Critters, storms, deficient humans and the odd duck

BY JOHN KARRIGAN

Cedar Waxwing

As I have said several times lately, the park still has lower numbers of small birds than usual, but there are various things I can write about. Early in June I saw one Cedar Waxwing and the next day, five Cedar Waxwings near the northwest corner of the lake. Other people had reported seeing them, but I, so far, have only seen them on those two days. Chipping Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Eastern Bluebirds and Goldfinches can usually be found in small numbers along with Robins and Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. And Chimney Swifts are often over the lake and northern part of the park.

I did see one (or two?) Saw Whet Owls flying on June 17, but I can no longer count on hearing them in the same area almost every night I go to the park, as happened in May. They have changed their mating, nesting or whatever behavior and lately can be heard less often and in random and varied areas of the park.
The Wood Ducks, Mallards and Canada Geese all seem to continue doing great. One Mallard (with three ducklings) and one Wood Duck (15 ducklings) had their young within a few days of the end of June.

The Great Blue Heron and Great Egret are around often, and sometimes (maybe all the time) there is a family of Black-crowned Night Herons (two adults and one young bird) on the island.

There was one unusual duck, about the size of a Wood Duck, which was on the water for a few days—a yellow rubber duck! I don’t know how it arrived or
left the lake. The sea monster also has gone, but I doubt that is related to the yellow rubber duck.

I received several very reliable reports about a mature Bald Eagle perching and successfully fishing near the northwest corner of the lake. All the sightings were early in the morning.

On June 14, I saw a False Map Turtle in the lake. I had seen one a few years ago. No, I don’t know why it is a False Map Turtle; the other two Map Turtles found in the north central states are the Common (or Northern) Map Turtle and the Ouachita Map Turtle. That is my good turtle story.

False Map Turtle

Now my bad turtle (the turtle itself is not bad) story. On June 17, I saw two young boys (around 12 years old) trying to torture or kill a female snapping turtle. The turtle was on the east side of the sports fields, where it probably had or was going to lay eggs. The boys claimed they were trying to take the turtle back to the lake, but I had seen them kicking and throwing things at the turtle. The turtle’s shell seemed only slightly damaged (I hope). I had no trouble carrying the turtle to the lake and it seemed OK. The turtle had injured both boys; it bit one and scratched the other. I told the boys that is what they deserved if not a lot more. I don’t know if I will ever see them again, or want to. Generally, I have not seen as much animal cruelty as some years.

On a brighter note, so far this year, I have seen five kinds of butterflies in the park: Cabbage, Monarch, Mourning Cloak, Red Admiral and a small orange one I have been trying to identify for two years. Like the bird numbers, the insect numbers are somewhat low this summer.

All the path lights on the north side of the lake have been out for about five weeks, but I think they are trying to fix them now. Of course, if I and various other neighborhood night people didn’t go to the park in the middle of the night, it wouldn’t make much difference.

By the way, the moon and star watching (especially the Big Dipper) have been great from the park for many days in June.

The Park Board is having a meeting at the park building at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 22. (They are meeting at three other city parks on July 13, 15 and 20.) The meetings “seek input on a new policy for public participation and engagement.” This sounds like a good idea but what will the policy be and will the park board stick to the policy (that is assuming it is a good policy) still remains to be seen. Many people in Powderhorn (and lots of other neighborhoods) will have a hard time believing the park board really wants or listens to public participation and engagement, and they have years of experience to back up those doubts.

Back to home for a while. No one on the block has heard the House Wrens lately and no one knows if they all left or are nesting quietly. I think they left but I would like to be proved wrong. Woodpeckers have been in the yard a lot, both Downy and Hairy, with the Downies bringing young birds, feeding them and teaching them to use the finch feeder. A Chipping Sparrow was a regular for a few weeks and Goldfinches, House Finches and Chickadees have been back after what are probably breaks for nesting. The Cardinals and Mourning Doves are always pleasant to see and listen to.

An albino squirrel made a one-time appearance on June 10, and has been seen in the yard across the alley several times.

Of course, the storms on June 25 and 26 were a big deal, but I was out of town from the 24th to the 27th and didn’t know what to expect when I got home. As it turned out, almost nothing was damaged in the yard, but the block lost two big pine trees in front yards, one on each side of the street, a mid-block street light and pole, and several backyard trees that I am sure meant a lot to the owners and the birds and animals. I have not had a chance to look at every area of the park, but aside from various sand and dirt erosion problems, I only saw one seriously damaged tree. However, today more diseased Elm trees were being removed. The lake level is higher than it has been for a couple of years, which is a good side effect of the storms. And I hope that any storm damage experienced by neighbors was minimal.

Comments and observations are always welcome. Send them to me, in care of Southside Pride. Thank you.