August 18, 2021

After dropping Melissa off for an appointment, I decided to spend the wait time fishing.  When I pulled into the mallard lake I have been frequenting, I saw the water level had dropped over two feet.  The heat and evaporation had apparently taken its toll on the water.  I had not originally planned on fishing so while I had my poles (kept in my car) I did not have bait.  That was not a problem since I wanted to fly fish.  I had broken down my pole and put away the fly the last time I fished and did not initially find the trout magnet I was hoping to use.  Instead, I rigged up a wooly with a cadis fly drop and tossed into the shallow water.  The shallow lake seemed to concentrate the fish and they were hitting my flies on every cast, including landing five.  I was hoping to catch the bass that have been tempting me along the shore.

The Killer Whale or Orca (Orcinus orca) is a toothed whale and largest member of the oceanic dolphin family.  It is easily recognized by its black-and-white patterned body.  Orca whales are found in all the world’s oceans and range from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas.  I have watched videos of Orca Whales using a catch technique called surfing for seals.  The Southern Elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and Sea Lions (Otariidae family, various) use the rocky shores of Punte Norte, Argentina, to birth and rear their young.  The Orcas swim close to shore and wait for the perfect alignment of the tides, the seals, and shore, to strike.  The Orca surfs a wave onto the shore, grabs a seal pup in its teeth, then rolls its body and uses another wave to pull it back to deeper water.  In one study of this behavior, none of the observed whales were stranded permanently and 34.4% of their attempts ended with the catch of a seal.

As I fished for the bass at my lake, I was struck by another feeding technique used on the minnows along the shore.  These small fish had schooled in the shallows, and the bass would swoop in and catch the scattering fish.  Since they were along the shore, there were few escape routes and I assume the bass were effectively feeding.  While the Bass were not beaching like the Orcas, the water was so shallow that the dorsal fins and backs of the Bass were completely out of the water as they made their runs.  I do not recall ever seeing this behavior previously, but it must be common, at least in deeper water.  While small mouth bass are not orcas, they seem to have learned how to herd and catch the minnows.  I could not get the bass to bite on my wooly setup.

Thoughts:  The Orcas’ innovative hunting strategies are not limited to seal surfing.  Orcas around the world are estimated to catch and feed on over 140 species, such as sharks (including great whites), squids, sea otters, dolphins, bony fish, turtles, seabirds, and even baleen whales.  The strategies used to catch this diverse prey are almost ritualistic in nature and are passed down from one generation to the next.  Orca hunting may be considered an integral part of orca culture, with different populations continually recycling their group’s hunting “traditions.”   Whether it is Orcas or Great Apes, the language, tools, and cooperation that used to define what it meant to be cognizant are being questioned as we research the behaviors of “dumb” animals.  Perhaps we should rethink our dominance.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 17, 2021

Melissa shared a news feed she receives that highlight what happened on this day in Native American history.  August 14^th, 1559, noted the arrival of several priests, 500 soldiers and 1000 settlers in Pensacola Bay in present day Florida.  The expedition met with tragedy as a hurricane struck not long after arrival and many of the people were either killed or later starved.  The post had a side note that 6 of the original 13 ships had recently been discovered.  The real cause of the tragedy was they had not unloaded the tools and food and it was destroyed by the hurricane.  The original settlement has now been rediscovered in a single-family subdivision and is being excavated.

When I looked online, I found Tristan de Luna y Arellano was born into a noble family, came to New Spain, and in 1559 was sent on an expedition to colonize Florida.  In August he established a temporary colony at modern-day Pensacola.  On arrival Luna sent two search parties inland to search for other inhabitants before unloading the supplies and cargo.  On the night of September 19, 1559, a hurricane and storm surge swept through and destroyed most of the ships and cargo.  Most of the men traveled inland to the abandoned village, and named the town Santa Cruz de Nanipacana, where they remained through the end of June 1560.  The Viceroy in Mexico sent two relief ships in November with the promise of more aid in the spring.  When the relief did not come Luna sent 200 men upriver to the Coosa chiefdom (Coça) in Northwest Georgia, where they remained through November.  The increasing tensions between Luna and his remaining officers and men prompted the Viceroy to replaced Luna with a new governor, who arrived in April 1561.  The Luna settlement was occupied by a small detachment through August 1561 when they were picked up and returned to Veracruz.  The Pensacola area was not populated again by Europeans until 1698.  The Luna colony was the earliest multi-year European settlement in the continental US. 

The site of Luna’s colony was re-discovered by local historian Tom Garner in October 2015 and is being investigated by an expedition from the University of West Florida archaeology program under principal investigator John Worth.  The location is not published to keep unwanted visitors out of the area.  Having worked on archaeological expeditions I have found crowd control is a serious matter.  Visitors have a habit of showing up to see what is going on.  I have witnessed people not only walk to the edge of the excavation (walls do collapse) but even enter the dig itself.  Visitors not only get in the way, but the bigger issue is the questions.  Being the expert onsite means you are bombarded with all sorts of questions that you are expected to stop and answer.  I was tempted to say, “just read the book,” but I knew it would not be out for several years.

Thoughts:  When I read about the ill-fated expedition the irony of the story struck me.  As the colony searched for food, they came across an abandoned village.  This was probably one of the villages that had been wiped out by the disease spread to the Americas by colonists.  Part of the group was saved by wintering with another Native village who shared their food with them.  Descendants of these Natives would later be forced from their homes and marched across the south on what came to be called the Trail of Tears.  What is it they say about no good deed going unpunished?  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 16, 2021

Along with all the gold medals and records broken during the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, I heard the world broke another major record in July.  July was the hottest month ever recorded, according to data released Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  The record highlights the “unenviable distinction” that could ratchet up anxiety about climate change.  While July is typically the world’s warmest month of the year, July 2021 outdid itself as the hottest July and month ever recorded.  The combined land- and ocean-surface temperature around the world was 1.67F above the 20th century average of 60.4F, according to NOAA.  That makes July the hottest month since record-keeping started 142 years ago.

Daniel Arkin of NBC News reported the combined temperature last month was 0.02F higher than the previous record logged in July 2016, which was then tied in 2019 and 2020, the NOAA said.  In the Northern Hemisphere, the land-surface temperature was the hottest ever recorded for July at 2.77F above average, scorching past the previous record set in 2012.  Asia saw its hottest July on record and Europe recorded its second hottest, NOAA added.  NOAA’s news release featured a collage of photos illustrating the damaging effects of climate change, including floods, heat waves, drought, hurricanes, and wildfires.  The news arrives four days after the United Nations issued an alarming report about the urgent threat of climate change.  UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the findings a “code red for humanity.”

The last five Julys have been the five hottest of all time, and last month marked the 415th consecutive month with above-average global temperatures, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.  Alaska, Central Europe, northern and southwestern parts of Asia, and parts of Africa and Australia suffered the most intense temperatures above normal highs and experienced their hottest year to date.  A deadly heat wave gripped more than half of the US in mid-July, causing at least six deaths.  Europe faced life-threatening heat last month, with France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Britain all hitting record temperatures, including 109F in Paris, the hottest ever recorded.  On the last day of the month, the heat wave moved from Europe to Greenland, melting its ice sheets at dramatic rates.  Eleven billion tons of ice melted across the country in just one day.  This is the biggest melt of the season.

Thoughts:  Melissa and I were watching our Friday night comedy talk show and the UN and NOAA reports concerning the hottest month record was addressed.  The point was raised that we have been getting similar reports on global warming since the 1970’s.  While for some it reinforces the urgency to confront climate change (50 years later), it has made others indifferent (old news).  The world’s approach is to lower greenhouse gasses by 2050.  Both reports say by 2050 we will have reached the point of no return.  Now is the time to act.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 14, 2021

During my sophomore year of High School one of my favorite games was the Scavenger Hunt.  The idea is to make a diverse list of items needing to be found.  Teams are sent out with instructions that you could use any means necessary to find the items, and the first team back with all the items is declared the winner.  While I was not yet old enough to drive, there was always someone who was of age.  Four or five people of a mixed group of boys and girls would pile into the car and the hunt was on.  Some of the items on the list were readily available, while others were more difficult to find.  This was not only a good way to get to know someone of the opposite gender, but it also tested the groups ingenuity to scavenger the various items.  I liked finding the harder items best.  

The Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is a medium-sized New World sparrow.  It is easily one of the most abundant, variable, and adaptable species among the native sparrows in North America.  Song Sparrows tend to flit through dense, low vegetation or low branches, but occasionally move into open ground after food.  Flights are short and fluttering, with a characteristic downward pumping of the tail.  Scientists recognize 24 subspecies of Song Sparrows and have described some 52 forms.  In general, the coastal and northern birds are darker and streakier, with southern and desert birds wearing paler plumages.  The Song Sparrow is a common scavenger of bird feeders and are abundant on ours.

You may recall that I misidentified the Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. Durum) that had grown beneath the feeder on the east side of our back fence as millet.  In my defense, wheat was not listed in the ingredients of the bird seed, so I had ruled it out while the plants were young.  Browntop millet (Panicum ramosum) is a native of India and was introduced into the United States in 1915.  It is grown in the southeastern US for hay or pasture and for the birds and quail to scavenger on game preserves.   It is a cheap staple in many of the bird seed packages I find at the market.  The millet has replaced the wheat that I cut earlier at our house, and several plants thrive just inside the fence on the north of the patio.

Thoughts:  One of the Millet stalks had headed several weeks ago and had continued to ripen.  I watched its progress but did not think much about it.  When I got up yesterday the Song Sparrows had discovered the large head and were fighting over who would scavenger the seed.  There were 2-3 birds hanging on the head and another 10-15 sitting in the fence even as more arrived.  The birds would fill their beaks with seed, flit to the ground, spit the seed out, and then eat the seeds one at a time.  Early humans thrived because they were good at being scavengers.  While we are now at the top of the food chain, our scavenger heritage keeps much of the human population alive.  I found it funny when the sparrows clamored around the meager food available on my porch.  It is not so funny when we see humans struggle to find food near their homes.  Do the work.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 13, 2021

Yesterday I was reminded by Melissa that today was Friday the 13^th.  While we do not claim to be superstitious, we do seem to keep up on the relevant superstitions of “others.”  This superstition occurs when the 13^th day of the month falls on a Friday.  This happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year.  During 2015 there were three Friday the 13^th’s, 2017 through 2020 had two Friday the 13^th’s, and 2021 and 2022 both have one occurrence each.  Friday the 13^th occurs in any month that begins on a Sunday.   The longest period that occurs without a Friday the 13^th is 14 months, and the shortest period that occurs with a Friday the 13^th is just one month.  There seems to be a lot of regularity in our superstition.

I had mentioned last November 13^th about going online to research the origins of Friday the 13^th in Western superstition.  There are three suggested theories, and all revolve around a tragic meal and death.  While the origin is unclear, what is known is that there is no reference to the 13^th being unlucky until the 19^th Century.  An early documented English reference is Henry Sutherland Edwards’ 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini.  “He [Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday 13^th of November he passed away.”  It is possible that the publication in 1907 of Thomas W. Lawson’s popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, contributed to at least a partially to disseminating the superstition.  The novel tells of an unscrupulous broker who takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13^th. 

While it was not on the 13^th, Jay Gould (president) and Jim Fisk (vice president) of the Erie Railroad are credited as the masterminds of a gold buying scandal in 1869 that became known as Black Friday.  The pair tried to corner the gold market and the scheme was joined by others.  When Gould and Fisk heard that President Grant was set to break their corner, they began secretly selling off their gold.  When the market broke the price of gold fell from $160 to $133.  The stock market joined the plunge, dropping 20 percentage points, and bankrupting or inflicting severe damage on some of Wall Street’s most venerable firms.  Thousands of speculators were financially ruined, at least one committed suicide, foreign trade ground to a halt, and farmers saw the value of their wheat and corn harvests drop by 50 percent.  While the pair may have served as inspiration for Lawson 38 years later, the result did predict the vulnerability of the market that crashed in 1929.  That was on a Thursday.

Thoughts:  In Italian popular culture, Friday the 17^th (and not the 13^th) is considered a day of bad luck.  Friday the 17th occurs on a month starting on Wednesday.  The origin of this belief could be found in writing the number 17 in Roman numerals (XVII).  By shuffling the digits of the number one can easily get the Latin word VIXI (“I have lived”), implying death in the present and an omen of bad luck.  The number 13 in Italy was considered lucky, but due to Americanization, young people now consider Friday the 13^th unlucky.  Superstitions are attempts to control the future, or at least avoid pitfalls.  Today, many hold superstitious ideas about the covid vaccine.  Instead of controlling their future, they are risking the future of others.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 12, 2021

We received the three screens several days ago taken for repair when our gutters were installed two weeks ago.  Melissa suggested I should get the screens back up as the birds are coming into our porch and creating havoc by knocking over the succulents on the shelving.  I had been intending to do this, but like most things it involved a process.  Even though we have a brick house, the eaves and trim are composition siding.  When the new gutters and soffit were installed, I noticed the outside of the house needed to be painted.  Since the screens were down and I need to paint I thought it might be good to paint the porch windows prior to reinstalling the screens.  What kept me from painting is the extreme climate we have experienced since the screens were returned.  While I knew I needed to do the work, I was reluctant to take the risk of working in the heat.  I installed the screens despite the heat.

This week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its first major report in nearly a decade, warning the Earth could face runaway global temperature changes unless drastic efforts are made to reduce greenhouse gases.  The IPCC says humans are “unequivocally” to blame for the climate crisis, which has already caused “widespread and rapid changes.”  Scientists concluded the average global temperatures will likely rise to 2.7F (1.5C) above preindustrial levels by 2040 based on carbon emissions already in the atmosphere.  The report also warns temperatures will continue to rapidly warm after 2040 unless immediate action is taken now.  According to the lead authors of the IPCC report, “The changes we’re seeing now are widespread.  They’re rapid.  They’re intensifying.  They’re unprecedented in thousands of years.”  Those who dispute the effect of climate change have taken an approach like that of the Storm Trooper in Star Wars, “Nothing to see here, move along.”

After spending a week with extreme heat warnings, Arkansas dipped to below average for a week.  Now we are again caught in extreme heat warning during this week.  Arkansas currently averages about 30 dangerous heat days a year.  The state is projected to see nearly 90 such days a year by 2050.   Excessive heat brings other changes as well.  Greater weather extremes at both ends of the spectrum relates to a simple physical relationship.  The higher the air temperature, the more water vapor it can store.  Rainfall can be heavier (floods), but then results in severe droughts (and fires) elsewhere.  Many consequences of global climate change are already irreversible, at least for decades.  Increased ocean temperatures have killed off massive swaths of coral reefs and sea levels have risen one inch every decade for more than a century.  Catastrophes on a global scale have begun (melting ice caps and shifting Gulf Stream) and will only get worse without addressing climate change.  Seems there really is something to see.

Thoughts:  One of the sites I checked stated the amount of climate change to expect and went on to cite ways to adapt to this new reality.  While ideas to mitigate the heat and adapt are good (planting trees and vegetation to replace the concrete and asphalt), I was left thinking we have already given up.  The heat will alter bird migration patterns and cause warmer species to move north.  Sea level rise will flood coastal cities and crowd the existing interior.  Perhaps the old song is closer than we think,” I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona.”  Combatting climate change involves a process.  Some of the effects may already be irreversible but doing nothing will only make things worse.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 11, 2021

As I was leaving work yesterday, I noticed a squirrel playing around the oak tree at the front of our property.  Several weeks ago, I commented on the red squirrels that are more prevalent in the River Valley where I live.  In contrast, it is the gray squirrels that are abundant in the Ozarks where I work. 

The Eastern Gray Squirrel is one of very few mammalian species that can descend a tree head-first.  It does this by turning its feet so the claws of its hind paws are backward-pointing and can grip the tree bark.  While my Fox Squirrels are adept climbers and climb headfirst down my fence, they are unable to do the same on trees.  Apparently different squirrels have unique features.

When I looked online, I found the Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), also known as the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus.  It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prevalent.  Like many members of the family Sciuridae, the eastern gray squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; meaning it hoards food in numerous small caches for later recovery.  Some caches are temporary and located near the site of a sudden abundance of food.  These caches can be retrieved within hours or days for reburial in a more secure site.  Other caches are more permanent and are not retrieved until months later.  Each squirrel makes several thousand caches each season.  The squirrels have very accurate memory for the locations of these caches and use landmarks to retrieve them.  Smell is used to uncover the squirrel’s own caches, as well as to find other squirrels’ caches.  If the ground is too dry or covered in snow, it can result in lost caches.  The lost caches are why the Gray Squirrel is known as an essential natural forest regenerator.  The grey has a habit of losing caches of nuts and seeds.

Squirrels sometimes use deceptive behavior to prevent other animals from retrieving their cached food.  They pretend to bury the “object” if they feel that they are being watched.  They prepare the spot as usual by digging a hole or widening a crack, mime the placement of the food, but conceal it in their mouths, then covering up the “cache” as if they had deposited the object.  The Grey is also known to hide behind vegetation while burying food or hide it high up in trees (if their rival is not arboreal).  This complex repertoire suggests the behaviors are not innate (inborn) and imply a theory of intellectual thought used by the Grey.  It always amazes me what “dumb” animals can learn.

Thoughts:  The Gray has been widely introduced to other parts around the world.  On mainland Britain, they have almost entirely displaced native red squirrels.  On the European continent, the Gray has been included in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list) since 2016.  This specifies the species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.  Until recently, visitors from the US held a similar distinction due to the covid virus.  Perhaps we should take time to emulate the animals and learn something.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 10, 2021

My work got a request to help the Boys & Girls Club that operates in our local school district by providing games, and sport equipment, and balls.  The Mountainburg Boys & Girls Club was started in 2019 and is the first after school program for youth in the city.  The club is located inside the Mountainburg Elementary School but is open to children K-12.  The Mountainburg schools’ partner with the Boys & Girls Club of Diamond Hills to offer the After School Program for students.  The program is provided free for students attending Mountainburg Schools, and is open 3 pm – 6 pm, Monday – Friday while school is in session.  The Club is closed when Mountainburg Schools are closed.   Supper and snacks are provided, and transportation is available for youth from Middle School and High School.  This provides two essentials: safety, and nutrition.

When I checked online, I found the Boys & Girls Clubs of America had its beginnings in Hartford, Connecticut, during 1860.  Mary Goodwin, Alice Goodwin, and Elizabeth Hammersley believed the boys who roamed the streets should have a positive alternative, and they organized the first Club.  While the cornerstone of the experience was designed as character development, the Club focused on capturing boy’s interests, improving their behavior, and increasing their personal expectations and goals.  The mission of the national club is “to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”  Over the years, the clubs were opened to include girls as well as boys.  To recognize this inclusion, the organization’s name was changed to Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1990, and Congress amended and renewed the charter.

The local club has changed just as did the national.  In September 2018 the Alma Club was contacted by Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Office regarding merging the Boys & Girls Club of the Alma Area and the Boys & Girls Club of Paris.  After discussing with the Board of Directors at both Clubs it was agreed that the Clubs would merge.  Shortly after deciding to merge the two clubs the Mountainburg School District reached out about opening an after-school program in the city, and the Mountainburg Boys & Girls Club became a Unit of the Alma Club in August 2019.  In October 2019 the Boys & Girls Club of the Alma Area and the Boys & Girls Club of Paris finalized merging and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Diamond Hills was born.  The Mountainburg Unit is the only club of the three which is school based, with the other two units housed in off-site locations. 

Thoughts:  Safety of young people is a stated priority at every Boys & Girls Clubs location.  Youth who are mentally and physically safe are better able to learn, grow, and thrive.  This is supported by background checks for workers and volunteers and mandatory reporting at all the clubs.  This need was once more proven during turmoil of 2020.  The national and local Clubs worked together to provide a national support strategy to serve local communities during this global pandemic, recognizing now more than ever providing meals, programming, and support to those who need it most is mission critical.  While the clubs can provide support, children also need a stable home environment.  When this is not available the children will suffer.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 9, 2021

When I go to the state park near where I work, I like to drive through the camping areas before I settle down to fish.  I am always amazed by the number of RV campers that frequent the park, and it is usually near capacity.  These are mostly in-state campers, but I do see some out-of-state tags.  The real reason I cruise the camping areas is that I have found this a good way to get occasional bird photos (I keep hoping for the Road Runner from last year) as well as interesting animals.  This day was no different as I came on a fawn just off the tree line that had been cut back for people access.  Earlier this year I had seen a small herd of does and fawns, but this one was alone.  I had no doubt the others were not far away hidden in the brush.  The fawn stared at me as I stopped and took a picture, then darted away when my vehicle started to move.  I was glad the herd was still wary despite the proximity of people.  The deer hunting season is just over one month away.

Yellowstone National Park is home to the largest concentration of mammals in the lower 48 states.  This includes a wide diversity of small animals, but the park is known for its predator–prey complex of large mammals.  This includes eight ungulate species (bighorn sheep, bison, elk, moose, mountain goats, mule deer, pronghorn, and white-tailed deer) and seven large predators (black bears, Canada lynx, coyotes, grizzly bears, mountain lions, wolverines, and wolves).  The Park’s goal is to “maintain the ecological processes that sustain these mammals and their habitats while monitoring the changes taking place in their populations.”  There is no hunting allowed in the park, but seasonal or migratory movements take many species across the park boundary.  That means they are open to hunting or may be killed for depredation of livestock.

As I drove the road into the state park there were signs posted advising “No Hunting” in the park.  This is to protect the wildlife in the park, but to also protect the people.  When I checked online, I found that a .308 Winchester bullet can travel up to 4600 yards (over 2.6 miles) when fired horizontal.  If the barrel is held at a 45-degree angle it climbs to 3.5 to 4.5 miles.  While those figures are optimal and do not take trees and ridgelines into account, that is still a long way.  If I were a deer, I think I would decide to live in one of our parks so I would not have to worry about hunting.  Although, that would not protect me from the black bears.  Maybe it is good to be human.

Thoughts:  A friend of mine told of going deer hunting in Utah.  While he did not hunt, he did like the camaraderie around the fire and hiking through the woods.  He hiked his way up a ridge and when he got to the top, he noticed a man watching the slope.  Being polite, my friend asked if he had seen any deer.  The response was, “No, but I have taken a few sound shots.”  He told me that was the last time he went along hunting.  The large mammals that make up the predator-prey complex are unaware of boundaries that provide either safety or risk.  Humans not only make those boundaries, but we choose to ignore them.  Few would venture into a state park when hunting because they understand the risk to others.  Over one third of eligible Americans know the risk to others and still refuse to get vaccinated.  That is why the US is now averaging more than 100,000 new cases a day.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 7, 2021

I got a feed yesterday from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that cited an article by Greg Breining in Living Bird magazine (was that convoluted or what?) concerning a switch from pesticides to birds to control insects and voles in America’s orchards and vineyards.  The lead was a cherry orchard in Michigan’s Lee­lanau County.  The area is ideal and grows nearly half of the US production of tart-cherries, along with sweet cherries.  The problem has always been pests.  As the fruit ripens a variety of insects, deer mice and voles, and flocks of fruit-eating birds cover the orchards to feast on the fruit.  Michigan is not alone in facing these pests.  A 2013 study showed that fruit crop damage from birds ranged from $104 per hectare in Oregon tart cherries to $7,267 per hectare in Washington Honeycrisp apples.  Yield losses to rodents and birds in several high-value crops in California were estimated at 5% or greater.  I just thought the birds were bad for my strawberries.

The name Kestrel is given to several members of the falcon genus, Falco.  Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behavior which is to hover at a height of around 35-65 feet (10–20 meters) over open country and swoop down on prey, usually small mammals, lizards, or large insects.  The American kestrel is the only New World species termed “kestrel”.  Molecular data and morphological peculiarities support this is not a kestrel at all, and is genetically related to the larger American falcons such as the Aplomado falcon (Falco femoralis), the Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), and Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus).  Regardless, they are effective in taking care of pests.

The Michigan State University Extension Service began recommended putting up nesting boxes to attract American Kestrels to control fruit-eating pests during the 1990’s.  The kestrel’s resulted in immediate results and the pests declined.  The success in Michigan has been duplicated as farmers, vineyard, and orchard owners enlisted wild birds across America, including raptors and songbirds.  The landowner will erect nest boxes, install raptor perches, or plant inviting native cover to attract the birds.  The birds are a natural way to control the pests and are less expensive than other traditional methods.  Birds are also environmentally benign, while poisons are not.  Pest control birds stay on the job, while pesticides need to be reapplied, and the effect of bird-scaring balloons, hawk silhouettes, and propane cannons quickly wears off.  Birds got to eat.

Thoughts:  When I worked as director at a conference center, we had problems with the swallows, wrens, and pigeons that populated our rural location.  They would roost in the eaves and rafters of the buildings and create an awful mess.  A bigger problem was the swallows pecking through the metal siding to build a nest.  One way to deter the pests was to put an owl statue on the roof.  Initially this worked, but the birds soon realized the owl did not move and they came back.  Interestingly, they never got closer than 20 feet to the fake owl.  Had I known, I could have put up Kestrel nesting boxes.  It is only during the last decades that humans have again learned to use natural predators to control the pests attracted to our artificial environments.  These predators are cheaper, environmentally safer, and far more effective that the pesticides we have grown to rely on.  Even better, they are not passed on to our bodies when we eat.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.