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Have You Seen Any Hummingbirds?

Yikes, did I blink? I checked hummingbirds.net this morning to discover people are reporting that the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is now in mid-Michigan!

Dust off your feeders and put them out ASAP!

Ooh, ooh! I was just looking out the window and saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. They're not common in mid-Michigan and I'm sure it's on its way up north for nesting.

I'm mentioning this in the same post as the hummingbirds because hummingbirds follow the sapsuckers during migration.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius drills parallel "wells" in the bark of trees and laps up the sap that oozes out from the tree. Hummingbirds, waxwings, and warblers take advantage of these predrilled sweet sap sources for a quick bite while traveling.

I scared him with the camera but I see he just came back. Now Eli (my cat) is on my lap and my camera seems to be acting funny. I'll post a stock photo of the sapsucker, but know they're in the area and keep your eyes open for new birds every day. Keep your ears open too. The sapsucker is known for its irregular drumming rhythm. People describe it like a Morse code rhythm.
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Fascinating Facts About The American Robin

Now that the weather in mid-Michigan allows me to have the windows open, I enjoy the American Robins' dawn chorus, their energetic running across the yards in search of food, and their songs at night. I hope other people do too. The following are a few fun facts about the robins:
  • Worms only make up about 15%-20% of the summer diet for American Robins. The rest of the diet is made up of other insects, fruit, nuts, and berries.
  • Contrary to popular belief, American Robins don’t find earthworms by hearing or smelling them. Robins find earthworms by cocking their head to one side, independently using each eye to look for visible signs of worms.
  • Most of the earthworms found in North America today did not exist prior to European settlement. They were imported mainly from Europe by early settlers. The worms or worm cocoons traveled in the rootstocks of plants brought by the settlers from their homelands. They were also release into the new world through soil that was used for ship ballast that was discarded after the voyage to the new world.
  • Robins can be attracted to a feeding station by offering mealworms, suet, nuts, fruit and a birdbath. It’s especially fun to offer mealworms during nesting season when the robins can stop and pick up a mouthful of tasty worms to take back to their babies. They will fill their mouth until you think nothing else could possibly fit inside and still continue to try to pick up more, dropping some in the process and then trying to pick up more.
  • On average, over 50% of all nesting attempts by American Robins fail to produce young. Out of the successful nesting attempts, only ¼ of the fledglings will survive until November. Robins live on average about 1 ½ years, but, according to bird banding records; the oldest known Robin found in the wild was almost 14 years old.
  • Robins typically nest from April through July and can have 2-3 broods in a season. The female does the nest building and incubates the eggs alone. Upon hatching, both parents feed the average brood of four young.
  • Robins usually return to the same area to nest each year and may occasionally use last year’s nest again after some renovation.
  • Robins are particularly vulnerable to pesticide poisoning due to their preference for foraging on lawns. Please don’t use poisons on your lawn.
  • During breeding season, male American Robins grow black feathers on their heads to attract females. Once the mating season is over, these feathers are lost.
  • A group of robins are collectively known as a "worm" of robins.
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Crushed Eggshells are Good to Mix with Birdseed

Cornell Lab of Ornithology and other scientists believe that pollution depletes calcium carbonate in the environment which results in a reduced population of some songbirds.

Eggshells are about 95% calcium carbonate. You can give birds additional natural calcium, especially in the spring when females need it to produce their own eggs, by mixing eggshells with your seed.

Rinse the eggshells and put them in a bag in the freezer. When you have a lot stored up, spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 250 degrees to make them safe for bird consumption. Have fun smashing the shells into pieces and scatter on a platform feeder or mix with your seed.

Putting eggshells on the menu may even attract species that don’t usually come to seed feeders, like orioles, gnatcatchers, and some species of wood warblers.

And for gardeners, eggshells around the base of plants deters snails and slugs from crossing the sharp eggshells barrier to reach your plants. It also boosts the nutrients in the soil and can be mixed together with dried coffee grounds, which provides a high content of nitrogen, to keep your plants healthy.
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Eggs: Nature's perfect package

From ancient times eggs have been decorated, exchanged, and shown reverence. Before the egg became closely entwined with the Christian Easter, it was honored during many Rite-of-Spring festivals.

The egg represented the rebirth of the earth after the long, hard winter was over and was believed to have special powers. For Christians the egg symbolizes the rebirth of man.

Although the omens and the mystery of the egg have disappeared today, the symbolism remains, and artists, young and old, continue in the old world tradition of adorning eggs.
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Meeting Your Birds' Nesting Needs

"In the end, we conserve only what we love. We love only what we understand. We understand only what we are taught."- Baba Dioum, Senegalese Poet
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Now is the time to take action in your yard and it is also a great time to have the next generation of kids come outdoors to help. April is Children & Nature Awareness Month, go to: childrenandnature.org or greenhour.org for more information.
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As a new generation of birds enter the world, the food and housing we provide can make a significant difference on how well they will thrive and survive in our own backyards.

Recent research studies show that birds with access to bird feeders often lay their eggs earlier than those without feeders. This is significant because earlier broods typically have better rates of survival and fledging success than later ones.

Feeders also allow breeding females to spend less time searching for food and more time selecting better nesting sites and constructing higher quality nests. The adults will also have more time available for protecting their nest, eggs and young from predators.

When abundant food is accessible to parent birds it means that more food is provided to their chicks. Studies have shown that this extra nutrition reduces aggression among nest siblings and increases their rate of growth. But food is not the only key in helping birds to nest successfully in your yard. A properly designed and installed nesting box can make a significant improvement in nesting success, especially during extreme periods of cold and damp weather.
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White-breasted Nuthatch in Thought



"Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere."
~Blaise Pascal
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Fascinating Frog Photo

Last year my wife, Grace, and I traveled to the Upper Peninsula on June 22-24. When we crossed the Peshekee River Bridge at the McCormick Tract and took the trail north searching for Dwarf Bilberry, we stopped at Baraga Creek. Of course the tributary needed to be traversed but both Grace and I were "pooped." After the 5 mile trip in the searing heat approaching 90 degrees, we decided to take a break. That's when I took a picture of this cheery little fellow. Can you identify this frog?

Apparently you have very good eyes. I don't know very much about frogs but I did a little research on the Internet and came across an article in the Detroit News which explains what a fantastic find you found. I'm glad you had your camera!
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'Extinct' frog species found again after 36 years
Kermit Green / The Detroit News

Ypsilanti -The apparent decline of frogs, including extinctions of species and local populations, has attracted increased international and national concern.
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That's why there was a major hoopla on March 32, 2009 when Abe Prefwell, an amateur naturalist from Joy Oaks, Michigan, literally stumbled over an Ani Frog while hiking just North of the Oakland Land Conservancy. The Ani Frog, found only in the U.P, was thought to be extinct.

Last reported in 1974 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Marquette, Michigan, the rediscovery was announced to the world in a Washington D.C. press conference on April 1, 2010 and documented in an article in the respected journal Science.

This was after a 12 month secretive and intensive research effort conducted by the renowned Central Michigan University Herpetology Laboratory. Among the reasons the rediscovery of the Ani Frog was kept secret for more than a year was concern that a large influx of herp watchers and the curiosity seekers would interfere with the frog's activities, possibly driving it into extinction, and disrupt the scientific research effort. The delay in announcing the find also allowed for the establishment of conservation measures to protect the frogs from many dangers, including poaching, and for the development of plans to accommodate visitors coming to U.P. in hopes of seeing the frog.

"To have found this species that hasn't been seen for over 30 years and that professional researchers thought was extinct is great," Prefwell said. "It gives me a lot of hope that a lot of other species that we thought were extinct aren't actually extinct - we just haven't stumbled over the right rock yet."
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