A beautiful fall that feels a lot like summer

I walked at Murphy-Hanrehan Park today. I saw a pair of warblers that I couldn't identify, Lincoln's, Song, and White-throated Sparrows, a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets, three Hermit Thrushes, Juncos and Chickadees, and several hawks flying at a distance. We are mostly past peek fall colors here, but there is still some to be seen.

Even the prairie grasses look great.

I came home and mowed grass and leaves. Then I walked out back. It;s October 20 and we still have roses blooming.

The Cimicifuga racemosa is finally blooming. Often we get a freeze before it comes into bloom, but not this year.

We also have hydrangea coming into bloom. I'm sure this endless summer has nothing to do with climate change!

Here's some wisdom from a late bloomer:

“I was a late bloomer. But anyone who blooms at all, ever, is very lucky. ” ― Sharon Olds

It's Snowing Again

These goldfinches are as happy about it as I am.

Hummers Still Around

For the last couple of days I have been watching a hummingbird at the feeder. On Friday morning we had our first hard freeze and I woke up early in the morning thinking about the glass feeder I still had outside, worrying that it might be frozen and cracked. So I got up and brought it inside; the contents were frozen but the feeder hadn't cracked.

As it was getting light I watched outside and saw the hummer buzzing around where the feeder was supposed to be. I took the feeder back outside and shortly thereafter the hummer was feeding.

I shared this on Sunday morning with a woman at church whose spouse is an avid birder. He called me up in the afternoon and wondered if he might come and watch for the bird. He was at the house for about half an hour when it showed up. He identified it as a female Ruby-throated hummingbird; I thought I had been seeing some red on the neck but his picture and his better eye than mine didn't see any. In any case he said this was the latest confirmed report of a hummingbird in MN. (Update: On reflection I wonder if he said that if it had been a male it would have been the latest... I will have to find out.)

This morning we woke up to another fresh snowfall of several inches. I went out and cleaned off the feeder posts before light but then didn't watch the feeder until later in the morning. It didn't take long for the bird to show up and it has been in and out of the feeder every half hour or so.

Shrike Attack

I looked out the window into my backyard yesterday and saw something I had never seen there before. A Shrike was feeding on what appeared to be a female Cardinal. I have seen Shrikes in the wild before. I have never seen them in my yard and never seen them carrying out their distinctive kind of predatory behavior. Shrikes are predatory songbirds that often impale their victims on thorns. They will leave them there to return later to feed.

There are two varieties: Northern and Loggerhead. Northern Shrikes winter in Minnesota so this is likely what I was watching in my yard. We have had extensive rabbit damage of our shrubs this winter - I wish we had more large predators in the neighborhood - and the Shrike had used the chewed-off stem of a Chokeberry as its thorn.

I watched it through my binoculars for a few minutes then attempted to take a picture out the back door of the garage. It eyed me for long enough to capture two shots with my very inadequate (for nature photography) camera and then it pulled the Cardinal off the stem and flew off.

Sparrow Hawk

Actually, it is not a Sparrow Hawk, or Kestrel, but a Cooper's Hawk. Cooper's Hawks are frequent visitors in our back yard where they lunch mostly on House Sparrows. Every winter our back yard turns into a sparrow slum as anywhere from 20-40 birds spend the day feeding at the feeders. I am happy to share them with the hawks as they compete with the Cardinals, Chickadees, Nuthatches, and finches that I am wanting to feed.

As I shared here some years ago, it was also a Cooper's Hawk that ate one of our Cockatiels that I forgot was sitting on my shoulder when I opened the front door. Out went the Cockatiel and down came the Cooper's Hawk. Probably the easiest meal it ever had.