We have a potpourri today, thanks to readers who sent in “emergency photos” while I’m on the road. First, reader Hempenstein wants an identification of this fungus, which is growing in Pittsburgh. Can any reader help?
These things are growing along about a 10ft strip at the base of Schwixon [the historic mansion Hempenstein recently bought to restore], perhaps feeding on the now-rotting roots of the Silver Maples that collided with the foundation and that I’m eliminating. I’ve never seen any fungi like these, and none of my FB friends seem to know it either.
From James Blilie:
He’s a shot from our pond of a snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) cruising for painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) to eat.
Flight of Tundra Swans. Several large flights went over during our afternoon walk yesterday. I identified them as Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) rather than Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinators) due to their calls that were very clear, in spite of their altitude. However, Trumpeter Swans have recovered very well in the USA/Canada (now ranked as “Least Concern”) and they now nest in Minnesota (again).
From Joe McClain, who sent yesterday’s photos of eagle chicks being banded:
Shortly after I sent you those eagle photos, my boss came into my office. People always come to me when a bird hits a window. I have revived a few, including this one, a swamp sparrow (Melospiza georgiana). My boss got a photo shortly before he flew off. I had initially identified the bird as a chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina), but I got hints that pointed me in the correct direction by the fine folks at The Facebook Bird ID Group of the World. This group is an excellent resource, as the ethos is for the more experienced birders to give hints so that the initial poster can arrive at the proper ID him/herself. I probably have been misidentifying swamp sparrows for a long time. But how many birders get to walk right up to a life-list species and pick it off the ground?
And Stephen Barnard in Idaho, who also sent a video:
Savannah Sparrow, a new bird for me, this afternoon. The scientific name is Passerculus sandwichensis! There must be a story behind that.
He later sent the backstory:
Not much of a story: “The genus name Passerculus is from the Latin meaning little sparrow. The species name sandwichensis is Latin, of place, Sandwich, Unalaska, or Aleutians area, from which came the first subspecies, Aleutian Savannah Sparrow, to be described. The common name honors Savannah, Georgia where Alexander Wilson discovered the species in 1811.”
This is species #94 on the Aubrey Spring Ranch list.
A picture of Desi and Lucy’s offspring, with the caption, “Here’s a frame from a digiscoped 4K video this morning. Week 2. They’re
growing fast.”
Finally, now that Stephen’s into videos, we get clips like this:
One week old — already house-trained. It must be innate.
Watch carefully: the projectile poop is quick, and happens about three seconds in.
And surely there must have been selection on ancestral birds to poop out of the nest as chicks. Those that didn’t would tend to get sick–or gummed up in excrement!
In Stephen’s video, the parent seems a bit surprised and rather pleased at not having to mouth out the dung anymore.
“And surely there must have been selection on ancestral birds to poop out of the nest as chicks. Those that didn’t would tend to get sick–or gummed up in excrement!”
True but it’s worth mentioning that some birds, notably many of the ciconiiformes, deliberately defecate onto their own legs as a temperature regulation mechanism.
Since sending that fungal pic, another old pal provided an ID. Peziza repanda, and that seems correct. Unfortunately, they’re inedible.
I second Peziza. repanda seems plausible.
Thx!
Thanks for the ID…. I was stuck on cup mushrooms. The following is a useful site on ‘shrooms:
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/cups.html
Stephen, great sparrow shot — perfect for ID!
Deets, my Border Collie, usually scares these little birds away before I can photograph or ID them. He’s my handicap.
Would also reduce predation by not having the white excrement advertise the nest to high flying birds of prey.
I did not know that snapping turtles will go after painted turtles. If so, that is a good reason for them to hang out on a log, as they often do.
Ah, wouldn’t it be interesting if our species did projectile pooping? Loo designs would be different.
The dinosaur news I posted to PCC(E) an hour or so ago put the growth rate estimate for titanosaur sauropods at around 32kg weight gain in “39 to 77 days” from hatching. So … the 4 or so kilos from egg to adult weight for these dinosaurs should take about a week?
Hell, those sauropods were fattening up fast! And without parental help too.
It is believed, with good reason, that birds descend from theropods, not sauropods. These eagles are intensely dedicated parents. They never leave the nest unguarded from predators. The male and the female trade off nest duty frequently, with one or the other out for the hunt, which must be exhausting. After the young are fledged they’re driven away and not welcome back.
And yet, with the parental attention of the theropods, the sauropods without parental care made much faster growth rates on less energetically dense foodstuffs.
That’s not following the conventional plot.
Great and refreshing wildlife images from the readers, as usual. And what might seem like the less “serious part of the blog is one of my favorites.
Carl Kruse