice, icy fingers spreading both black and white!

 

temperamental autumn

Autumn and Spring are the transition seasons, temperamental and transformative.

In past years, I’ve watched birds arrive for nesting on their sacrosanct schedule, whether driven by daylight hours or other clues. Some years, they arrive in Spring when weather is fine, start building nests, and then have to endure several days of cold rain or snow. 

So it is with Autumn.  In October this year, we endured a week of early winter with extreme cold air and several inches of snow.  

But then we had this delightful first week in November!  Sunny and warm until today.

dabbling ducks

Ducks are generally described by birdwatchers as 'dabblers' or 'divers'.  This refers to how the ducks feed on the water of ponds and lakeshores. Mallards are dabblers. They paddle slowly in shallow water looking for snails, worms, insects, or seeds among the aquatic plant material. They dip their heads under water and search for food with their bills.  But their bodies are very buoyant, so when feeding they are almost comical as they bob and dabble, with tails upright and legs visible.

sparrow feeding on shore

Evidently there are still damselflies or dragonflies among the reeds and grasses on the shore.  This sparrow scored one while hopping in the shallow water of the pond. 

surviving below freezing - turtles

Since we had several cold days and nights already, Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta who live in the pond are getting ready for winter.  Lacking summer heat, this one was wandering very very slowly for a food item or a place to settle. Turtles will spend the next several months in frigid pond water below the frozen ice, with their metabolism and their heart rate slowed way down. They can absorb oxygen from the water through vascularized areas in their mouth, throat, and anus (cloacal respiration).  But using oxygen produces lactic acid in their body, which the turtle counteracts with minerals released from its shell and bones.  Painted Turtles do not eat during this time, but they do remain alert, especially to light from above.  In Spring, when the hours of daylight increase, they will respond.

water sports

Sunny and warmer, closer to normal weather today, after an early snow in October.  Several Mallards are getting ready for their travel south by feeding on the dwindling supply of plant material in the pond.  But the resident muskrats do not like to share their food supply.  We watched several encounters today between the animals.  

junco on snowy suet

Juncos arrived last week from nesting grounds north of here.  Several made their way to our feeders.  Usually, they stay in this area all winter, so it is important to locate some food sources before the snow flies.  They will live on seeds from the native plants . . .  and of course, suet.

slush trail

Snow!  Several inches.  Before we were ready for it.  Before the Mallards were ready for it. As they paddled around on the pond to find breakfast, they made a trail in the accumulating slush on the water.

seed heads

 

I have been wandering the riparian buffer and clipping some of the wildflower seed heads to distribute them around the pond. Some native wildflowers exist here already, and we want to spread desirable plants throughout the buffer. 

The clipping process is "a few for spreading to make new plants, most left for the birds." 

Even after the seeds are gone, the structure of the plant is interesting!

boneset in autumn

Boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum has a stout hairy stem, and the plant's leaves occur along it opposite to one another.  In autumn, the flowers go to seed, and leaves turn a rich red-brown color.

The leaves are described as 'perfoliate' because each joins the opposite leaf around the stem so it appears the stem grows through one large leaf.  All parts of this plant are toxic and bitter. Birds rarely eat the seeds, but are attracted to the flowers for the many insects there.

Mallards have been feeding and sunning themselves all day on the pond, even though we had a few snow squalls.  They must be getting ready to head south for the winter.  At dusk, the muskrat came out to gather a meal.  Seeing the ducks, he swam towards them again and again, trying to chase them away.  Defending his territory, or maybe since it is autumn he does not want to share the dwindling green plant material left to eat in the pond?

diving ducks

 

Mergansers stopped on the pond for a rest.  They floated in the early sunlight for a while, then dived under water to search for a meal.  Maybe they found aquatic insects, worms, frogs, or snails.  

Below, the duck on the right is just gathering her body upward to curve down and dive.  Because feathers make ducks buoyant, it takes muscles to dive.  The one on the left is just emerging from a dive, as the water rolls off her head.

reflection in October

 

floating pondweed

The floating leaves of Pondweed are fading at the end of summer.  And the leaves of the nearby trees fall in the water, drift with the breeze, and catch on the Pondweed.  They look golden in the sunlight, brighten the pond, and complement the wildflowers surrounding the water. 

Floating Pondweed Potemogeton natans  has two kinds of leaves; floating and submerged. The shiny leathery floating leaves are opaque, and support the whole plant which is rooted in the mud below. The submerged leaves are thin, transparent, and move with the water.  In summer these plants provide habitats for many tiny aquatic invertebrates. These in turn are used as food by frogs, snakes, turtles, and ducks who feed here. After these plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food in turn for the aquatic invertebrates.  The Pondweed survives winter with rhizomes buried in the mud at the bottom. 

yellow loosestrife

Autumn chores for me include wandering the riparian buffer around the pond and assisting dissemination of wildflower seeds.  Some native plants exist here in clumps.  Our goal is to spread desirable wildflowers throughout the buffer, while suppressing the 'weeds'.  The many tiny seeds on Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata form in small round capsules after the flower matures.

 

The capsule is formed from the five sepals, 

those green triangular-shaped structures behind or below the petals of the flowers.  As they dry out, the capsules harden.  When the seeds are ripe the spheres burst, the five parts open, and the seeds are released.  This is a perennial plant in the Primrose family, and important to native bees in Minnesota.  Next season they will bloom again, bright yellow.