Ungulate

The term ungulate means being hoofed and refers to any hoofed animal. The hoof is a modified toenail that evolved over time in many prey species that needed to be able to run from fast-running predators. Because the hoof can support the entire weight of the undulate it is the only part of the foot that touches the ground. The rest of the foot has evolved and become a part of the leg allowing the undulates to have a longer stride.
Ungulates were at one time a part of the order Ungulata, however since many ungulates are not very closely related Ungulata was broken down into six separate orders. Since the order Ungulata no longer exists the term ungulate usually now just refers to the hoofed mammals, most of which are members of the Perissodactyla, odd-toed, order or the Artiodactyla, even-toed, order. Members of these orders include horses, cows, bison, rhinos, camels, giraffe, moose, elk, deer, sheep and more.

White Tail Fawn

The start to deer hunting season, birders beware.

Saturday the 3rd of November was the start to deer hunting season here in Minnesota. I was up in two harbors that day taking pictures of the Inca dove and I decided to do some birding afterwards. I try to be very careful about birding during hunting season because people with guns can be very dangerous. There is already one hunter who was shot and killed in Minnesota, on the opener, and he was prolly wearing bright orange, which I never do because my wife would not allow any bright orange clothing to enter our house. I decided to bird at Lighthouse Point. I figured that it would prolly be the safest place, since hunting is not allowed and it is pretty much inside the town of Two Harbors. I was not the only one who thought that it would be a safe place. I saw quite a few white-tailed deer in and around the park.
There were so many around that you could almost trip over them. I almost did trip over this one.The not so smart ones, mostly the males go figure, where outside of town. Good thing for this buck that I only hunt with a camera.Now I don't look anything like a deer but I am still afraid to go roaming around the woods birding during deer season.

Midwest Birding Symposium- The trip home

I left the Quad Cities early Sunday morning. There were still a few workshops and field trips scheduled for Sunday but I had about a 7 hour drive home and had to be back to work early Monday morning. I decided to take the scenic route again, following the Mississippi, instead of the freeways. Unfortunately the skies were mostly cloudy all the way until I got to Winona, MN so I did not make many stops. I did take one detour just south of Lacrosse to Goose Island Park. Right before I got to the turn off for the park I spotted a red-tailed hawk on the power lines on the side of the highway. It was not very good light but he was close to the road so I decided to stop and take a couple shots.

There must of been some precipitation because one of the shots showed the bird with it's nictitating membrane closed.

Goose Island is a county park that is surrounded by the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The park has a playground, boat ramp, picnic and camping areas.

There is also a lot of wetlands from the Upper Mississippi NWFR surrounding the park. These wetlands were good habitat for ducks, herons, kingfishers and great egrets, like the one above.

Squirrels foraged many of the human occupied areas of the park, including black squirrels which we do not often see where I live.

While I was driving through I spotted a white-tailed doe near the road. She stood there for a while and let me get a nice close up. I was curious why she stayed in one spot for so long, especially with me close by.

Then I saw the reason. She was waiting for two fawns, who where a bit more skittish about coming into the open.As I left the park traveling north I spotted another red-tailed hawk so I stopped to take another picture before I headed back on the road home.

Birding and politics on a Saturday afternoon.

On July 11th I received an e-mail from the Minnesota Ornithologists Union about an upcoming rally at the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge on July 14th. The purpose of the rally was to show the state politicians, who were visiting the site, that they should help to fund a plan to replace the bridge. The bridge, which stretches across the Minnesota River, was replaced with a new bridge in 1979. It was closed to vehicular traffic in 1993 and to pedestrians and bicycles in 2002. As you can see by the picture below the bridge is in extremely poor shape.

So you may be wondering what an old bridge has to do with birding and the Minnesota Ornithologists Union, well this bridge extends through the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. This bridge was used by many birders to get a great view of the Minnesota river flood plains and mud flats before it became unsafe to use.
Now politicians in the cities of Bloomington, who currently owns the bridge, and Eagan, which is on the opposite side of the river, as well as several state politicians have put forth a plan to tare down the existing bridge and build a boardwalk platform on the existing cement supports. The problem is that the estimated cost is $4.5 million. A large part of that cost is for the removal of the existing bridge which contains lead so that it can not be knocked down conventionally. So far the supporters of the plan have secured $1.3 million in funding but still have a long way to go. That is why 200 or more people of all types (birders, bicyclists, hikers, and families) showed up on the 14th to show our support for this great cause. At the program, which began at noon, they had speakers ranging from local and state politicians, leaders of bicycle groups, neighbors, and leaders from MOU, Minnesota River Valley Audubon, and Minnesota Audubon.

I arrived at the park at 8:30am and spent my time waiting for the speakers program on the trails birding. The Old Cedar Avenue Bridge is a part of the Long Meadow unit of the Minnesota Valley NWR. There are a total of 8 units in MV NWR which follow the Minnesota River and stretch from Bloomington in the north to Jordan in the south. I walked all the trails north of the bridge. As I started from the bridge parking lot I saw an american redstart who had just caught itself some breakfast.

As I continued on I spotted several goldfinch near the bass ponds, which was once used to raise fish for stocking Minnesota lakes. This one was pulling the seeds out of the pods of the wildflowers when a bee ran smack into his head. Boy did he give that bee a dirty look.

Near the same pond I also saw this ruby-throated hummingbird.

I also saw several sparrow, some green heron, and some great blue heron. Then I went to the south of the bridge to check out the small boardwalk which goes out to the lake. There I saw a couple of great egret as well as tree and barn swallows.

I also took a couple of butterfly pics like this one of a common sulfur
and this eastern comma which looks like it had seen better days.
When I was walking back off the boardwalk I was startled by a white tail doe. She just sat and watched me as I walked past about 4 feet away.
This was the only deer that I saw which surprised me because on my trips to Fort Snelling State Park, which borders the park in the north, I have seen plenty of deer. It turned out to be a great morning and afternoon. I got out, did some birding and helped lend my support for a good cause.