Veery or Hermit?

John and I spent hours debating the identification of this bird. I took these photos on July 31 in the apple orchard about 8 AM. I was (and still am) learning how to photograph birds with the 250mm lens outside. I finally e-mailed the Stokes and asked them. They helped me out once, years ago. I was all excited one winter and thought I had found a new species in Vermont that shouldn't be here. I was chagrined when the Stokes told me I had photographed a goldfinch in winter's clothing!

My photos here are not clear enough for them to identify, but Mrs. Stokes did say this was either a juvenile veery or a juvenile hermit thrush (at least John and I knew it was a thrush!).

The Stokes photograph their own birds. I just recently found a copy of their Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region (Stokes Field Guides)at Agway and immediately bought it. Unfortunately, sometimes no book will help you unless the bird you saw was clearly visible. Click here for the Stokes hermit thrush photographs and their veery photographs here. They are both gorgeous birds. Be sure to visit their blogs: Stokes Birding Blog and Stokes Birds at Home

Thank you, Mrs. Stokes!

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STOKES BIRDING BLOG: Bee Grateful (More Bumble Bee Pollen)

I have used my own photos of bumble bees on common burdock (Arctium minus) to accompany the quotation from the Stokes about bumble bees and their pollen (used with permission).

STOKES BIRDING BLOG: Bee Grateful:

Bumblebees are our only 'social' native bee. They overwinter as fertilized adult females, or queens. These emerge in early spring and start a nest by choosing an existing underground cavity, such as an old chipmunk burrow, collecting pollen into clumps, and laying eggs on the pollen. The pollen and eggs are covered with wax, and the queen sits on them, keeping them warm while they develop. The eggs hatch in four to five days. The larvae feed on the pollen, and in about a week pupate in tough cocoons that they make. During pupation, which lasts about ten days, the queen takes off the wax that is covering them. The emerging adults are sterile females, and they take care of the subsequent broods during the summer. In later summer, the queen lays eggs that develop into fertile females and males. These leave the hive, mate, and the fertilized females overwinter. All other members of the colony die. The next spring the process starts over.

Technorati tags: Bumble+bees Common+burdock Stokes pollen Arctium+minus Bombus+pensylvanicus

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Bats At The Library

Little Brown Bat

Jerry Schneider came to the children's last summer library program today to teach us about bats. I attended because of my own bat experience. The library basement was jammed with over twenty children and approximately ten adults. Jerry showed us slides of photos taken by Merlin Tuttle founder of the Bat Conservation International. After the presentation, the children made their own bat t-shirts with bat stencils and fabric paint.

Skeleton of a little brown bat

• You can visit bat caves in Dorset, Vermont.
• There are nine species of bats in Vermont but the little brown bat, Northern long-eared bat, and the big brown bat are most common.
• Bats pollinate night blooming flowers (none are in Vermont) and they disperse seeds.
• Vermont bats eat millions of bugs every night.
• Bat boxes will help keep bats out of your attic.
• Hawks, owls, skunks and domestic pets prey on bats.
• Bat babies are called pups.

Examples of what bats eat in New England

• Bats can live about 34 years but the average life span is 15-25 years.
• Bats can fly at 35 miles per hour (56.3 kilometers per hour).
• Bats can see as well as humans so they need to use echo location to prevent flying into things at night and to locate bugs in the air.
• Best bat book: Stokes Beginner's Guide to Bats
• A bat's echo location call frequency is from 38-63 kH
• Bats evolved from rodents. They grew fingers that evolved into wings. They have thumbs to hang off of trees.
• Only 5% of the reports of rabid bats are true.

Wingnut makes his own bat shirt.

• Female bats congregate in bat houses, caves and attics to nurse their young. Males are usually alone in trees.
• If you have a bat in the house, turn off the lights and open the windows so it can escape.
• You can also use a net or blanket to carefully capture it and free it.
• Bats have gaps in their teeth so that their echo location call is not blocked.
• Some bats make echo location calls in their noses.
• About 50 bats can fit inside a bat house.
• Put your bat house about ten feet high on the south side of your house.

The design is finished.

• The bumble bee bat is the smallest bat.
• Bats are social creatures and need their colonies in order to thrive.
• Bats are the only flying mammal.
• Bats are born alive.
• Bats are attracted to areas with lots of bugs, like fields and marshlands.
• The pallid bat can hear beetles walking on the forest floor.
• If slowed down to frequencies that humans can hear, bat calls sound like bird calls.

Painting the design on the shirt.

I talked to Jerry privately after his presentation to ask him if it were true to get the series of rabies shots if you awaken to a bat in your room. He said yes. But he emphasized that the reports of rabid bats are greatly exaggerated.

The finished shirt.

For more information:
Vermont State Parks Bat Information page
Chiroptera Cabin Company bat houses

Technorati tags: bats, Merlin+Tuttle, Jerry+Schneider, Bat+Conservation+International, Vermont, Barton+Public+Library, bat+caves, Dorset+caves

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