Dinosaur Extinction Puppet Show

Narrator: The time is 65 million years ago and the Earth is rich with plants and animals ((Have animals and plants that pop down hanging on strings). Life on Earth, as was, is about to change forever. One group of animals will face its toughest challenge yet. And to tell this story we are joined by some of these dinosaurs, brought back on this special day to share their tale. Lets begin with introductions…

First we have one of the largest dinosaurs that lived, measuring 8o feet long or the size of 26 preschoolers stacked tall. This dinosaur used its long neck to satisfy its herbivore diet by eating leaves high in the trees… meet “Brachi” our Brachiosaurus

Our second dinosaur had back legs twice the size as its front legs just like its early ancestors the ornithiscians; however, this dinosaur is better known for the sharp spikes that armor its tail and were used to scare and fight off unwanted carnivore predators. Let us welcome “Stego” the Stegosaurus

Our third and final dinosaur, here to tell the story, has a hooked beak like a modern day raptor that it used to slice off leaves and twigs, though unlike raptors it also had sharp teeth like scissors to assist in the cutting. This dinosaur had a built in shield to protect its neck and three large horns adorned the front of its head to fight off unruly predators, meet “Tria” the Triceratops!

Narrator: I now turn the story over to Stego

Stego: Well check it out kids, it all changed the day that large thing began to drop from the sky.

Tria: He means the meteor. (Tria looks up and we begin to lower the rock that is above the puppet show a bit). You see that big thing up there

Stego: Right the meteor, which is a big rock formation from outer-space.

Brachi: Mhmmmm you tell them Stego,

Stego: Thanks Brachi, well where was I, right, that large rock kept getting closer to us… and closer… and CLOSER (Move rock closer to dinosaurs) until one day it hits the Earth(Have meteor fall, and make loud kaboom noise, and throw orange/red tissue paper out to represent fire) and fire spreads through the land. Some survived this blow and some did not. Tria can you explain what happened after the blow, it is a little fuzzy for me.

Tria: Of course! You see, after the meteor hit, the Earth began to change… the air got dark, it was like little bits of dirt floating around all the time (Wave black paper or something else to represent the dusty air)

Stego: That’s right, thanks Tria. You see the dust made it hard to breathe and see, and the sun’s warm shine did not touch Earth for a long long long long time, (hide the sun with black paper) Brachi, what was this like for you.

Brachi: It was a bummer. Without sunlight some of my favorite foods began to disappear. Like leafy greens. The plants relied on the sunlight to grow (make the plants disappear) I was hungry, and could not find any food to eat.

Tria: The same with me Brachi and with many other dinosaurs. With no more plants to eat most of us plant eaters could not survive, so as time continued on all the herbivores disappeared.

Stego: Right right, and without herbivores to eat, the carnivores eventually disappeared to.

All 3: (shake heads sadly) and after this the dinosaurs went EXTINCT!

Narrator: Well thank you all for sharing your story with us. Kids let’s give our dinosaur friends a big thank you for being here today. –break- Many scientists think that a meteor was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, but lots of other things may have contributed to it as well. The more we study bones and fossils the more things we can learn about the dinosaurs!

Chimney Swift Sit

Photo from: http://warbler.ornith.cornell.edu/nest-cam-highlights/cameras/chimney%20swift.jpg

Today was my first time counting Chimney Swifts. It was a good reminder to me that I love Citizen Science. I took my mom with me to the chimney at St.Stephan's Lutheran Church near Dodge Nature Center. It is always a treat to share bird-watching with a new observer.

A flock of Chimney Swifts can be called a 'screaming frenzy', which is fitting once you hear their discordant chatter. Watching their flight, I ponder if an amusement ride could be designed from their flight patterns. If it was, it would be certain to make the most arduous riders nauseated.

Audubon Minnesota is sponsoring this years annual Chimney Swift Sit. The survey dates are August 9-12 and August 26-30. Just scout out your chimney and then sit there beginning about 15 minutes before dusk and count all the swifts that enter.

Here is some links about the Chimney Swift Sit if you are interested:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/blogs/99889884.html
http://mn.audubon.org/events/1816

Flora and Fauna of the Cascades

During the past 3 months I lived in North Cascades Recreation Area. I spent most of my time in the Thunder Creek and Ross Lake areas as I surveyed for Spotted Owls with a crew of 4 others for The Institute of Bird Populations. Here are some of the common plants and wildlife I encountered. This is a work in progress.

Water Birds

Sandhill Crane


Northern Pintail

Mammals

Roosevelt Elk


Mule Deer


Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel


Black Bear

Raptors
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Barred Owl Pair


An Unknown Strix Owlet (located by begging call)

Birds around the west

I plan to update this list periodically with all the amazing birds I see during my journey. Here is the start...

Sandhill Cranes leaving the Platte River to feed on corn grain in Nebraska

Feral Peacock in Cortez, Colorado

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