Wild Turkeys in The City

This morning I gave James and his buddy Joe a ride to Afton Alps for their first ski outing. Since a warm month of November gave way to December, the temperatures have been more seasonable. In only one week, the ground was frozen hard and the dusting of snow we got on Wednesday is still around. No wonder the ski areas around town have been making the artificial stuff like crazy.

On the way to Afton we are heading out of St. Paul east on I-94. The weather is perfect for a day on the slopes, perfect for all manner of outdoor activities, -8C under a blue sky. I dressed up in my running gear (snickering from James and Joe over my tights) and packed the lab to take advantage of Afton State Park, immediately adjacent to the ski area. St. Paul's East Side is followed by the sprawling suburb of Woodbury, which slowly merges into the countryside. But before we even left St. Paul proper, I saw two large birds standing by the roadside. Since I was working on my breakfast, all I could do to catch the boys attention was to mumble something like “furfee” and gesture excitedly with my sandwich. James yelled “turkeys!” as we sped by. Two good-sized jakes and a third bird a little down in the ditch, just past the McKnight exit, right across from 3M headquarters. It always strikes me how big they are up close. This was even apparent while whizzing by at about 100 kph. In addition, they have something vaguely antediluvian to them, as if they could have possibly escaped from a time warp or from Jurassic Park.

I have hunted for turkeys over the past 15 years or so, in traditional turkey country of south-east Minnesota, so far without luck. About half the years, I heard the birds but did not even see them. In the cities however, I have stopped counting the number of times I have seen them. The first time (as really every time since) was really special: I was heading for Rosedale Mall with Colin and James in tow, heading north on Fairview. At the moderately busy intersection with Roselawn, which is controlled by a four-way stop sign, there was a hold-up. I couldn't tell what was going on, it did not seem like an accident, but traffic was just crawling. When we got to the intersection, the cause became apparent: three big turkeys were occupying one of the crossing's corners, they looked as if they were checking each car to decide which one would be worth high-jacking. This must be about ten years ago and I have had several encounters like this every year.

Some of the more memorable include almost hitting one while riding my bike to work in Mendota Heights' Valley Park, having one fly so low over my car while giving my brother Arnulf a ride to the airport that I thought it would enter the car through his open window and land on his lap or Colin being distracted by a small flock on East River Road during one of his first driving lessons. Turkeys, like various birds of prey and deer have become an integral park of our urban wildlife. Let's hope it stays that way and let's hope that drivers will be careful and break.


View Turkeys around St. Paul in a larger map

American Goldfinch Bath

I typically make it into work at Thomson Reuters/West in Eagan by 7:30 AM at the latest. At that time I can park very close to the building entrance. I have become quite a slacker during the summer months and generally get to work by around 8:00. Instead of parking in the middle of one of the huge asphalt lots, I drive to a small outlying lot right along a nice walking path and take the few extra steps to and from the office. The grounds are mostly grasslands, with numerous weeds that are now in full bloom, providing the summer-dry olfactory background of the Great Plains. Colleagues have reported seeing coyotes but so far I have only come across their scat. But I have seen wild turkey and many other birds.

During the last few weeks I noticed a pair of American gold finches that seem to have a nest in the firs along the path. While common, their bright yellow plumage is always a welcome distraction. Yesterday, one of them was taking a bath in a puddle of leftover water from the sprinkler system and flew off only when I was about two steps away.

Turkey Hunting Time

After not getting a license via the lottery last year, we are in! Can't wait for Thursday when Jim and I will be heading for Caledonia, MN ("Wild Turkey Capital of Minnesota") and to get out in the woods, turkey or no turkey! If the turkeys are not showing up, I am sure there will be a Crooked Creek (see also the excellent MN DNR map, here) trout or two going after my fly.

Sand Dunes State Forest

During orienteering outing to Sand Dunes State Forest had the good fortune to see two sandhill cranes take off from a marsh accompanied by their characteristic trumpeting. The woods were still devoid of greenery, the grass yellow and dead. Some of the hardwoods had buds that looked like they were ready to explode. The sun packed a real punch even when the wind early in the morning sported a raw edge. I am feeling its effects in my neck. Tom spotted a good-sized snake, later identified as a fox snake (Elaphe vulpina), that hissed at him. Looks like Tom caught this snake at the very northern edge of its distribution in MN.

Another presence over wide swaths of Sand Dunes SF is prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum). My arms and legs can attest that it deserves its name. Fortunately, the fields of poison ivy were not yet in evidence, but the setter and vetter of the orienteering course said they saw plenty of berries on last year's growth. I seem to have made it through without any exposure.

The Urban Wild: the Peregrine Falcons of Hamline-Midway

One fine day I came home from a jog with dog. As I was swinging from Hamline onto Englewood, I noticed a few feathers floating in the air. I looked up and noticed a bird of prey sitting on top of the highrise. I finished my run, picked up my binoculars and walked back. I easily identified a peregrine falcon snacking on the pigeon it had just caught.

That was a couple of years ago; I am glad to see that they are still around. James, my youngest told me a couple of weeks ago that he came across a bird of prey eating a pigeon at the intersection of Hamline and Seminary. From his description (large, black back and wings, white and speckled underside) it had to be a peregrine. I also found a couple of pigeon skelletons on our block and noticed one injured pigeon that (one that got away?). I did a google to see if anyone else did notice and came across a posting by Kirk and Mona of the Twin Cities Naturalist Podcast on a peregrine falcon traffic incident, with video from KARE11. It can be accessed here.

Of course there are other birds that prey on pigeons. I eleminated most of them because of size, behavior and range.

Cooper's hawk, sharp shinned hawk: hunt in thickets rather than in the open.
Goshawk, gyrfalkon: range and habitat
American kestrel, merlin: rather too small

Here are the loctions of my other sightings and observations:


View Peregrine Falcons in Midway, St. Paul, MN in a larger map

Sian Kaan Biosphere Day Trip

Our ride was there at 7:50 sharp, with Antonio our guide from Sian Ka'an Community Tours for the day and the driver. Loaded three sleepy boys, Lynn, myself and snorkling gear. Then off to Tulum for financials and to pick up two other clients, a German couple from Garmisch. A quick Chili Relenos taco from a roadside stand and then off to start the activities of the day. We started at the Muyil archeological site. Hot and stuffy in the jungle, just off Mex 307, a few miles south of Tulum. Saw a trogon but not much other wildlife, probably too hot already. The Muyil ruins are nice and almost deserted. Antonio, a local Mayan did a great job mixing natural and local history. Brought the perspective of the natives, too, who have a hard time eking out a living in spite of all the tourist development. Shared a lot of stories about his dad and from the time prior to the road passing by Muyil. He pointed out some poisonous and medicinal plants, most notably the chechen tree (also black poisonwood. looks like it is a good furniture wood, which Antonio mentioned too.) and was quite knowledgeable about the local fauna in general and bird life specifically.

Some landmarks we visited can be found here. We took a boardwalk trail from the archeological site to a lagoon, stopping on the way to climb a rickety looking fire tower. After a snack, we boarded a motor boat and headed across Laguna Muyil for a canal dug by the Mayans which we took to cross to Laguna Chunyaxche. From here we haded to the river outlet towards Laguna Boc Paila and stopped at a Mayan ruin, a customs post or toll house, according to Antonio. We changed in to swim gear and floated down the river. I have to say that I am not a big fan of floating inactively like that, but the mangrove thickets on the side gave some interesting observations, primarily various epiphytic plants. The boys moved ahead, like a bunch of otters, making sure that we would not see too much bird life.

After about a couple of kilometers we boarded the boat again and headed back to Laguna Muyil for a nice sit-down lunch of tamales, tacos and empanadas. There was a film crew working on a promotional video to advertse tours. The actors, all employees at hotels in the Playa del Carmen area somehow did not seem real.

On the way back to Akumal, we stopped at Cenote Escondido, a beautiful swimming hole with a nice cliff to jump from. Quite a variety of fish, too, and a big iguana in a tree.

A few hundred meters before arriving back ome I noticed some people looking and pointing intently at something at the roadside. There was an aguti, a rodent that takes the place of a rabbit or hare in Central and South America.

Akumal Observations

At Laguna Legartos Little purple fish fistily defending its territory A succer-type fish I seem to recall from my aquarium Cattle egrets roosting in shrubbery and trees. A brooding colony? Several little blue herons (did not seem that little to me) mixed in with the cattle egrets, for contrast, say Two cormorans, very close A turtle, swimming under water Everywhere: great-tailed grackles A grackle-like bird with a beautiful iridescent blue plumage A type of oriole Several kingbirds At the beach Frigatbirds Brown pelicans, remind me of Sanderlings Green herons?

Akumal--Laguna Legartos

This was fun, meant to get started jogging in hot weather and explore the area a little bit.


View Akumal--Laguna Legartos Survey in a larger map
Laguna Legartos was one of my main goals and I found it! Needed a little help from the friendly folks at the Centro Ecologico Akumal. They pointed out the general location of the trail head (near the police post), not without warning me of the apparently omnipresent crocodiles. I had a sense that they did not want me back there, more because they wanted it to be quiet and peaceful for the animals. There was no trail behind the police post, so I started checking out each one of the little trail starts from the beach road. Most were just short spurs used by the locals to dispose of yard waste. I am sure that some of the passer-bys thought "What is this weirdo doing there." My persistence paid off: I found a trail that kept going, well defined by stones lining the sides. After a few hundert meteres I got to a trail that branched off and lo, there was the Laguna, spread out below me. It is surrounded by limestone walls (cliff or bluff would be too much, hey are not much higher than 2-3 meters). By now it was almost dark and I returned to the main road, fully intending to build this into my morning jog.