Birding With Batt 10-13-26

Uh, birds at this time of year who are particular about who they associate with follow the chickadees around.

So if you see some chickadees, you might discover other birds follow 'em around.

Why do they do that? Because they need to eat, and chickadees have this remarkable ability to find food.

Jeannine Vorlhin.

Uh, Jeannine is from Blooming Prairie.

I've known Jeannine for forever and a day.

She's a, uh, oh, area director, I believe is her title, for the... area wildlife manager, I believe.

I'm gonna say area wildlife manager is her correct title.

She's, lives in Blooming Prairie.

She is Minnesota DNR's first female area wildlife manager, and she saw a junco on October 8th, and TJ, Tom Jessen of St. Peter, saw one, y- I think around that same time, and, uh, my wife and I saw one this morning.

Uh, dark-eyed juncos have bright white outer tail feathers that act as a key identifying feature.

So when this little junco takes to the air, it looks like a little gray bird, gray on the back like the skies of winter and then white on the belly like snow, and when this little junco takes to the air, it spreads its tail and flashes these white outer feathers.

So my wife has, uh, marked this down.

And my dad used to say six weeks after you see a junco, that's when we get our first snowfall.

Dad would add that if the neighbors see it in their yard on such a date, that doesn't count.

It has to be in your yard, so it has to be that six weeks from that date.

So, uh, my wife tells me that would be, uh, just right before Thanksgiving, and I don't...

I, I never look forward to a white Thanksgiving, but I'm, I'm guessing it's certainly possible.

I see a yellow-rumped warbler outside my window right now because these yellow-rumped warblers don't have far to go as other species between breeding territories and wintering grounds.

They're the first warbler to arrive in the spring and the last to leave in the fall, and the males are identified by their bright yellow rumps.

Butterbutts often sally forth from branches to capture flying insects.

Yellow-rumps winter in the central and southern US and northern Mexico, so their fall migration is from August to early November, so we're still gonna be able to see them for a while.

Unlike most warblers, they can digest wax compounds in things like bayberries and wax myrtles.

My garage door, uh, there's some boxelder bugs swarming.

They like sunny south and west-facing sides of Minnesota homes in late summer and fall, and they wanna overwinter in wall voids and attics, and they don't bite.

Uh, birds at this time of year who are particular about who they associate with follow the chickadees around.

So if you see some chickadees, you might discover other birds follow 'em around.

Why do they do that? Because they need to eat, and chickadees have this remarkable ability to find food.

Jeannine Vorlhin.

Uh, Jeannine is from Blooming Prairie.

I've known Jeannine for forever and a day.

She's a, uh, oh, area director, I believe is her title, for the... area wildlife manager, I believe.

I'm gonna say area wildlife manager is her correct title.

She's, lives in Blooming Prairie.

She is Minnesota DNR's first female area wildlife manager, and she saw a junco on October 8th, and TJ, Tom Jessen of St. Peter, saw one, y- I think around that same time, and, uh, my wife and I saw one this morning.

Uh, dark-eyed juncos have bright white outer tail feathers that act as a key identifying feature.

So when this little junco takes to the air, it looks like a little gray bird, gray on the back like the skies of winter and then white on the belly like snow, and when this little junco takes to the air, it spreads its tail and flashes these white outer feathers.

So my wife has, uh, marked this down.

And my dad used to say six weeks after you see a junco, that's when we get our first snowfall.

Dad would add that if the neighbors see it in their yard on such a date, that doesn't count.

It has to be in your yard, so it has to be that six weeks from that date.

So, uh, my wife tells me that would be, uh, just right before Thanksgiving, and I don't...

I, I never look forward to a white Thanksgiving, but I'm, I'm guessing it's certainly possible.

I see a yellow-rumped warbler outside my window right now because these yellow-rumped warblers don't have far to go as other species between breeding territories and wintering grounds.

They're the first warbler to arrive in the spring and the last to leave in the fall, and the males are identified by their bright yellow rumps.

Butterbutts often sally forth from branches to capture flying insects.

Yellow-rumps winter in the central and southern US and northern Mexico, so their fall migration is from August to early November, so we're still gonna be able to see them for a while.

Unlike most warblers, they can digest wax compounds in things like bayberries and wax myrtles.

My garage door, uh, there's some boxelder bugs swarming.

They like sunny south and west-facing sides of Minnesota homes in late summer and fall, and they wanna overwinter in wall voids and attics, and they don't bite.