Kingbirds Lurking in Carthage

During the routine of a hot summer day, an evocative expression conveyed details obvious enough to denote a new addition to the bird list for the Carthage neighborhood.

There was a similar but more subtle message on July 24th, but it was relatively tentative and perplexing, due to a lack of observational documentation. It is not typically appropriate to look and scan and linger in any neighborhood when residents are oblivious to the joys of bird watching.

Midday on Wednesday, July 25th, the birds were obvious as heard again, so time was taken to get a closer look. The result was simply obvious.

Four Eastern Kingbirds sitting upon nearby branches of a local tree. They were evocative and obvious upon taking an interlude on the public sidewalk to get a proper view as the birds sat there, up above, in a splendid perspective for a ground-based watcher. It was a family group, based upon regular indications including group behavior, time of the year, and general verve as observed. They may not have nested in the immediate vicinity, but it must have been nearby.

It was a special and unexpected addition to the avifauna of this completely urban setting!

During the past couple of the days, they have been moving around within the local vicinity, as parents with fledglings are prone to do. They've been vocal and their message has been heard.

It was quite surprising to observe the kingbirds, as they had never been seen nor heard in the neighborhood, where particular attention is given to birds present. This is the 67th species to be recorded in the Carthage neighborhood, eastern Omaha. There have been other surprises bird observations in recent weeks, but that is the wonder of birds, and always appreciated, but rarely known.

There was no readily evident indication of their presence on Thursday. These birds of some significance are moving along to suit their survival.

Thankfully, their time in the neighborhood was appreciated!

Prairie-Chickens Struck Dead by Telegraph Wires

A few words on the page of a newspaper published many decades ago, convey an event significant to learning more about the early years of continental bird history.

A paragraph in an Iowa paper — recently discovered during a more comprehensive search associated with newspaper ornithology — indicates the first known occurrence of the danger of telegraph to prairie-chickens. The note of particular interest was included in the "State Items" column — relating newsly items for Illinois — as published in the Weekly Quincy Whig and Republican, issued January 6, 1866. It said:

"The 'section boss' on the T.H. & St. Louis Road, near Stockton, picked up thirteen prairie chickens, a few days since, all killed in a few moments whilst a flock were crossing the road, they having struck the four wires of the telegraph line."

Based upon the date of publication, and a lapse of time from when the event occurred until it was reported or reissued, the event likely happened in December, 1865. Stockton is in Jo Daviess county, Illinois.

Telegraph wires were an emerging feature on the prairie landscape at the time. The indication of the demise of these Greater Prairie-chickens indicates how the new construct created hazards deadly to birds. There may have been other instances, not reported, because it was something less than dramatic and not significant enough that an editor would, letter-by-letter, place the type to express the words upon a page of the newspaper.

The notation also conveys the occurrence of this iconic species in 1866, within Illinois.

A few short years later, in 1868, the next known instance of prairie-chickens being struck dead by telegraph wires, was indicated in a December 1868 note issued in an Iowa newspaper.

The indications are, thankfully, included in the newspaper chronicles. There are more than likely other instances of similar occurrences which went unreported and will never be known.

On the Prairie - Birdly Poetry

On the Prairie.

The world grows beautiful. Each morn I look

Out of my window on some beauty born

In the still night. Where late the swift fires ran.

Making a glory of the dead, dry grass,

To-day there smiles a fresh growth of green

That I could fall upon my knees and bless,

It is so sweet and restful to the sight —

It is so sweet and restful to the soul.

I see the sun rise in the earth's far edge,

And, unobscured at night, go down beyond

Its utmost rim; no city's lights to mar

The perfect picture, and no city's din

To break the silence that unto the soul

That listens, hath a thousand messages

That sound knows not.

 

The sky bends low

And clasps the dear earth in a warm embrace,

And the glad earth smiles back its promises

Of beauty yet to be. A little while,

And on the brook's edge there will come again

Familiar sights; on its glad breast will rock

The water-lilies — those white thoughts of God —

And by-and-by strange little tufts of grass,

Between which and the meadow lark there is

A small, sweet secret, will grow glad with song.

And later still — Nature if prodigal —

The "tides of grass will break in foam of flowers."

Year after year our eyes have seen the same

Entrancing marvel; leaf and bud and flower,

The music of the happy streams and birds,

And yet each year it is as strange and new,

As though it were the first. And so I pray

That when my heart shall cease to thrill with joy

At all the solemn, tender, happy sights,

At all the myriad little whispered sounds,

Of the young year, that it may cease to beat.

Carlotta Perry.

Milwaukee, July 8.

July 11, 1885. Hyde Park (Illinois) Herald 4(28): 2.

Glad Tidings of Spring

Glad Tidings.

Hark! I hear the bluebird gayly singing over

And over his few tuneful notes in yonder cedar-tree,

And straight I dream of violets and fragrant fields of clover,

And meadow brooks from winter's bonds rejoicing to be free.

For spring is here, the darling! and soon, with sweet beguiling,

She'll charm us first with shower tears, and then with sunny smiling.

 

And when she weeps, the brown earth will send green leaves to meet her,

And pretty buds; and when she smiles, the buds will hasten to blow,

And the winds will lose their coldness, and with gentle kisses greet her,

And grass spring in her footsteps light where late was naught but snow,

For spring is here, the darling! and her fairy friends are coming,

To wake the butterflies again, and start the bees a-humming.

 

The orchard trees are trembling as they feel her magic fingers

Touching them with soft enchantment that fills them with delight;

And they bid their hidden treasure, that still in shyness lingers,

Burst forth in countless happy blooms of faintest pink and white.

For spring is here, the darling! I hear a bluebird singing,

And I catch the echo of her voice in rippling laughter ringing.

— Margaret Eytinge.

May 12, 1881. Monticello (Iowa) Express 16(43): 4. John Blanchard, editor and proprietor.

Birds Appreciate Fresh Water at Carthage

Oppressive heat descended upon the Missouri River valley, and settled in for an unsurpassed extent, with more than two weeks of temperatures exceeding 95^o. Daily temperatures have exceeded 100^o, especially during the past few days, with reportorial people indicating the actual extreme of the situation with the past few days having peak daily temperatures a few digits above 100^o, with an even greater heat index.

Hot and dry conditions are prevalent in the River City. On Monday, July 23rd, the peak temperature was 105^o, tying the previous record. On the 24th, it was 87^o at 6 a.m. in the morning, and at 102^o twelve hours later, with humidity increasing that value two degrees. No rain has fallen for a month, and that would be in latter June. Ozone warnings have been issued for the city-scape of Omaha.

The outdoor situation in my neighborhood has meant an obvious and dedicated attention to a bit of a blue bowl for the birds in the Carthage neighborhood of east Omaha. As the temperatures soared into the triple digit range, so did attention to the little basin with fresh water. It has been an obvious attraction where many birds have been regularly congregating each and every day for weeks.

Visits have been continual. Antics by the birds are expressive as they drink and bathe. Their splashes are wonderfully evocative and indicative of a refreshing interlude. Some of them hop on the rock in the basin and just stand there for a time, cooling their feet.

There is a piece of discarded cement in the basin because otherwise the water would be too deep. The cement piece provides a place for birds to stand while getting into the water, and then splash about — especially using their wings — to refresh and cleanse their feathers, while also improving their condition on a hot day.

Results have been obvious, every day while seen from the — thankfully — relative coolness of the back-room at the house.

Fresh water with its coolant and bathing value has been continually provided in the back-yard bird bath and regularly renewed — often three times a day when the temps have exceeded the 100^o mark. It's an obvious attraction. There have been so many indicative moments as a bird, or birds, splash in the water, walk on the rim of the bird bath, or are otherwise active at the water's scene.

There is an obvious hierarchy at the bird bath. Some birds fly in to land without hesitation. Others wait nearby because some other bird is at the basin.

Especially appreciative have been the groups of common grackles, which nest nearby. There is a routine at the blue bowl. Adult grackles supersede any younger members of this species as the darker-colored adults get priority, while the muted black juveniles wait nearby. An adult may not chase away a juveniles, especially when a group is present, probably a family at the water attraction.

House Sparrows are typically in a group as they gather at the bird bath. It is a special time to see how the lighter colored youngsters — recently fledged — consider the water and limit their exposure to a bit of a sip. These birds rarely get in to splash about.

Robins have been seen, repeatedly waiting nearby on the grass, for their moment in the water.

A few Mourning Doves also visit. They might walk around the dried-out lawn before waiting for a time when no other birds are at the water. They drink more than bathe.

There has been the occasional visit by an errant cardinal getting a drink. There has been a vagabond Blue Jay now and then. Among the species represented is a reddish-head house finch on the edge of the bird bath, quickly getting a drink of fresh water. Starlings occasionally come and go.

They have all been welcome. There have been only a few daylight minutes in recent days when there has not been a bird at the blue basin by the windmill, which has been a roost used by grackles and others of the birdly sort.

By providing fresh water, again and again during ongoing days, there has been a setting to appreciate because so many wild birds have appreciated a refreshing time at some small blue basin with fresh water. It's available for birds of any sort at Carthage, by Dundee, in Omaha.

Pigeon With a Message Killed in Michigan

A Birds Message.

Two Young Men in Michigan Killed a Pigon [Sic.] Which Hailed from Kentucky.

Battle Creek, Mich., Oct. 3. — A few days ago a young man of this city, named George Butcher, with a couple of his companions, started out for a day's sport hunting and fishing, and selected St. Mary's lake, four miles north of this city, and its surrounding forest as the scene of their sport.

After spending a good share of the day fishing, and having had poor success in securing many representative of the finny tribe, they decided to try powder and shot, as game seems to be more plentiful than fish, and in this were correct, for the squirrels, rabbits, and partridges fell at the report of their guns, and long before night they had the pleasure of seeing their game-bag filled to its utmost capacity. Being satisfied with their day's sport they turned their steps homeward, when a large flock of pigeons flew over their heads. They were the first they had seen, and discharging their shotguns at them, they had the pleasure of seeing several birds fall at their feet. On picking them up George discovered to his surprise that one of them had a small oiled silk bag securely fastened to one of its legs. On opening it he found a note written in a small feminine hand, and which he has since shown to the writer of this. The following is a copy of the singular epistle.

Lexington, Ky., May 21, 1881. This pigeon is one of a number caught by my brother in a net. I conceived the idea of fastening this note to it, and request the finder to write to Miss Eva Carroll, Lexington, Ky.

On arriving in this city a letter was immediately written to the young lady and a reply received. A correspondence has grown out of this romantic introduction, and it has been ascertained that the young lady is the daughter of a wealthy stock-raiser near Lexington, and is young and beautiful, and a wedding may yet grow out of the affair. George thanks his lucky starts that he captured the bird, and perhaps by it the heart and hand of the maid who originated this romantic scheme for correspondence. We await anxiously for the sequel of the pigeon episode.

October 11, 1881. Fort Wayne Daily Gazette 18(74): 7.

A Wonderful Bird - A Nat for the Naturalists

A few days ago Mr. James Mason, of Vernon township, took his gun, and, in company with his dog, started out for the purpose of hunting pigeons. While making his way through a deep, thickly wooded ravine, he heard a swift rushing sound in the air above him, while a dark shadow, similar to that produced by a small cloud, was thrown upon the ground. Of course this movement did not fail to attract the attention of the huntsman, and he glanced upward, when he saw, not as he supposed, a flock of pigeons, but a huge bird circling around above his head, and apparently deliberating about pouncing upon him for its prey. The sight at first somewhat startled Mr. Mason, but upon reflecting that he had both barrels of his gun well loaded, he determined to stand his ground and give "the vermint" as he expressed it, a lively turn. While waiting till the feathered monster had approached somewhat nearer, and was apparently hovering almost over him, Mr. Mason took deliberate aim, and discharging both barrels at once, had the satisfaction of seeing his huge game come fluttering and tumbling to the ground. Highly elated, Mr. Mason sprang forward to secure his prize when an exciting scene commenced. The bird, though badly wounded, was not killed, and put forth a stubborn resistance, beating the air with his wings in so furious a manner that neither Mr. Mason or his dog ventured to approach within a dozen yards, and it was not until he had fired three shots into the head and body of the monster in succession, that he ventured to approach and finish its existence by knocking it on the head with a club. From all accounts this wonderful bird belongs to species now totally extinct, but which lived and flourished, according to Cuvier and Audubon, in the days of the mastodon. It is much larger than any known species of the feathered creation, weighing exactly 92 pounds. Its body is covered with short thick feathers, those on the underside being pure white, while the back is slightly mottled with gray. The wings are nearly black, measuring 12 feet from tip to tip, while the bill is hooked and of a bluish cast. The legs are long and slender, of a pea green color, and the feet webbed like a duck's. From our exchanges we see that a bird of similar character was killed near Mound City, Ill. Mr. Mason has preserved the skin of the monster, and will soon bring it to the city, where it will be placed on exhibition for the inspection of the curious.

October 5, 1868. Fort Wayne Daily Gazette 6(129): 2. From the Dubuque Iowa Times.