Baby birds are happening all over. I have been watching babies chasing parents and begging, including Downies and Chickadees. I have heard the nasal begging call of young Crows. I did see a new brood of Wood Ducks and there is another late small brood of Wood Ducks on my lake. I did survey my lake yesterday in a canoe with our neighbor and found small groups of Wood Ducks all around the lake, but I was unable to get a count on how the broods were faring. The original hatch consisted of three broods of 6, 7, and 8, with later broods of a couple young. The young seemed to be thriving with no losses in their first couple of weeks, but none of the groups seemed to be that large now.
I may have found one of the reasons for the low productivity when I saw two behemoth snapping turtles yesterday. Both of these females appeared to be over two feet in length. How do you measure the length of a turtle, with its neck extended or not. One of these females was on my deck all day yesterday. I carefully (but not necessarily accurately) measured her with a tape measure at two feet long with her nose protruding only an inch or two. How she climbed up to the deck has me mystified, but she apparently found her way down as well. Her arms were thicker than my wrists and her claws were probably a couple of inches long. I will take a look around the yard today to see if I can find her nest. This year has been the best I have seen for berries. The wild strawberries were up to an inch long, sweet, juicy, and abundant. I picked a half cup from the lawn. They are about done, although I did see one flower yesterday. The raspberries are still small, but the wild black raspberries are flourishing. I picked almost a half cup on Saturday from just a few bushes. I served them with a little whipped cream, a great flourish and exclamations that I had a special dessert. My wife was bowled over. "What are these?" "Black raspberries." "Where did you get them?" "They are growing in the yard." "Did you plant them?" "No they are wild and have been growing in the yard for the twenty years we have lived here." I have given them to her before, but it is amazing how a little promotion and whip cream will stimulate the taste buds. Steve Weston On Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
