An Amazing Read
Occasionally I come across a book that I would love the whole world to know about, and The Immense World by Ed Yong is one of them. How different animals sense the world has always been of interest to me, and I thought I had a fairly broad understanding of this subject until I opened this book.
Yong explores how different animals experience the world through their varying perceptions of smells, tastes, light, color, pain, heat, vibrations, sounds, and electric and magnetic fields. Each page contains information that will have you looking at our fellow inhabitants with a sense of wonder and awe. As Jeff Vandermeer (author of Authority) wrote: “A powerful and immersive deep dive into the perceptual lives of other organisms – and a persuasive case for more empathy and understanding of the complexity, sophistication, and sheer riotous joy of the nonhuman world – it’s an instant classic.”
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Bobcat Breeding Season
The peak of the Bobcat breeding season is in February and March. During this time, males breed with as many females as possible. Females actively announce their availability through cheek and body rubbing, as well as marking their territory with urine. Their loud and frequent vocalizations can also be heard. Courtship includes the male and female Bobcat chasing and leaping on each other, which is followed by mating (up to 16 times daily for several days).
(Photo: This Bobcat was seen approaching the residence of two domesticated cats. While standing on its hind feet, it scratched the glass door repeatedly. Possibly its vomeronasal organ, located at the roof of its mouth, allowed it to detect the indoor cats’ pheromones.) Thanks to Lucy Keefe who kindly alerted me as to the Bobcat’s presence.
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Harbingers Of Spring Return
Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds and Common Grackles, all harbingers of spring, have started to return to Vermont over the past week or two. In southern and western United States Red-wings are thought to be nonmigratory, but individuals breeding in the Northeast on average migrate roughly 500 miles or more south in the fall. When spring comes, males migrate first and arrive back in the Northeast several weeks before females.
When they do arrive back, Red-winged Blackbirds often encounter several snow storms while on their breeding grounds. This is when life can become challenging for these voracious seed-eaters. They have a couple of months before nesting begins, during which time they are establishing territories and attracting a mate, both of which demand good nutrition. Corn and weed seeds make up a majority of their food during this time; insects are their mainstay during the breeding season.
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A New Children’s Book by Mary Holland
Arbordale Press has just released my 14th children’s book, Animal Myths. Close-up photographs and simple text reveal the misconceptions some animal myths convey. Does a porcupine actually throw its quills? Are bats blind? Do toads give you warts? These and 10 other animal myths are examined within the pages of this book. The last two pages provide mix-and-match activities for 4-9 year-old readers. Available online or independent bookstores. (You may have to request that your bookstore order you a copy if they don’t already carry it!)
Ermine Captures Eastern Cottontail
Ermine, or Short-tailed Weasels, are active year round and their metabolism demands a great deal of sustenance (30% of their body weight per day) in order for them to stay alive. In winter, most of their hunting takes place in the subnivean layer under the snow, where voles and mice (50-80% of their diet) reside.
An Eastern Cottontail is about as big a prey as an Ermine will tackle. Weighing as little as a tenth as much as a rabbit an Ermine has its work cut out for it when capturing and killing one. The Ermine’s strategy is to repeatedly attack the rabbit, biting it over and over to wear it down. (Elbroch and Rinehart, Behavior of North American Mammals). (Photo of Ermine with Eastern Cottontail prey taken in Essex Junction, VT by Will Callahan, submitted by Peter Collier)
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Sea Smoke
The recent severe dip in air temperature created the perfect conditions for “sea smoke” to form – a phenomenon that occurs over water, and which commonly takes place in the Arctic and Antarctic but less so in New England.
When a light wind of very cold air sweeps in and mixes with a layer of saturated warm air immediately over warmer water, the layer of warm air is cooled below the dew point. This layer of cooled air can no longer hold as much moisture and the excess is condensed into fog, or sea smoke. This can and does occur over oceans, lakes (common in the Great Lakes) and rivers. (Photo: sea smoke over Lake Champlain, VT)
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Mystery Photo
The roughly 2-inch tracks of this animal are not very clear, but if you look closely, there is a clue that will help you determine the track-maker’s identity. Please go to NC website and scroll down to “Comments” where you can enter your solution to this mystery. Tracks will be identified Friday, March 11.
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Long-tailed Duck
Congratulations to Margaret Curtin, the first NC reader to correctly identify Monday’s Mystery Photo as the tail feathers of a diving Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis), formerly known as an Oldsquaw. This Arctic sea duck spends the winter on both the east and west coasts of North America as well as on the Great Lakes.
Long-tailed Ducks are known for their diving ability, where they use both their feet and wings to propel themselves deeper than most other diving ducks – as deep as 200 feet — in order to feed on invertebrates and small fish. Males have two slim and elongated central tail feathers that stream behind them (lacking in females) and are the last part of their body to vanish when they dive. (Unfortunately, these feathers are wet and under water in my larger photograph.) The other distinctive feature of this duck is its loud nasal-sounding call which can be heard quite a distance along the coasts of its wintering grounds as well as on its tundra breeding grounds.
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Mystery Photo
Can you identify this mostly-submerged creature? Photo taken 2/11/22 off Massachusetts coast. To submit your response, go to the Naturally Curious website and scroll down to “Comments.” Answer will be revealed Monday, 2/21. Looking forward to your creative responses!
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Happy Valentine’s Day !
May you enjoy the warmth of friendship today and every day!
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Horned Lark Update
HORNED LARK UPDATE
It looks like I have been extraordinarily fortunate in finding Horned Larks this winter, for according to Ian Worley, noted Vermont birder, numbers are down significantly for not only Horned Larks, but also Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs this winter in the Champlain Valley. He suggests that this may be due to global warming as well as changes in agricultural land tilling and harvesting practices and equipment.
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Mystery Photo
Using all the information provided above, do you know who has been here and why? If so, enter your answer by scrolling down on the Naturally Curious web page, clicking on “Comments” and writing your answer. Mystery will be solved on Monday, March 8th.
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American Tree Sparrows : Winter Visitors
One of New England’s common winter visitors from the far northern tundra is the American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea), often spotted in large flocks in weedy, snow-covered fields moving from one spot to another as they feed.. These seed-eating sparrows are known to beat weeds with their wings and then fly to the surface of the snow beneath the weeds to retrieve seeds they have caused to fall.
Their common name is a misnomer, for American Tree Sparrows feed on the ground and often breed and nest on the ground above the treeline. They apparently reminded European settlers of the Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus), a cavity-nesting bird which has very different habits than the American Tree Sparrow.
In part because of the loss of weedy old fields and other open habitats, the American Tree Sparrow population has declined by 53% over the last 50 years. Even so, they are a common sight during the winter in fields, on road sides and at feeders throughout the northern half of the United States.
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White-winged Crossbills Foraging
Most of New England is privileged to see White-winged Crossbills (Loxia leucoptera) only during the winter, when these nomadic birds forage south of their far northern boreal forest breeding grounds for conifer seeds during poor cone crop years.
Spruce seeds are the preferred food of White-winged Crossbills. Their crossed mandibles allow them to pry open cone scales and they then extract the seeds with their tongue. Individuals can eat up to 3,000 conifer seeds a day!
These birds have been documented nesting every month of the year. As long as they can find a source of food that is sufficient for egg formation and that is likely to remain for the next month or so when they’ll be feeding nestlings, they will breed. The larger the spruce cone crop, the longer a span of time crossbills typically nest. Nesting usually declines by November although young do occasionally fledge in December and January. (Photos of a male White-winged Crossbill by Erin Donahue.)
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Gray Squirrels Mating & Making Nests
Gray Squirrels have two breeding seasons, one from December – March and another May – July (most females mate in the latter season and only mate once a year). At this time of year, polygamous male Gray Squirrels are aggressively chasing and checking out females to see if they are in estrus and if they are receptive. (An unreceptive female squirrel lets all suitors know in no uncertain terms – using claws and teeth – that she is not interested.) Male Gray Squirrels can smell females in estrus as far as half a mile away, so the woods are full of hopeful males these days.
Frequently litters this time of year are born in a tree cavity, while the second, late-summer litter is born in a leaf nest (drey). Cavities obviously offer more protection from the elements and predators than do leaf nests. Most den cavities have been created by decay, lightning, or woodpeckers and are lined with dry leaves, shredded bark and grasses. (Photo: Gray Squirrel collecting American Beech leaves to be used as a lining for her cavity nest.)
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Spiders On Snow
The internal body temperature of spiders is variable and tends to fluctuate with their environment. This means that the cold temperatures of winter pose a challenge. Spiders meet this challenge in one of several ways. A majority (as many as 85%) of species crawl under the leaf litter, shut their metabolism way down and become dormant; some species mate, lay eggs and die; and some remain active.
It is not unusual to come across tiny active spiders on top of the snow, especially on sunny winter days. If it’s particularly cold, they may have their legs pulled in and appear lifeless. When their body is sufficiently warmed up, they will resume crawling across the snow.
The metabolism rate of spiders that remain active through the winter is elevated, making starvation as big a threat as freezing. They must find food (springtails and other invertebrates) in order to sustain themselves. Some of these spiders can remain active until their body temperature is 25 F degrees when they will go dormant like other spiders. They cannot survive If their internal temperature drops to 19 F. degrees. (Source, Vermont Center for Ecostudies) (Photo: active spider surviving despite loss of one leg)
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Meadow Vole Circles
Congratulations to “Maine Naturalist” and Stein for identifying not only that a Meadow Vole made the mystery tracks, but why they were circular! Thank you all for your comments, many of which were laughter-producing!
More NC readers have witnessed this phenomenon than I would have imagined – the tracks were made by a Meadow Vole that had neurological problems which could have been caused by a brain parasite, brain tumor, inner ear infection, or a stroke. While the exact nature of an affected vole’s neurological impairment cannot be confirmed without the vole in hand, it is highly likely that a common brain parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, is responsible for a vole running in circles.
The snow-covered corn field where these tracks were located was just down the road from a dairy farm, where it’s likely cats could be found. This is relevant because cats pass this particular parasite on to rodents (and birds) who eat the cats’ feces. The parasite goes to work on the brains of animals that have eaten cat feces, causing them to become disoriented (to the point where they lose their fear of cats). Cats then eat the fearless rodents and the cycle continues. When infected and disoriented, the rodents will often run in circles – hence, the unusual track pattern in the snow.
T. gondii can infect humans, too, through consumption of under-cooked foods, contaminated drinking water, and through contact with cat feces. This is why pregnant women are discouraged from tending kitty litter boxes, as the parasite can infect their unborn children.
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Mystery Photo
What or who do you think is responsible for these tracks in a snow-covered corn field? To respond, go to the Naturally Curious blog (www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com ), scroll down to “Comments” and enter your solution to this mystery! Answer will be announced this coming Friday, 2/5/21.
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Red-winged Blackbirds Returning to Northern New England
Except for the coast, most of northern New England doesn’t see many Red-winged Blackbirds during the winter months. Numbers usually start increasing the last week of February with males arriving before females. In the fall it’s the reverse, with males departing after females.
Practically as soon as male Red-winged Blackbirds return, you can hear them singing and see them displaying as they claim their territories. If you could tell the females apart, you might well recognize some of them, as research shows that nearly half of the females return to the previous year’s territory.
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Eastern Gray Squirrels Lining Nests
Congratulations to Wanda Rice, the first Naturally Curious reader to recognize sign made by a squirrel collecting nesting material. Many people thought it might be a porcupine at work, but porcupines, as “hellomolly” pointed out in her comment, do not leave strips of bark hanging, while squirrels do.
In the Mystery Photo, an Eastern Gray Squirrel had been shredding and collecting the thin bark of a Maple Sugar sapling to line its nest with. Gray squirrels nest throughout the year, but nesting activity peaks during their two mating seasons (December -March, and May – July). They build two types of nests – large, round, leafy nests among tree branches (dreys) and cavity nests, the latter being preferred during the colder months. Abandoned woodpeckers nests as well as natural-formed cavities provide additional protection in the winter from predators as well as the elements. (Drey broods are 40 percent less likely to survive than squirrels born in tree cavities — a hole no wider than three or four inches protects them from large predators such as raccoons.) Both types of nests are lined with soft material such as lichen, moss, grass, pine needles and shredded bark.
The effect of a squirrel’s stripping a tree’s bark depends on the extent of the damage. Usually a young tree is chosen due to the thinness of the bark and the ease with which it can be stripped. Although a tree can survive with some of its bark removed, it will die if the damage is too severe or bark is stripped off around the tree’s circumference. Stripped bark not only provides nesting material but the process of stripping the bark exposes the tree’s cambium layer which contains the nutrients and sugars a tree has produced and which squirrels readily consume. (Eastern Gray Squirrel photos by Margaret Barker Clark)
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Mystery Photo: A New Perspective
In my desire to show a close-up of the shredded nature of the bark-stripping in Friday’s Mystery Photo, I didn’t take into account that knowing the height of the stripping was as crucial to solving the mystery as the shredded bark! Today, instead of revealing the creature that is responsible for this activity, I am posting a photograph that gives the viewer the perspective necessary to correctly identify the sign-maker. Please feel free to resubmit a guess with the aid of this added information if you would like to. The photograph was taken within the last two weeks, and the sign was very fresh. The bark stripper’s identity will definitely be revealed on Wednesday, February 26th!
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Mystery Photo
Who has been hard at work on this young Sugar Maple tree? If you think you might know, go to the Naturally Curious blog site, scroll down to “Comments” and enter your guess. The answer will be revealed on Monday, February 24th. (Photo by Margaret Barker Clark)
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Blackberry Seed Gall
Galls, abnormal plants growths caused by many agents including insects, are formed during the growing season on the buds, leaves, roots and branches of plants as a response to chemicals or physical irritation. Many of these galls serve as shelters and a source of food for their developing inhabitants.
Blackberry is host to numerous gall-making insects, including mites, midges and gall wasps, and their temporary homes (galls) are most obvious in the winter. The Blackberry Seed Gall is caused by a tiny cynipid gall wasp, Diastrophus cuscutaeformis. A cluster of small, globular, seed-like galls within which the gall wasp larvae live are pressed together in a lump surrounding the cane. These galls derive their species name from their resemblance to dodder (Cuscuta) fruits. Each of these 1/10th-inch diameter chambers bears a spine, and together they create a reddish-brown hairy mass.
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