Beards

November 27, 2024

As we approach Turkey Day, also known as Thanksgiving in the US, there have been a rash of stories on my browser about these interesting birds. These include the recent tradition of the Presidential Pardon. The first official presidential turkey pardon was given by George H.W. Bush in 1989, but reports credit many presidents with the tradition. Abraham Lincoln’s son took a liking to the turkey destined for Christmas dinner and the bird was spared. Harry Truman liked his bird so much he had the first presidential photo op, but that bird was not so lucky and was later served as a meal. Two days ago, President Biden pardoned Peach and Blossom. These domesticated turkeys weighed an impressive 40 and 41 pounds (18.1 and 18.6 kg) respectively. Another story was offered by the National Audubon Society and provided 10 Fun Facts About the Wild Turkey. The most interesting of these facts concerned the bundle of feathers sprouting from their chest is known as turkey beards, and it gets longer as the bird ages.

When I looked online, Audubon also offered an in-depth discussion on turkey beards. Turkey beards are plumes of dark brown or black feathers, more hair-like than a typical feather, that protrude from the bird’s chest. “If you had it in your hand, it has the consistency of a miniature horsetail,” says Gary Norman, a retired gamebird biologist at Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. While all adult male turkeys (toms) have beards, nearly 10% of hens also have one, although it is a smaller and wispier version. Male turkey beards are thought to be used as another tool for mate selection, but it is unknown why some female birds have them. Kelsey Sullivan, a gamebird specialist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, says the beards can “indicate dominance and health”. Turkey beards start sprouting when youngsters are around five months old and continue to grow at a rate of nearly 5 inches (12.7 cm) a year throughout a bird’s life allowing the biologists a rough estimation of the bird’s age. While a one-year-old beards may measure only a few inches older males can have beards over 10 inches (25 cm). The longest beard length recorded on the National Turkey Wildlife Federation website is 11.75 inches (29.2 cm). Some toms even grow 2 or 3 (and even up to 13) separate beards. In the rare occasion where multiple beards are grown most are just short, wispy feathers with a single dominant cluster.

Turkeys can lose their beards several ways. Turkey beard rot is caused by vitamin deficiency and may result in the beards shearing off. Longer beards can snap from the heavy weight of snow and ice that collects on them during winter. Fraying from being dragged on the ground is also an issue. Terrain is another factor that influences beard length, and turkeys inhabiting rocky terrain may have shorter beards than those foraging across flat, sandy ground. The abundance of bearded hens varies by region and is perhaps affected by previous conservation efforts to recover Wild Turkeys. In the mid-1900’s, wildlife biologists trapped turkeys and moved them across state boundaries to restore severely depleted turkey populations due to hunting and habitat loss. Wild Turkeys have sharply rebounded and now inhabit every US state except Alaska. Wild turkey populations peaked at 7 million birds by the early 2000’s.

THOUGHTS: There are only two species of Wild Turkey; the North American (Meleagris gallopavo) and the Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata) in Central America. The domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo domesticus) shares their cousin’s trait by having beards, neither sex of the ocellated turkey have beards. As for the two pardoned turkeys, they will live out the remainder of their life at Farmamerica, a 360-acre agricultural interpretive center in Waseca, Minnesota. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.

Mexican Wolf

November 20, 2024

Toward the back of the front section of my local newspaper was a USA Today article on a reward being offered for information on a dead wolf. The female is protected under the Endangered Species Act and was found northwest of Flagstaff, Arizona, on November 7th. The US Fish and Wildlife Service did not provide a cause of death, but the “mortality was not attributed to agency management actions”. Officials are offering a reward of US$103,500 for information that leads to “the successful prosecution” of the case. The wolf, known officially as F2979 and colloquially as “Hope”, was first GPS collared back in July. The Western Watersheds Project, a non-profit dedicated to protecting western watersheds and wildlife, shared a photo of the wolf in July during a wellness check clearly showing the collar. Cyndi Tuell, director of the project, said,” the shooter had to know she wasn’t a coyote.” The Mexican wolf is one of the most endangered mammals in North America, being driven almost to extinction in the mid-1980’s by hunting, trapping, and poisoning practices.

When I looked online, the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), also known as the lobo mexicano or lobo, is a subspecies of gray wolf (Canis lupus) native to eastern and southeastern Arizona and western and southern New Mexico in the US and in fragmented areas of northern Mexico. The wolf originally ranged from eastern Southern California south into Baja California, east through the Sonora and Chihuahua Deserts, and into West Texas. The Mexican wolf is the smallest of North America’s gray wolf subspecies, weighing 50 to 80 pounds (23 to 36 kg) with an average height of 28 to 32 inches (71 to 81 cm) and an average length of 5.5 feet (1.7 m). It is similar to the Great Plains wolf (Canis lupus nubilus), but with a smaller, narrower skull and darker, more variable fur (pelage), which ranges from sandy to yellowish gray with black, brown, and some white highlights. The snout, inner legs, neck and undersides are white, while golden-yellow and beige hues dominate the top of the head and much of the rest of the body. The fur around the chest and neck forms a grayish black collar which flows onto the back where it is generally black all the way to the tail tip. As of 2024, there are at least 257 wild Mexican wolves in the US and 45 in Mexico. Another 380 wolves are in captive breeding programs.

There have been 92 Mexican wolf deaths recorded since 1998. Four occurred in 2012 as a result of illegal shootings. In 2015, a court ordered the US Fish and Wildlife revise the management rules after a survey done on the wolf population of the Mexican wolf in Alpine, Arizona, indicated the recovery of the species is being negatively impacted by poaching. Poaching accounted for 50% of all Mexican wolf mortalities from 2008 to 2019. In an effort to fight the slow recovery, GPS monitoring devices are being used to monitor the wolves. In 2016, 14 Mexican wolves were killed, making it the highest death count of any year since they were reintroduced into the wild in 1998. While two of the deaths were caused by officials trying to collar the animals the rest of the deaths remain under investigation.

THOUGHTS: The Mexican wolf was held in high regard in Pre-Columbian Mexico, considered a symbol of war and the Sun and referred to as Cuetzlachcojotl. The Apache call the Mexican wolf “ba’cho” or “ma’cho”, and there is a “wolf song” passed through oral tradition where the tribe used to summon the wolf’s power before battle. It is estimated up to 16% of the Mexican wolf diet may now include domestic cattle (Bos taurus), especially in locations where the cattle graze and calve year-round as opposed to seasonally. Studies suggest reports of wolf depredation on livestock are sometimes exaggerated or fabricated. That reflects the contrasting attitude as an invasive species (cattle) was introduced by Europeans. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.

Yellow-legged

November 19, 2024

Inside the front section of my local newspaper was a USA Today article on the recovery efforts for a nearly extinct frog. The High Sierra lakes in Yosemite National Park have been biologically upset for over 100 years by the stocking of non-native fish. The rainbow, golden, brown, brook, and cutthroat trout, along with Atlantic salmon and grayling, were originally carried in buckets to these fishless lakes. After World War II, a generation of pilots who were adept in aerial bombing sped up the process in all but 20% of the smallest mountain lakes. While these lakes contained no fish, they were bursting with life. Within a few years of stocking the frog populations that had flourished were gone. The National Park Service ended fish stocking in the 1990’s out of concern for the native species. In 1992, Roland Knapp, a research biologist from the University of California, Santa Barbara, got permission to use gill nets to remove the fish from a small number of lakes. The frogs began to make a comeback, but in the early 2000’s research showed the arrival of amphibian chytrid fungus. The Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog was added to the endangered species list in 2014.

When I looked online, the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog (Rana sierrae), also known as the Sierra Nevada Mountain yellow-legged frog, is a true frog endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada in the US. The yellow-legged was formerly considered the southern mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) until a 2007 study elevated the more central and northern populations to full species status and restricting the latter to the southern Sierra Nevada and southern California. Both mountain frogs are similar in appearance but are separated by differences in mitochondrial DNA. The yellow-legged grow up to 1.5 to 3.5 inches (3.8 to 8.9 cm) long and females tend to be larger than males. The frogs have brown backs, often with dark spots or bands, and yellow legs and underbellies. Considerable variance exists in species coloration and yellow-legged frogs can also be grey, red, or greenish brown with dark splotches. Tadpoles appear black or brown and require one to four years to fully develop. These frogs hibernate during the winter, staying submerged in the mud and may only be active around three months a year depending on the weather. Studies showed 92.5% of the yellow-legged populations have gone extinct and are estimated to have declined by over 90% over their range. They are considered an endangered and vulnerable species by the IUCN.

In 2006, Yosemite National Park and the Yosemite Conservancy began a project to introduce frogs into lakes without fish. In 2007, a project was started to restore frog habitat by removing non-native fish from remote sites. Once the site is fishless, lakes are inhabited by native species, including the yellow-legged frog. The ecological effects of their loss have been significant as the yellow-legged were a keystone species and important for nutrient and energy cycling in the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. A 2016 survey in Yosemite indicated a sevenfold increase in their numbers reported, but recent studies discovered amphibian chytrid fungus is contributing to the decline of the Sierra yellow-legged frog. Chytrid fungus leads to a usually fatal disease (Chytridiomycosis). Chytrid fungus lives on keratin which is found on the external mouthparts of tad poles and the outer skin layer of adults. Fungus growth on adults disrupts the ability to breathe through skin (osmoregulate). The species also suffers from habitat fragmentation as populations have become separated.

THOUGHTS: Stocking fish in the High Sierra’s began as early as the California Gold Rush in 1849. The fishless lakes seemed like a waste to the miners hiking into the backwoods. Stocking fish did provide food, but it nearly destroyed the delicate habitat of the high mountains. While introducing an invasive species may seem like a good idea, it is rarely the case. Life in fragile environments is especially vulnerable. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.

Wrap Up

November 18, 2024

In the HOMES section of Sunday’s newspaper (delivered on Saturday’s) there was an article providing advice to want-a-be gardeners. October (missed it) and November are the best time to wrap up your gardens and prepare for your spring planting. Fall is also the best time to plant trees and shrubs to let them get established before the freeze sets in. Rather than raking leaves consider mulching them and collecting fallen branches in a pile to protect local wildlife (or the neighborhood cat). Deep watering trees and shrubs will send them into the winter well-hydrated and give them a jump-start in the spring. While we may be preparing the inside of the house to welcome holiday guests, it is important to wrap up the outside for this season of dormancy.

When I looked online, the Farmer’s Almanac cited 11 Steps to wrap up your vegetable garden in the fall. This began with removal of any spent plants and debris that may have accumulated. While much of this can be composted, any diseased plants need to be disposed of in the trash. Beans and peas should be chopped off at ground level to leave their nitrogen-fixing roots to feed next year’s crops. Disease/insect free material can be added to your compost pile. This is also a good time for a final weeding to prep for next spring. If you are planning on new beds this is the time to scalp the grass and lay down newspapers with a cover of compost and mulch to prepare the soil. The falling leaves are a great mulch and a good source of nutrition. Your beds could also use compost in the fall to allow microorganisms to break it down throughout the winter. Fall is the time to consider crop rotation for the coming year. It is never good to grow plants in the same family in the same place year after year as it could allow pests and diseases specific to that family to thrive and depleting the soil of the same nutrients each year. This is a good time to test your soil for nutrients and the proper pH for the new crop by contacting your local Cooperative Extension or garden center. You may want to plant a cover crop to protect the soil, and this provides additional nutrients when you till them into the ground in spring. October and November are the best times to plant garlic as the plants need cold temperatures to produce huge yields. Finally, remove all supports an cages and wash and spray them with a two-to-one solution of water and bleach to kill disease. I guess I have got some work to do before I can wrap up my gardening for the winter.

Preparing to wrap up the garden is also about taking care of your pots, tools, and equipment. The water hose needs to be turned off and drained and, in our area (zone 7), the spigots need to be covered to prevent freezing. Garden tools need to be cleaned, sanded, and oiled before storing them for the winter. Any frames or supports should be wiped down with soapy water and allowed to dry before being stored (inside) for the winter. Ceramic and clay pots need to be moved inside to prevent cracking during freezing temperatures. You can dump the soil in your beds and then sterilize the pots with a diluted (1/2 cup per gallon) bleach solution. It was suggested not stack these pots, as it may be hard to get them unstuck in the spring. So much to do before I can stop doing anything.

THOUGHTS: As I prepare to wrap up my garden I am still harvesting crops. My pole beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) produce several cups of fresh beans every couple of days, and I have nearly ripe tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) on most of my vines. I am giving them as long as possible to ripen before the coming big frost the weather people keep predicting. Still, I can complete most of these preparations. Preparing my pots and tools will clean and keep them from rusting as they sit on the back porch. Being willing to wrap up is both hard and necessary. That is true for gardening and in life. When I retired, I thought it was a wrap up. Instead, it was the start of my next assignment. Humans need to have a purpose to survive. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.

Siamese

November 13, 2024

Today’s MSN browser featured a report on a crocodile thought to be extinct in the wild a generation ago that is making a comeback. The animals are being bred in captivity and reintroduced to their natural habitat. The conservation effort began in 2012 and last June the crocodiles laid 106 eggs and produced 60 hatchlings. There are about 1,000 of the crocodiles in the wild, including 400 in Cambodia. The species was nearly killed off by habitat destruction, poaching, and crossbreeding. Ironically, the hunters who captured, bred, and killed the crocodiles to sell their skins helped them bounce back. These captured crocs are the source of purebred, fertile crocodiles that were pulled from a population of 1.5 million (mostly hybrids) being bred for leather. After the females lay eggs, the eggs are incubated at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, allowing the crocodiles to develop before they are brought to a national park in the Cardamom Mountains. According to Pablo Sinovas of Fauna & Flora, only one in 20 crocodiles born in the wild survives, but if they are bred captively and not released until they reach 1 meter in length, “their chances of survival increase exponentially.”

When I looked online, I found the Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis), also known as the Singapore small-grain and soft-belly crocodile, is a medium-sized freshwater crocodile native to Indonesia (Borneo and possibly Java), Brunei, East Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The animal is medium-sized, with a relatively broad, smooth snout and an elevated, bony crest behind each eye. It is generally olive green but can range to a dark green. Immature crocodiles measure 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) and weigh from 13 to 26 pounds (6 to 12 kg). Adults can grow to a length of 7 to 10 feet (2.1 to 3 m) and weigh from 88 to 265 pounds (40 to 120 kg). Adults have a bite force of 466 to 1,029 pounds per foot (2,073 to 4,577 N). Large males can reach over 13 feet (4 m) and weigh 770 pounds (350 kg). The species is critically endangered and already extinct in many regions.

The Siamese crocodile is critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and is listed on Appendix I of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In Cambodia, Fauna and Flora International and the Government of Cambodia’s Forestry Administration have established the Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Programme for the protection and recovery of Siamese crocodiles. This program works with a network of indigenous villages who are helping to protect key sites such as Veal Veng Marsh (Veal Veng District), the Tatai River (Thmar Bang District), and the Araeng River. The Araeng is thought to have the second largest population of Siamese crocodiles in the world but is being threatened by proposed construction of a massive dam. The Siamese take advantage of the increase in water levels during the Monsoon season (June to November) to move out of the river and onto large lakes and other local bodies of water, returning to their original habitat once water levels receding back to their usual levels. Since 2012, approximately 50 purebred Siamese crocodiles have been released into community-protected areas to reinforce the depleted wild populations.

THOUGHTS: Conservationists are also trying to protect Siamese crocodile’s habitat as 32% of the Cambodia’s tree cover was lost from 2001 to 2023 due to climate change and deforestation. Sean Pang stated, “Policymakers must recognize that addressing both climate and land use change is crucial for protecting the fate of South-east Asia’s trees, and likely for much of the region’s biodiversity.” The world’s natural resources are at peril without a combined effort by government, conservationist, and the local population. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.

Landfill

November 12, 2024

I mentioned in October how Melissa and I had bitten the bullet and purchased new furniture for our living room. We repurposed the old furniture by donating it to the Habitat ReStore. They had been willing to pick up the two couches, a love seat, and a recliner, but refused my old chair because it was too worn. That meant the large recliner has been sitting in the middle of our garage for the last month. I have been cleaning (disposing of) and rearraigning the garage for several weeks to finally address the boxes we brought from Kansas and those we had temporarily stored from her parents’ collection when we moved in five years ago. A cleaner garage also meant it was time to move the recliner. I hesitated when we bought the Jeep six years ago because I have longed for a pickup, and more importantly the bed to haul things in. A local supply store has been advertising a small 5 by 8 foot (1.5 by 2.4 m) trailer and this could be the answer to move my old recliner to the landfill.

When I looked online, I found a landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate, and final covers only began in the 1940’s. In the past, waste was simply left in piles or thrown into pits (called middens in archeology). Landfills take up a lot of land and depending on what materials are disposed of can pose an environmental risk. Some landfill sites are used for waste management purposes, such as temporary storage, consolidation, and transfer (transfer stations). A landfill can also be used for various stages of processing of waste material, such as sorting, treatment, or recycling. The compacted waste is typically covered with soil or alternative materials (chipped wood or other “green waste”) daily. Compaction of waste is critical to extending the life of the landfill, and unless stabilized the materials may undergo severe shaking or soil liquefaction during an earthquake. Once full, the area over a landfill is covered and site may be reclaimed for other uses.

As I pulled my new trailer and the recliner into the landfill the attendant asked if my Jeep had a 4- wheel drive. I thought it was an odd question, but they went on to suggest (twice) that I drop into 4-wheel before entering the site. Still skeptical, I put the vehicle into 4-high and proceeded along the winding road leading to the current disposal area. On arrival I realized why the attendant had asked. We had several days of rain and the area in front of the waste pile had been churched to a morass. I pulled forward into the quagmire as directed by another attendant, but was stopped and told I needed to back in. As I started to back the trailer out to turn around, he asked if all I had was the one chair. He then told me to just pull forward and he tossed the chair onto the ground. I then plowed back through the mud to turn around and continued to the checkout station. Between the trailer and fees, it cost me US$1100 to take my worn recliner to the landfill. It was still better than allowing the chair to sit in the middle of my garage, and now I can think up new projects to use the trailer.

THOUGHTS: While one of the badges of honor with a 4-wheel drive is showing off the mud caked sides of your vehicle (ala the teenage boys), I did not think my visit to a muddy landfill qualified for this honor. I took the Jeep and trailer home and promptly washed them down. Landfills have the potential to cause a number of issues. The heavy vehicles cause damage to access roads. Pollution of local roads and watercourses from wheels as vehicles leave the landfill can be significant, as can contamination of groundwater, aquifers, or soil by the waste materials. Landfills in the US are regulated by each state’s environmental agency. However, none of these standards may fall below those set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Three hundred years from now an archeologist will be combing through our local midden, and worder how the mechanism for my recliner worked. Think of it as job security. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.

Mud Tracks

November 06, 2024

We have received heavy rain over the last two days, and I tried to keep the kids out of the side yard. I monitor them when I do let them out to make sure they are not mischievous (Loki is a digger and Zena is a roller) and end up covered in mud. Today the rain stopped, and I decided to brave our walk site at the lake. A portion of the walk is on a paved parking lot, but the majority covers packed dirt tracks that lead out to the end of two spits. We were the only ones there when we arrived to begin our walk. We walked to the end of the first spit and while it was wet, we were able to pick our way through the puddles without getting our paws muddy. As we were coming off the spit two 4-wheel drive pickups pulled out onto the other spit and began to cut mud tracks through the vegetation. As we walked around the paved lot on the trail the trucks moved to the area we had just left. This had a wider area that had been torn up by previous off-road activity. It did not take long for one of the trucks to get stuck axel deep in the mud. This was obviously why they had come in the first place. After extricating the truck, they drove to the boat ramp and took selfies of the mud covered truck to share with their friends. Teenagers in pickups are not the only ones that leave mud tracks.

When I looked online, I found one of the more famous mud tracks is located at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley. Racetrack playa is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) long and 1.2 miles (1.9 km) wide and is located at a height of 3708 feet in a north-south valley east of the Panamint Range within Death Valley National Park. The playa receives only 3 inches of annual precipitation and is bounded on all sides by north-south ranges rising 1500 to 2000 feet (457 to 610 m). The surface of the playa is mainly dried clay and provides a hard, smooth, and level pavement. The sailing stones, also called sliding or walking rocks, move and inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without animal intervention. The movement of the rocks occurs when large, thin sheets of ice floating on a brief winter pond break up in the sun. Rocks weighing up to 705.5 pounds (320 kg) travel across the playa and leave mud tracks. Stones with rough bottoms leave straight striated tracks, while those with smooth bottoms tend to wander. The mud trails differ in both direction and length. Rocks that start next to each other may travel parallel for a time and then one abruptly changes direction to the left, right, or even back to the direction from which it came. This phenomenon has been documented since 1948 and is not unique to Racetrack Playa. Tracks in the mud have been observed around the world.

Traditionally, these rocks were considered to be pushed by wind over a wet and slippery playa surface but observations from 2014 called this assumption into question and several aspects of the mud tracks remain a mystery. A thorough system was put up to investigate the rock movement that included a weather station near the playa, time-lapse cameras centered on the southeast corner, and 15 GPS-equipped boulders on the surface. The researchers went to the location for maintenance and data retrieval 5-8 times per year and from November to March of each year the time-lapse camera recorded hourly conditions. Interwoof GPS loggers were also installed in limestone blocks northeast of natural stones and captured GPS and temperature data every 60 minutes. The GPS trackers began recording constantly at one-second intervals after being triggered. The shape of the shallow lake named Ontario Lacus on Saturn’s moon Titan has been compared to that of Racetrack Playa.

THOUGHTS: Despite the signs and barriers forbidding driving on the surface and making mud tracks posted along parts of the playa, park rangers still find new tire tracks on it every couple of years. The walking rocks will not slide if the surface is defaced. Destruction of such natural wonders takes decades to repair. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.

House Finch

November 05, 2024

Melissa received a window box bird feeder as a gift from our son and family earlier this year. The feeder has suction cups on the back that allow it to attach directly to the glass. I placed the feeder in the bay window in the breakfast nook that serves as her home office so she can enjoy the bird activity while working. I fill the two sections of the feeder with different seeds to make it more attractive to the small birds willing to approach the window. One side has always had black sunflower seed (Helianthus annuus). I have varied the seed on the other side, but it currently has cracked safflower seed (Carthamus tinctorius). This feeder has become a preference for the eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis), the sparrows (Genus, Zonotrichia), and purple finches (Haemorhous purpureus) that frequent our back yard. On Sunday I noticed what seemed to be a new species at the feeder. This was similar to the finches I have been watching but somehow seemed different. When I checked my bird ID this turned out to be a house finch.

When I looked online, I found the house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) is a North American bird in the finch family. The species is native to Mexico and southwestern US but has been introduced to the eastern part of North America and Hawaii and is now found year-round throughout the US and most of Mexico. The house finch is a moderate-sized bird at 5 to 6 inches (12.5 to 15 cm) long, with a wingspan of 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm). Body mass can vary from 9⁄16 to 15⁄16 ounces (16 to 27 g) with an average weight of 3⁄4 ounces (21 g). Adults have a long, square-tipped brown tail and are a brown or dull-brown color across the back with some shading into deep gray on the wing feathers. Breast and belly feathers may be streaked, and the flanks usually are. Most adult males have reddish heads, necks, and shoulders, and the color can extend to the belly and down the back as well. Male coloration varies in intensity with the seasons as it is derived from a diet of berries and fruits. Adult females have brown upperparts and streaked underparts. There are around 40 million house finches across North America, making it the second-most populous finch behind the American goldfinch.

The house finch and purple finch are closely related species and can be hard to identify. The main difference between the two species is the amount of red on the bird and the pattern on the face. They have similar body shapes, but the bill of the purple finch is a bit bigger, more conical, and deeper, while that of the House Finch has a more rounded shape. Both species get along with other small birds except during breeding season when they become protective of their territory. The other big difference comes with habitat. The house finch prefers a wide range of arid, open, and semi-open habitats, and will live in oak-juniper woodlands, open coniferous forests, and shrubby, and desert habitats from sea level to more than 11,000 feet, the house finch avoids dense forest of the purple finch. A small flock of house finch in Long Island, NY, escaped captivity in 1939 and has become the common bird of the eastern US and southern Canada. Their population has grown and expanded to millions of birds that thrive in urban and suburban places, preferring parks and urban settings with conifers and ornamental trees. Their songs are similar, but the purple finch sings a more melodious and “warbling” song, while the house finch incorporates chattering and trilled sounds.

THOUGHTS: Another similarity between the house finch and purple finch is they are both attracted to bird feeders. This explains why I have seen both species (and probably not realized it until now) in our backyard. Neither species is rare, but the house seems more urban and the purple more forest. Nature tells us that when the same species spend enough time separated and/or refusing to interact they grow apart and eventually become distinct. While humans have not yet reached that point as a species, it is a good lesson to be learned. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.

Flat Stanley

October 31, 2024

Last week we received a text from my son saying we would receive a package from our grandson. His second grade teacher in Washington state started a project for the students to connect with their relatives living in different parts of the country. The idea was to get responses over the next month and a half by sending a journal to track the progress of his avatar, a two dimensional representation of himself. When the package arrived, I took pictures of the avatar participating in activities around our house. He joined the fall pumpkin display, hung out with the succulents on the porch, and spent time in the garden among the tomatoes. I e-mailed these back to his teacher to share and sent a letter to describe the fun he was having in Arkansas. As requested, I sent the package along to my sister in Maine for her to do the same. The project was based on the children’s book character, Flat Stanley.

When I looked online, I found Flat Stanley is an American children’s book series written by author Jeff Brown. The idea began as a bedtime story for Brown’s sons, which Brown turned into the first Flat Stanley book published in 1964 featuring illustrations by Tomi Ungerer. Brown did not continue the series until two decades later, when he published five more books: Stanley and the Magic Lamp, Stanley in Space, Stanley’s Christmas Adventure, Invisible Stanley, and Stanley, Flat Again! By 2003, the Flat Stanley series had sold almost one million copies in the US and had been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Hebrew. Brown died in December 2003, but other children’s book authors have continued the series under a new name, Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures. The Flat Stanley Project began in 1995 under the direction of Dale Hubert, a third grade teacher in London, Ontario, Canada. The project is meant to facilitate letter-writing between schoolchildren as they document Flat Stanley accompanying them around the world. The goal of the project is to increase reading and writing skills, as well as teaching children about people and cultures from different places. In 2008, more than 6,000 classes from 47 countries took part in the Flat Stanley Project.

My grandson’s teacher gave the Flat Stanley project a different twist. Rather than having Stanley travel around the states, it was a (flat) picture of himself who was to participate in the adventures. The students begin by reading the book to become familiar with Flat Stanley’s story. Stanley is flat because a bulletin board had fallen on him, but he was able to overcome this drawback to excel and travel. The journal will document the places and activities along the avatars’ journeys. Each student’s journal is to be mailed back to the school with entries from family and friends. Postcards or letters returned to the class during the project help track the various places their avatars travel. The project is similar to the traveling gnome prank, except that the Flat Stanley Project has a focus on childhood literacy. While the project is focused on writing letters, my grandson’s teacher also suggested using email (as well) to assist with quicker travel time. I wrote in the journal, sent three pictures via email, and wrote a “flat” letter to the class about the wonders of Arkansas.

THOUGHTS: When I asked my sister if she would participate, she mentioned she had met the Flat Stanley author. She was with her daughter and entered a café in Maine that had cutouts of Stanley on the tables. They had read the book, recognized the character, and exclaimed, “Flat Stanley!” A man behind them answered “Yes?” and identified himself as the author. Education can be innovative and fun when teachers take time to present learning as more than “just the 3 R’s”. More critical is for the parents and larger family to participate. It is one thing to force a child to do math at the kitchen table, it is quite another way to sit with them as they read or do their math tables. It may not always take a village, but village support certainly helps. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.

Beetle

October 30, 2024

Hidden in the back of the front section in yesterday’s newspaper was a USA Today article about Hawaii’s attempts to stop an invasive insect. According to the Hawaii Invasive Species Council, the invader “jeopardizes the economy, the entire ecosystem, agriculture and food security.” This species feeds by biting and boring into emerging palm fronds, creating holes in the top of the tree. While they prefer to feed on coconut, royal, date, and fan palms, they will also feed on hala, taro, banana, pineapple, and sugarcane if the palm trees are unavailable. The insects are nocturnal and can fly up to two miles if they are looking for food. The insect attacks a palm at the base of the fronds (leaves) where they are attached to the trunk, bore through the base of the fronds into the center of the crown (the palm heart), and feed on the undeveloped white fronds. Attacks cause a reduction in leaf area on the damaged fronds and results in a reduction in the number of nuts produced. Newly planted palms can have their growth point destroyed resulting in the palms death and even mature palms may die after extremely heavy attacks by the coconut rhinoceros beetle.

When I looked online, I found the coconut rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros), also known as Asiatic rhinoceros beetle, is a large species of beetle belonging to the subfamily Dynastinae. This dynastid beetle has a length of 1.4 to 2 inches (3.5 to 5 cm) and is a dark brown to black color. The head has a horn which is more prominently developed in males and in larger specimens. The first segment of the thorax (pronotum) has a large central depression with two humps at the hind margin and the tibia of the foreleg has three large teeth. Male beetles can be reliably distinguished from females as the tip of the abdomen is rounded, shiny, and hairless. In females the tip is more pointed and densely covered with hair. The larvae are C-shaped white grubs typical of other scarab beetles. The beetle breeds in decaying palm trunks or other organic matter (sawdust or compost heaps). The native distribution of this beetle covers most parts of tropical Asia, but human activity accidentally introduced the beetle to a large number of tropical islands throughout the Pacific. The beetle has most recently invaded Guam, Hawaii, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

A virus disease of coconut rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros nudivirus) has turned out to be the most effective natural control agent. This virus was discovered by Alois Huger in Malaysia in 1963 and was later found to occur naturally in other countries within the native range of the beetle. The introduced beetle populations in the Pacific and in the Maldives were found to be virus-free. The virus was introduced into the virus-free populations and caused a significant decline in the beetle population. The virus mainly effects the adult population and spreads easily, reducing their life span and the fertility of females. During replanting of palms more breeding sites become available and transmission of the virus is often interrupted, and outbreaks still occur. There is also evidence of resistance to the virus in some coconut rhinoceros beetle populations. A fungus (Metarhizium majus) is also effective in controlling the beetles in breeding sites, but it does not spread well by itself. The fungus does have the advantage that it survives for some time outside its host (as conidia).

THOUGHTS: Use of a virus to control the coconut rhinoceros beetle population is common, and natural biological controls include predators, parasitoids, pathogens, and competitors. Biological control can have side-effects on biodiversity through attacks on non-target species by any of these mechanisms, especially when a new species is introduced without an understanding of the possible consequences. Viruses being transmitted to other species (and humans) may cause greater harm than the original problem. Alexander Pope’s proverbial phrase in 1711 was, “To err is human”. Even without forgiveness, this is more than an adage. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.