Birch Bark Baskets

The paper birch tree is widespread throughout Minnesota's deciduous forests. The bark of this tree releases itself from the trunk in paper thin strips. The strips are highly flammable. The paper birch can do more than start a fire. Anishinabe people used Paper Birch as a scrolls to document things on, as an easel for artistic bark bitings, and as a raw material for basketry. A 'makuk' is a style of birch bark basket that was used by the Anishinabe people. A few weeks ago I was taught how to construct makuk style birch bark baskets.
I undertook a challenging design for my first basket, which involved a lot of cursing. One may have thought I was of sailor heritage the way the words flowed from my mouth. It turned out nice, and I gave it to my mom for holiday. I made three additional baskets, for a total of four. Some lessons I learned: (1) the thinner the thread the easier construction will be, (2) if you are tired do not stitch your basket with twined basswood inner bark (the two together will bring on early on-set arthritis), (3) quality homemade gifts made my family happy, allowed me to work with my hands, and kept me out of the capitalist consumer nightmare of Christmas shopping.

Feeder Watch Brings Record Purple Finch Numbers

I got up unusually early this Sunday morning, perhaps a negative side effect of Saturday's even earlier morning. I was a tad bit groggy and not ready to tackle making coffee so I took Libby outside and made sure my feeders were nice and full. To my surprise the moment I went back inside I found my feeders being infiltrated by a hungry flock of 34 Purple Finches. If that wasn't enough, shortly thereafter, American Goldfinches attacked coming in as great of numbers as 24. Good thing these species are easy to distinguish from one another or I may have been SOL for counting them.

Other birds of interest was the female Pileated Woodpecker and the Male Downy Woodpecker (below)

I still hope for the return of the Dark-Eyed Junco for my final count next weekend.

Weather and Effort: December 20, 2009
When did you watch your feeders?	Day 1: morning Day 2: morning
Estimated cumulative time:	1 to 4 hours
Daylight temperature:	-9 to 0° C (15 to 32° F) low -9 to 0° C (15 to 32° F) high
Daylight precipitation:	None - -
Total depth of ice/snow cover:	5 cm to 15 cm (2" to 6")

Checklist for FeederWatch Minnesota Birds

Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	1
Pileated Woodpecker	1
Blue Jay	1
Black-capped Chickadee	5
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
White-breasted Nuthatch	1
Purple Finch	34 Confirmed
American Goldfinch	24 (0 with eye disease)

Christmas Bird Count 2009

I took a Saturday off of Feeder Watch and participated in the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in the Duluth area. I rode along with an astute team comprised of: Hawk Ridge Educators Debbie Waters and Sarah Glesner and Hawk Ridge Enthusiast and Bird Whisperer Andrew Longtin. We started early, and I miraculously made it out of bed at 5AM in order to meet my team in Duluth. For those that are not privy to Christmas Bird Count, it is an international citizen science project where bird enthusiasts and their friends and family garner winter bird population data. The data collected will be added to historical records and then analyzed for trends in populations that can then be used to make conservation decisions. For more details about CBC check out: http://www.audubon.org/Bird/cbc/

My group was a lively bunch, a must in a Minnesota winter birding event. We dressed in our warmest 'quiet' gear (mainly fleece and wool, no swishy materials, see Sarah's below left) and headed out around 7:30AM.


Our region mostly comprised of residential area, the luxurious Duluth Airport, the Duluth Mall, and various woodlots. The most common bird observed was the Black-capped Chickadee (see above right); however we had some less common birds as well like the Cedar Waxwing, Barred Owl, and Brown Creeper. My birding highlights included:
(1) Flushing out a very irritated Barred Owl, because we had phished in a cluster-fuck of Black-capped Chickadees
(2) +/- 150 mixed flock of Cedar Waxwing and Bohemian Waxwings enjoying the berries that covered the Mountain Ash
(3) Spotting an adult Bald Eagle in the Duluth Mall Area at 14:10
(4) The Brown Creeper doing what it does best, creeping slowly head first around a lichen covered tree

My favorite non-bird specific highlights included:
(1) The teddy bear Hit-N-Run, who may or may not become a Hawk Ridge Mascot

(2) Andrew's premonitions about the birds we would see. i.e. A Swainson's Thrush and/or Tree Sparrow being flushed out by a late migrating Northern Harrier being acutely watched by a Great Gray Owl
(3) Debbie and Sarah's vocal imitations of many comedic acts

Overall, though my toes are still thawing out, I enjoyed my first CBC. Here are my team's results:

Species	Zone O	Zone N
Cooper’s Hawk	1	0
Bald Eagle	0	1
Mourning Dove	2	0
Rock Pigeon	0	4
Barred Owl	1	0
Downy Woodpecker	5	9
Hairy Woodpecker	4	1
Pileated Woodpecker	0	1
Blue Jay	5	2
American Crow	8	22
Common Raven	3	0
Black-Capped Chickadee	116	82
Red-breasted Nuthatch	7	6
White-breasted Nuthatch	2	3
Brown Creeper	0	1
American Robin	2	27
Cedar Waxwings	0	150
Bohemian Waxwings	16	8
Northern Cardinal	1	2
European Starling	4	169
Purple Finch	1	0
Dark-eyed Junco	0	7
White-winged Crossbill	26	35
American Goldfinch	15	0
House Sparrow	0	27