May 21 on the Refuge

Dancing like a bee was taught to kids to display how the bees communicate the location of food.

Bee hives are in competition for food sources and must find and return food to hive in very short time to ensure health of the entire community. Here two bee hives(kids running to flowers) scurry for food to bring back to hive.

Honey tasting has no problem getting volunteers out of the crowd. Four different honeys from around the world were sampled.

Bees dance for the hive to display location and distance to food supplies. They also use fragrance as means of communication.
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School House Pond from Wildlife Drive. In the bushes below was the Baltimore Oriole found in following picture. Many turtles out on logs, many Tree and Barn Swallows swooping about enjoying the very obvious insect supply.

May 21 saw very changeable weather on the Refuge. The day started with Buzz about Bees held at top of hill from Old School House parking lot. The tents were set up and taken down in the rain, but for the most part the presentations from 10 to 12 A.M. were given under dry skies. The speakers brought out in very illustrative and engaging fashion the very different social characteristics of bees, the new very real challenges to bee survival, the importance of pollinators in general, and the many devices and clothing needed to keep bees and harvest honey. Several games for kids to learn about bee communication and behaviors were played. Great tasting session at end for all to enjoy honeys from around the world.

After this event I waited for the best 2 hours of weather the day would offer between 3 and 5 PM and made my way around the Wildlife Drive. Found many animals out sunning and feeding (see the 4 turtles in a row above) also taking advantage of sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 60's. Just a great day to spend at the refuge.

RoverView1

http://www.exploresherburne.org/

May 14 International Migratory Bird Day Outing

May 14 saw gray skies with windy, cool temperatures in the 50's. The occasional mist dampened the spirits of many birders as there were only 9 attendees to the 7:00 A.M. bird tour and fewer than that at 8:30 A.M. outing. The winds made bird sightings and listening difficult and after 4 hours there were only 74 species counted. This is down at least 10 % from prior years. Thanks to Jay Hammernick and Doug Stucki for guiding this tour. Highlights included spotting a resting Nighthawk on a branch right over Blue Hill hiking path, Warblers including Chestnut-sided, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black and White, Blackpoll and Palm and American Redstart . Also identified were Eastern Towhee and White Pelicans. Others noted on Friends website under WILDLIFE OBSERVATIONS/BIRD SIGHTINGS.

Posted by RoverView1

**http://www.exploresherburne.org/

May 7 Bird Tour at Blue Hill Trail

May 7th was the 2nd of many Bird Tours at the Refuge this Spring and Summer. 41 people attended this tour led by Doug Stucki and Barb Kull. The weather was beautiful as 54 species were identified including Ruby-crowned and Golden Kinglets, Hermit Thrush, Warblers included Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Black and White, and Yellow-rumped. More complete list on Web Site http://www.exploresherburne.org/ under WILDLIFE OBSERVATIONS/Bird Sightings.

It must be spring!

The Wildlife Drive at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge opened for the season on Saturday April 23rd. On May 3rd I made my first circuit of the year as a Roving Wildlife Interpreter. The bright sun, blue sky and small clumps of white clouds cast a strange light on the brown remnants of last years vegetation. The long cold winter and our cold spring weather seem to have retarded that welcome first flush of green. Birds were not plentiful. The only advantage in having no green grass in most areas was that the little ground-dwelling birds that normally hid there were fully exposed to view. Good for birders perhaps, but not good for them.

My spirits picked several notches when I came across this woodcock, a member of the sandpiper family. The odd ritualistic mating flights of this bird have provided many evenings of rapt viewing for birders and have made this bird an icon of spring in our part of the birding world. Maybe warmer spring weather is just around the corner.

Woodcock

Here a link to a couple of U-Tube videos. This one shows the mating dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9deSfyqkEQ&NR=1

This one from my friends at Eagle Optics is on how to locate woodcocks at night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtqxREKfvPM&feature=fvsr