Carolina Wrens Move In

It has been a very late spring this year.  It has been cold and even snow, with school getting out for multiple snow days.  Although it impacts us less, it has been rainy or snowy almost every weekend for the last seven or eight weeks.  It has certainly not felt like spring.  At least it is good for the lakes, which are slowly recovering from our multi-year drought.  Lewisville Lake has come up over three feet in the last six weeks. 

Spring arrives.  Finally this week it suddenly got warmer.  The Bradford pears burst into bloom, our Cedar elms began to leaf out in a matter of 48 hours, and the Carolina jasmine finally turned yellow with flowers.

Carolina jasmine in bloom, six weeks later than some years. 

Birds building nests in the backyard.  The many birds that visit our feeder and watering bowls also took notice.  A pair of bluejays have built a nest high in the ligustrum above the den window.  The white-winged doves are sitting on a nest in the yaupon holly over my car. Given the number of cardinals that are around, we assume they have nests nearby as well, although we do not know where.

Wrens in the wren houses.  We especially like to see and hear the Carolina wrens that dig around in the backyard for worms and bugs.  They can be very loud and melodious despite their small size.  To encourage them, we hung two wren houses last spring/summer.  One is on the edge of the patio near the backdoor.  The other is outside of our bathroom window.

We saw a wren move a few twigs into the bathroom house for about a day last summer, but then abandoned that activity.  Multiple birds have checked out the patio house, but have shown no interest in moving in.  Perhaps it is too much in the open or too much activity nearby.  I have watched intently, hoping for activity, but nothing seemed to be happening.

Suddenly Saturday morning, we saw lots of activity around the house outside our bathroom window.  Two wrens were busily carrying twigs, grass, and other materials into the house.  As you can see near the end of the video below, they were working hard but did not quite have the technique mastered.

 

Consider viewing in full screen--wrens are small

Despite the setbacks, they kept working.  They continued taking large amounts of material into the house.  In addition to twigs, I saw them carrying grass, small pieces of mulch, pine needles, feathers, and plastic.  I even saw one of them diligently work through the yaupon, pulling off silk from cocoons that were in various places throughout the bush.  As you can see from the video below, their technique has improved noticeably.

 

Given all of the material they have taken into the house, I cannot imagine the size of the nest.  According to online sources, the female will likely lay 3-7 eggs.  They will hatch in about 14 days.  The little birds will be ready to fly in about 14 days after that. Wrens typically raise two or three broods each year.  I don't know if we will be able to get photographic evidence of any of this activity.  Stay tuned.

Migration to Kearney for Spring Break -- Archway and Harlan County Lake

Starting off the day so early meant we had plenty of time for other activities even after returning from viewing the morning flight of the sandhill cranes.  What should we do?  We made a quick stop to the Kearney Visitor's Bureau up the street from out hotel.  It turns out there are quite a few possibilities in and around Kearney, especially since the weather was unseasonably warm for mid-March.

The Archway.  First up was the Archway, or sometimes known as The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument.  It is a museum of and monument to Nebraska's and the Platte River valley's role in westward expansion.   Our early morning activities had been for bird migrations north and south.  This was devoted to people migrations east and west (obviously mostly west).  The name comes from the fact that the museum is physically an arch over I-80.

Archway Monument over I-80 (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Platte_River_Road_Archway_Monument)

The museum is a self-guided tour, with audio, on two levels, i.e. the length of the archway on the first level and then back on the second level.

The displays start in the 1840s with the Mormon trail, Oregon trail and California trail, all of which passed through this part of Nebraska and converged at nearby Fort Kearny before heading west.  It then covers gold prospectors heading west, the Pony Express, the first transcontinental telegraph, the transcontinental railroad, and the Lincoln Highway, again all of which passed through the Platte River Valley roughly along the path of current day I-80.

The museum was well done and interesting on many levels, especially since we had had introduction to several of these trails and the Lincoln Highway on our trip to Wyoming five years ago.

I did not know these existed: an odometer for a covered wagon.  Kind of an early fitBit for crossing the country?  I wonder how accurate it was.

We did not understand the significance of this location for the museum outside of Kearney, until we came to more detail about the Lincoln Highway.  This was the exact mid-point, mile 1733.

Frog (with headphones) next to the sign for the mid-point of the Lincoln Highway.

The Lincoln Highway was the first attempt at a road across the continent.  It began in 1913, but was not finished until the 1920's.  Finished is somewhat of a misnomer, since much of it was nearly impassable.  Dwight Eisenhower, as a young officer, was part of a 1919 Army Convoy that took over two months to go from Washington, D. C. to San Francisco.  It was that experience that reportedly led to Eisenhower's push to build the interstate system when he was president in the 1950's. The Lincoln Highway eventually grew into US 30 and then finally into I-80.

Most of the museum was totally enclosed with no windows.  However, near the end of the museum was a window overlooking the interstate.

Looking east at I-80 below.  Note the readout to the radar gun, 72 mph for the oncoming truck.

Outside the Archway.  There were more exhibits outside.  After a short walk across a bridge to the other side of the river there were multiple exhibits.  Buffaloes were a predominant theme.

There was an authentic Pawnee/Arikara Earth Lodge.
 

Turkey in the shadows at the entrance of the earth lodge.

There was also a sod house similar to those which would have been used by early European settlers.

The Turkey checks out the sod house.

Harlan County Lake.  After a stop for lunch, we headed about an hour south to the Harlan County Reservoir.  It is a nice Corps of Engineers lake with multiple camping sites and boat ramps.  It had apparently been built in 1952 for flood control after a very serious flood in 1935.  We went hoping to see either pelicans or eagles.

We stopped at the visitors center just south of Republican City and got some suggestions for places we might look.  Unfortunately, the person there told us that most of the pelicans had not yet arrived...they seemed to be slow this year.  She was right.  We did not see any pelicans.

Although pelicans would have been nice, we were especially hopeful to see some eagles.  The person in the visitors center indicated there had been about 100 eagles there earlier in the winter.  Unfortunately, the prime eagle viewing time is January.  The eagles had apparently already moved on because we did not see any of them either.

After we got home I saw a suggestion that the J-2 Power Plant south of Lexington (which would have been about 35 miles west of Kearney) is considered a prime indoor viewing spot for eagles, although they may not have been there either given the warm weather.   I don't know if we are ever likely to be in Nebraska in the middle of winter, but it might be fun to check out the Eagle Loop for possible sightings.  Hundreds of eagles winter in this area in the winter.

Although the pelicans and eagles did not cooperate, we did stumble upon a large area between Republican City and the dam that was a large prairie dog town. 

Unfortunately, the prairie dogs were very skittish and only came out of burrows that were quite far from the parking lot.  We still enjoyed watching them scurry around.  It was incredibly warm for mid-March in Nebraska, in the mid to high 80's, so we enjoyed the opportunity to relax on the provided bench to see what they would do.

This prairie dog was apparently the lookout.  He kept making lots of noise.  Note at least three others in the picture.

One prairie dog being brave and another one only peaking out.

Back in Kearney.  Although we did not see as much wildlife as we had hoped at Harlan Reservoir, it was still an enjoyable trip.  By the time we made it back to Kearney, the temperature was in the low 90's but very dry (9% humidity according to the Weather Channel) and the wind was really howling.  Dust was blowing in large clouds across the open lot next to the motel and multiple tumbleweeds were rolling in from somewhere.  The wind was the precursor to the coming cold front.  Despite the weather in the low 90's at dinner time, it was below freezing when we left the following morning.

This is a tumbleweed which we watched roll across the parking lot and become trapped against the side of our motel.  It is in one piece in this picture.  When we saw it the next morning it had been beaten into many smaller pieces by the gusty wind.

We finished off the day at a great pizza place, Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom.  We were unfamiliar with this chain.  Their menu indicated they had 110 beers, with many of those on tap.  I especially liked the fact that they had lots of explanation on their beer menu.  In honor of St. Patrick's Day, which was the following day, I had a Guinness.   We thought of Gwen because of the picture she long had on her Facebook page from the Guinness brewery in Dublin.  This draft beer may not have been as good as what we could have gotten in Ireland, but it tasted mighty fine anyway.

Migrating to Kearney for Spring Break - Rowe Sanctuary

No plans for Spring Break.  We had asked each other several times, "Do you want to do something for Spring Break?", but there was never any clear answer to that question.  The nearly constant cold and wet weather that we had been experiencing (and was predicted to continue) did not seem conducive to outdoor adventures.  Most warmer places in the southwest seemed too far away without something particular in mind.  Maybe it was just momentum (a body at rest...), but we had made no plans and were likely just going to stick around home for the week.

What about Nebraska?  Then we noticed this article in the Wall Street Journal as we were eating breakfast Saturday morning about the sandhill cranes and their migration through central Nebraska.  Wow, that sounds cool.  How far is it to Kearney, Nebraska?  Google Maps thinks it is approximately 10 hours of driving.  Would they have a room at the inn if we were to show up in the next few days?  There are a surprisingly large number of motels in Kearney (21 according to TripAdvisor), but rooms were only readily available this week only on Sunday and Monday.  Were there any openings for the crane viewings?  Surprisingly, a couple of spots remained for Monday.  Does the weather look manageable?  Actually yes, the weather was likely to be better than Texas   So we made reservations, spent Saturday doing laundry and packing, then headed out early Sunday morning for Kearney, Nebraska.


Northward to Nebraska.  It was an easy, uneventful trip north, although we were amused by the naming convention for county roads in Kansas and Nebraska: A, B, C,...AA.  (Other than the huge wheat (Kansas) and corn (Nebraska) fields, I guess there wasn't much else to amuse us on the way north.). We headed straight up I-35, then turned west on I-80.


Platte River.  We could not help but notice that for most of the 70 miles or so that we drove I-80, there was lots of water and many Natural Wildlife Areas nearby.  I-80 parallels the Platte River, which some say is "1 mile wide and 1 inch deep".  That is obviously an exaggeration, but not as much as one would think.  Many of the small ponds, at least one for each of the tiny Natural Wildlife Areas along I-80, looked to us to be the source of fill dirt to build the road bed of the interstate up out of the marshy surroundings. 

Wonderful Kearney, who knew?  We made it to the motel before dark.  Temperature was in the 80's, considerably warmer than at home!  We drove around a bit after dinner.   Kearney (pronounced kahr-nee, as in short for carnival worker) is larger than we had expected.  The businesses looked successful and there were public amenities such as multiple paved walking trails.  Kearney is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney (7,100 students), has some manufacturing, and is a center for health care in the region.  That is in addition to the obvious motel and restaurant business associated with the interstate.  And, of course, as advertised outside of town on a huge sign along the interstate, Kearney is the Sandhill Capital of the World.  We were genuinely impressed with how prosperous the town appeared, especially for a town of only 32,000 people. We just did not want to think what it might be like here in the dead of winter.



Up at O-Dark-Hundred.  We did not sleep well since we were worried that we would somehow sleep through the alarm, so we were already up and awake before the alarm went off at 4:40.  One of the biggest issues about early morning crane viewing is the potential for it being very cold and miserable in the unheated blind.  We therefore bundled up with multiple layers, hats, and gloves.  After a quick stop at the 24 hour McDonald's for breakfast, we were off to the Rowe Sanctuary's Ian Nicolson Audubon Center about 20 minutes away.  We were to be there by 5:45.  We were glad we had scoped out the road to the Rowe Sanctuary before it got dark on our way into town the night before.  We had already determined from home that it was several miles down a dirt road.  We would likely have been worried about missing the turn if we had not seen everything in the light.  It was easily navigable, but slow due to the severe wash boarding.

Rowe Sanctuary and introduction to the Sandhill Cranes.  There were LED lights (Christmas lights?)  showing the entry to the parking lot at Rowe Sanctuary, while the parking lot was lit only with red lights.  Everything was set up to minimize bothering the birds.  The person at the entrance told us to stay in our car until the guide arrived.  The lot was nearly full by the time the lights went on in the visitor center, although it was still completely dark outside.  We assembled for a short orientation film about the cranes and what to do (or rather NOT do) on the tour.

Each year, more than 10 million migrating waterfowl and other birds descend on south central Nebraska's Rainwater Basins.  The literature we saw claim that it is possible to see enormous concentrations of 1 million or more geese on some wetland basins.

The Rainwater Basin, which is only a fraction of its original size, is an important stopover between the wintering areas in the south (Texas gulf coast, Mexico, and New Mexico) and their summer homes to the north.  

Every March, over 500,000 sandhill cranes come to the Platte River Valley on their way north for the summer.  Each crane spends 3-4 weeks in the area, fattening up before the long flight north to northern Canada, Alaska, or Siberia. They roost at night in the shallow Platte River, which provides a safe haven from predators.  During the day, they move to area corn fields, eating whatever is left of the fall's harvest.  This is apparently beneficial for both the birds and the farmers.

It was not until hearing this explanation that I understood the importance of the character of the Platte River, i.e. 1 mile wide and 1 inch deep, that was so important to the cranes.

Each sandhill crane is 3-4 feet tall, with a wingspan of 6 feet.  They each weigh 8-12 pounds.  When migrating, they fly 170-450 miles/day with a flight speed of 38 mph.  They have a lifespan of 20-40 years.  Although the staff indicated there were lots of birds, they also indicated they had been somewhat slow to arrive this year.  It was not clear they had all yet arrived.


One of the major points of emphasis in the orientation film was NO light that might disturb (i.e. scare away) the birds.  No iPhones or iPads for cameras (they illuminate faces too much), no red lights on the front of cameras (they had to be covered with electrical tape), and definitely no flash.  Although it could be dimmed, the Frog's camera, like many high end cameras, had no way to turn off the screen on the back.  The guides provided yellow sticky notes to cover the screen.  We were also warned to only talk in whispers and not stick arms or cameras out the front of the blind.

We were divided into three groups of approximately 30 people each for the three different viewing blinds. We were assigned to the east blind.  The other two blinds were to the west.  We finished bundling up and the guides (one in the front and one in the back) led us through the dark with only a red light flashlight.  It was approximately a third of a mile to the blind along a mowed path that was at least 12 feet wide through tall grass.  Of course we did not know all of this until later since it was pitch black.  There was a single red LED light every tenth of a mile or so or at turns to mark the way.  Fortunately we lucked out on the weather.  There was a clear sky with lots of stars and just the hint of a tiny moon rising in the east.  The unseasonably warm weather of the previous day continued.  It was in the high 40's.

In the blind.  It was a relatively slow but easy walk even in the dark.  It was two steps up into the building and we were inside.  There were open windows at head height along the front facing the river, each about 3-4 feet wide, and a railing just below the windows to lean on.  There was a bench along the back wall.  Every two people had a window. But it was still completely dark.

Back of the blind on the walk back to the visitors center.

The Frog set up his camera on a tripod and I kept looking through the binoculars.  We could not yet see the birds, but we could definitely hear them.  They were very loud.  Initially it sounded as if only one was calling intermittently immediately in front of the blind, but the number making noise increased.  Even after it got light, it was the loud sound of the birds that was most memorable.

As it slowly got lighter, we were first able to make out shapes and then finally the birds.

In the river before sunrise in front of the blind, probably 75 yards from us.  Notice the one in the front with his mouth open, although he was hardly the only one making noise.

Unfortunately, something down river spooked the birds and all of those near us took off even before the sun was up.

Off they go, even before sunrise.  Something must have scared them.

Birds everywhere from down stream

Back at the visitors center.  We hung around the blind for awhile, then headed back to the visitors center.  The other two groups were not back yet.  From behind the visitors center, we could see that most of the birds in front of those blinds were still on the river.  The birds were a long ways away, so we could not see them well without binoculars or the zoom lens on the camera.  As long as the birds were on the river, the staff would not let us walk any closer.  However, we could certainly hear the birds!

Unfortunately none of the pictures capture how the birds were everywhere...as far as we could see looking up river and everywhere over head.

Looking upstream from behind the visitors center

Birds upstream for as far as we can see

As we stood watching, they eventually took flight and were milling around overhead presumably looking for their feeding destination for the day.  We weren't sure what more there was to see here, so we packed the car and headed out.

In the cornfields before the main road.  As we headed back towards the interstate we saw a large group of cranes in a field along the side of the gravel road near the back of a cornfield.

In a cornfield along the gravel road east of the sanctuary

As we stood watching, more came in from all directions. 

Landing in the cornfield

Then something scared them and they were off again.  Even if "scared" they fly so gracefully with slow flapping of their wings.  Whether it was because they were scared or it is just their nature, they continued to make all kinds of noise.

Off again, making noise the entire time.  Notice that some of them have their mouths open.

We occasionally see these birds at fairly high altitude flying over our house as they migrate either north or south.  I will forever think of them differently if I see them again.  It was certainly quite the experience to see all of them in one place, even if the sanctuary staff said many of them had yet to arrive for the season.

Here is a link to a CBS report by Dean Reynolds a year ago that also tells the story of the cranes.  There is also a link to a Sunday Morning report about the cranes further down that page.

JADIP

Second Ice and Snow Event.  We have had two winter snow/ice events in the last several weeks.  The second was touched upon briefly in the previous post (and seen much better in the second video in that post).  That was the first week of March. 

Female cardinal below the feeders looking for something to eat...what is all of this white stuff??

Downy woodpecker going after some peanuts.  There is snow on the leaves in the background and even a little on the top of the seeds inside the feeder.

First Ice Event.  The first ice event was in late February.  After clearing off the ice from my car from that first event, I discovered that my windshield wipers would not work.  I therefore took my car to our local mechanic (our super wonderful and trusted Goodyear dealer) on February 25, i.e. two weeks ago.  He discovered I had rodent problems and the rodent had chewed the wire to the windshield wipers.  He fixed the problem easily and we were good to go.

Fox Urine.  What should I do to prevent a repeat?  Since we all assumed it was rats or mice, the mechanic suggested fox urine from Bass Pro Shop.  Off we went to Bass Pro Shop.  We asked in the front and they directed us to their "Scents Aisle".  Obviously I am not a hunter.  I did not realize there was an entire collection of such things and special holders to put them in.  We were soon out the door with a vial of fox urine and a special holder to hang in the front of my car.

Life returns to normal, or so I thought.  I have made numerous trips in my car, including trips to Denton.  On Tuesday I thought I might have heard squeaking noises as I returned home, but assumed I was just hearing things.  However, upon returning from the mall this afternoon, there definitely were some curious squeaking sounds.  After taking our purchases into the house we thought we would check under the hood to see if we could see any problems.

Home sweet home for our crazy neighborhood squirrels.  What a shock when we lifted the hood to find an enormous nest.  Shock was the operative word, although I was also quite impressed.  It was a very impressive nest.  I have no idea how the adult squirrels were able to get all of those large sticks and branches into my engine.

Upon closer scrutiny we saw multiple baby animals inside.  At first we weren't sure what they were.  Again, we were assuming we were dealing with rats.  However, we soon realized they were squirrels.  We could see three in the nest.

We called our pest control company.  They sent someone out, but they could not do anything.  I then called the City of Lewisville Animal Control, who said they would send someone out.

While we were waiting for them to arrive, one of the babies made a break for it and ended up outside the nest. 

He was rather wobbly on his legs, but hung out in the trough below the windshield wipers then eventually crawled back into the nest.

We watched his movements from inside the house since we did not want to miss the Animal Control people.  However, we started hearing more loud squeaking/squealing.  At first, since it was so loud, we were afraid it was yet another nest in the attic.  We finally determined it was a fourth little one under the car.  Given his wobbly attempts to walk, I knew he wasn't going to go too far but I wasn't sure what he would do if I tried to corner him.

By this time Animal Control arrived.  She was able to corral all four of them, albeit with some effort. Wow could they squeal!  She thought they were at least six weeks old.  Based on this website I am guessing they may be more like 7-8 weeks old.  In any case, they are old enough to go to a rescue center.  That is where they were headed after they left us.  We wish them well, just someplace far far away.

Avoiding a repeat performance.  We never did see any adult squirrels during all of this chaos.  The little guys looked healthy and well-fed, so we felt certain Momma would be returning sometime soon.  With that in mind, I washed down the top surfaces under the hood with Lysol cleaner.  (I hope squirrels do not like Lysol.)  Although it obviously did not do any good, the fox urine is still in place. Finally, my car is now parked out front, at least for a few days.  Hopefully all of that will be enough to convince Momma squirrel to find alternative housing.

In any case, JADIP...just another day in paradise. The adventures never cease.

Snow on the Prairie

Snow?...in north Texas??...in March???  Unfortunately, yes.  But it did give me an opportunity to try out my new GoPro camera.  This post is merely a test to see if I can get the raw footage posted.  Then I will try additional things (cropping, zooming, etc.) in subsequent posts.

This is a short clip of about 23 seconds since the whole 2 minutes was over Blogger's limit of 100 Mb.  The original clip was crystal clear even when blown up to full screen.  This clip, when blown to full screen, looks pixellated.  I guess Blogger must have reduced the resolution.  Oh so much to learn.  At least the audio seems to work.

UPDATE:
Well, that did not work as well as hoped.  I could see it on my computer, but not on my iPhone or iPad.  It may be an Adobe Flash issue.  As trial #2, I uploaded the same clip to YouTube, then loaded it below.

Hopefully this will work better.