I watched every US game save for the Australia one in pool play (and a couple of non-US games when Fox Sports deigned to show any). Compelling, entertaining, quality soccer.
It was entertaining soccer. The footwork and dribbling was very good and a lot of chances were created throughout the tournament. At least for the U.S., finishing was a little to be desired and you didn't see some of those thundering strikes like you would in men's game (sans that third U.S. goal yesterday, wow!), but overall very fun to watch and the "soccer is boring or women's sports is boring" contingent didn't have a whole lot to hang their hats on.
today's image:
I had the kids help me with a little yard clean up after dinner last night. They complained that we were missing the start of the game. I explained that nothing happens in the first fifteen minutes of a soccer game. It was 4-0 when we turned it on.
I ran out for root beer and ice cream.
I explained that nothing happens in the first fifteen minutes of a soccer game
Funny thing is that after 15 minutes the game, played out 2-2. After Lloyd's in the 16th, the US actually lost the last 74 minutes 2-1.
To be fair, they weren't exactly on the attack.
Very true. But it does show what getting off to a good start can do.
On average, I don't think you're wrong--at least in MLS the first 15 minutes is the lowest scoring 15-minute period of the game. Scoring increases until halftime, then decreases just after the break and increases until the end of the game. I suspect this has to do with defender fatigue and teams being more willing to take risks at the end of a game (running out of time to make something happen.)
During the last World Cup when I wanted to watch as many of the games as possible, but was constrained by time, for a lot of games I would watch the last 15 minutes of the first half and the last 30 minutes of the second half.
We were out to dinner when the restaurant turned the game on. I hadn't been following it, so I didn't even know it was on. However, I was sure to tell my 6-year old daughter, who is about to try soccer for the first time this fall, about the game and that it was the Women's world Championship, and she smiled. Hopefully she got a little bit of inspiration.
In a program through her "school" (daycare) I opted for swimming lessons instead of soccer this summer for Kernel because $$$, but I'm hoping to get her into it at some point.
I'm also thinking that, next whenever, soccer might be more interesting for the trinket. She likes going to tee-ball and all, but I think she gets bored quick when it's time to field. It doesn't help that a couple of the boys on her team get to every single freekin ball first.
I could really go for a FKB from someone with kids slightly older than ours to get some thoughts on how they think about outside activities/sports for kids and what they've learned over the years. The jalapeno is almost 5 now, and he hasn't done much. One the one hand, I do not like the idea of scheduling every second of my child's life. On the other hand, I think there's a lot to be gained from being part of a team, learning how to do new things, and being active.
The jalapeno does a 30-minute soccer program once a week at his preschool, but they don't have a very large space for it, so while he enjoys it, I'm not sure how much of that time really qualifies as exercise.
Time for my periodic mention of Scouting:
"being part of a team, learning how to do new things, and being active"
I'll just say this…
When our oldest was about that age she showed a skill for gymnastics. She had done some of the intro things and did well. She would get nervous and emotional in certain classes, though. For instance, a mixed-age class where she couldn't run as fast as the older kids.
Knowing the level of commitment club gymnastics required, and the invidual-pressure nature of the sport, we stopped encouraging her in gymnastics. Maybe if she had expressed a strong desire to continue we would have allowed it, but since she wasn't 100% into it we let the idea die away. (If she was 100% into it, that would have been a challenging decision for sure!)
On the flip side she is 11 now and in her 2nd full year of traveling soccer. It has been a wonderful experience watching her skills and the skills of her teammates grow. Thankfully the team has been mostly the same this whole time. I know she'll have lifelong memories of this team for as long as she sticks with it. Her sister (8) will be starting traveling soccer in the fall and she cannot wait. I hope she gets a similar experience.
The soccer schedule seems pretty aggressive to me and my small-town upbringing. From what I understand, though, it really is one of the smallest commitments you could hope for out of a sport. I've also really enjoyed getting to know more about the game, which has allowed me to start watching soccer on television and enjoying it. One of my favorite things about soccer is that it is so not designed for television. Watching an entire game with very, very minimal commercial breaks…fantastic!
Sports are great. It's really helped my boys in many ways. However, I wonder about families that allow kids to be on multiple teams at the same time. I've seen kids that would be in Little League at the same time as being on two basketball teams. I would say stick to 1 team at a time.
As a rule, 3 teams seems excessive, but I wouldn't necessarily be against multiple sports in the summer, depending on age, the overall time commitment, and if that's what the kid really wants.
The only real rule in my house growing up was that if we signed up for something, we had to finish out the season. If we decided we weren't into it after the season, we were never pressured to sign up the next year.
I imagine that at age 5, it's not such a bad thing to nudge them a little bit into an activity you think they might like, so long as you don't keep nudging them in that direction the next year if they've tried it and really don't like it.
I was allowed to quit baseball one year because the coach was verbally abusive. But my dad made me call him personally and explain why I was quitting. God that was tough, but worth it.
I don't think my parents would have had much patience for that kind of situation. It was always explained to us in terms of fulfilling an obligation to our teammates, not the coach, though.
Little League season here happens in the spring during the school year, which was what made it really crazy.
Gotcha. It does seem like it'd be difficult to do well in classes and participate on three sports teams, unless the teams rarely practiced or something odd like that.
I've never raised children, but I once was one. My suggestion is that they be encouraged to try a lot of different things, but not forced to do things they show no interest in or aptitude for. There are some things that, if you don't try them when you're young, you never get the chance to.
Are we talking books today? Not that I've been reading much lately, but I always enjoy the conversation.
Crap.
Uh.... maybe?
Potato Guns:
4th of July event with the in-laws was construction and firing of potato guns. Tools, cement, and 2" and 4" PVC pipe were provided.
I had a 4" chamber about 20" long and a 2" barrel about 36" long. I used a grinder to get a real nice smooth cone on the tip of the barrel, with sharp edges.
My favorite feature was my sparker. Everyone else had electric. I had Flint & steel from a lantern lighter.
It took me some time to get the hang of it (after the competition ended: I came in second to my sister-in-law, who had some teenagers at the hardware store help her. She had 3" chamber and 1.5" barrel at least 5' long).
I needed to keep it dry and to watch that the first flint had been completely used up. (Luckily, it came with a spare flint.) If I had time, I would build a shield behind it.
I had purchased WD-40 and Butane as potential propellants. Neither worked well. I think the Brother-in-law had a propane set-up that worked just as poorly. SiL figured someone would have hair spray (no-one did).
I did make one mistake of checking my spark while there was butane in the chamber. I singed hairs on my arm and in my beard, eyebrows, and eyelashes.
I finally landed on the only propellant that would work well for all of us: Bug Spray, Aerosol 40% DEET. Not Off! brand, but in a similar forest-green can.
Once I really got it working and tweaked with the seconds of bug spray, it was really great.
I had some super launches that beat anything my SiL did during competition.
Something much more satisfying about launching with a twirl of fingers (almost like snapping) putting a steel grinder past flint as opposed to the press of a button making an electric "click" (or in BiL's case "click-click-click-click")
Starving kids in Africa and all that ... love(d) constructing & shooting potato guns, hate to waste potatoes.
Polish cannon / tennis balls, then. except for the starving tennis players in Africa
Most of that family eats low-carb. Is that ironic? EAR's been avoiding nightshades, too, so potatoes are double-bad.
I tried shooting waste pieces of house-wrap foam (there's got to be a better word for that, right?), but there was a big boom and the foam landed 10 feet from the cannon.
I guess that when we have apple-fall (we don't spray, so much of our trees' production is inedible), we can use those, too. But I'm still stuck with that 2" muzzle.
With time and engineering, we'll be able to get the taters to starving kids in Isanti, Kanabec, or Pine County... is that good enough?
I laughed.
Unrelated to anything, over the weekend, I discovered a mulberry tree on my property! I'd been noticing increased activity by the winged residents, but didn't give it too much thought. Then last week, while mowing, I saw what looked to be dark raspberries or blackberries scattered about the yard. I didn't notice them last year and two years ago, we may have missed the drop as we were new to the house. In any case, the tree had to fight so hard for sunlight that the vast majority of it is too high for harvesting. Too bad - seems like another missed opportunity (have a few wild plum trees with fruit that are similarly inaccessible).
One can use a stick to reach the higher berries, and catch them in a net or something... They should come off nicely enough if they're appropriately ripe. They go well blended with ice cream. My time spent at my in-laws has been instructive on this issue.
Nice! The lowest branches are probably 12-15 feet up (this thing is really tall & thin) so I'll have to figure something out. Hopefully yesterday's wind and today's rain haven't knocked all the ripe ones off.
One can use a stick to reach the [...]
This method is called "the Novak".
Ha!
I.. didn't see it coming, but boy, I should have.
Apparently I don't know how to resize like I thought I did...
If you knew how to resize, you wouldn't need the stick in the first place
I'd give you a dollar too, but it would be too big.
Wow. This progression killed me.
(FWIW, sean whipped up a nifty plug-in:
check this comment in the sidebar to see what to type)
I thought that was a thing too, but couldn't remember what it was.
Mulberries make a decent snack, but I don't feel that letting them drop or letting birds eat them is really putting them to waste.
Unlike the bushels of wild Black Raspberries in my neighborhood, drying out on the stalk. I don't understand why we don't get flocks of Waxwings or something descending on them.
I'm not great with identification, but the blue jays, robins and orioles (maybe some tree sparrows too) seem to be having a party.
You've just listed the totality of my recognition list. Actually, we have cardinals around here too. I'm getting good at this.
heh - those were listed because that's about the extent of my identification as well. Or at least ones that plausibly would be eating berries. I don't think ducks like berries. Same goes for loons ... loons can't walk on land (right?) so them either.
Loons (and Grebes) can barely walk on land. Probably comparable to how well Owls can swim.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvrAGHGJIpE
Loons and Grebes both also need running starts to take off of water, so landing on too small a body of water can be a death sentence.
I could see ducks eating fallen berries, but not off the trees.
I mean, they'll eat bread exclusively even though its nutritional deficits result in physical deformities.
Other common birds you probably know:
Mallards
Canada Geese
Loons
Great Blue Herons?
Egrets?
Pelicans
Cormorants?
Red-tailed Hawks
Bald Eagles
Pheasants
Killdeer?
Gulls
(Rock) Pigeons
Mourning Doves
Owls
Bluebirds
Crows
Barn Swallows?
Starlings
Grackles
Red-Winged Blackbirds
Goldfinches
House Finches ? (Maybe not, but they're apparently replacing House Sparrows in many places)
As someone with a book in identifying birds, the only one I didn't recognize are killdeer. Don't think I would be able to spot grackles either but I do at least recognize the name. One name that pops up that people might know are black-capped chickadees.
Re: Chickadee.
Yeah, I was mid-list and realized I needed to catch my bus. More:
Swan
Crane (Whooping or Sandhill; though no one is seeing Whooping Cranes in MN)
Sandpipers?
Wild Turkeys
Turkey Vulture
Kingfisher?
Hummingbirds
Woodpeckers
Magpies (if you've ever lived in the West)
Ravens (if you've ever lived in the West or North)
Nuthatch?
Wren?
Mockingbird (if you've ever lived in the South)
Tanagers?
Indigo Bunting (Lazuli Bunting in the West)?
Meadowlark (if you've lived in the country near prairies)
Re: Killdeer. If you've got them in your neighborhood, you know them. They like suburban lawns.
Re: Grackles. Big blackbirds (bigger than Blue Jays) with a beautiful irridescence (blue-green sheen to heads and bronze sheen to bodies in the Midwestern populations). They've got a long wedge-shaped tail that they hold in a U position in flight (imagine the "U" as the bird's flying away from you: the outer tail feathers are up and the center feathers are down.) They strut around like they're conceited small crows. Also fond of suburban lawns. Some hang out downtown between the pigeons and sparrows.
So that's probably 30-50 birds that most people who "don't know anything about birds" probably all know (unless they've lived in a fully urban area all their life). Some of the particular IDs within the group are not obvious and can even be tricky for experts. But I'd venture Can of Corn and Hungry Joe are selling themselves quite short.
Sean, which book do you have?
The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America.
That's a good one.
AMR - Re your assertion that I know more birds than I'd stated, you're correct - I could likely identify ~30/40 of those listed. In addition, I can probably identify most upland game birds found in MN, ND & SD and most of the various types of waterfowl targeted by hunters in those same states. I don't know the birds who would target mulberries - I have no idea if a wren, dove, woodpecker or pigeon would eat fruit - but I knew you'd have something to say.
I was trying to explain your pedantry/humor to my wife while reading this list last night. She was about as appreciative as I expected.
pedantry/humor Well, that's a good way to put it.
Can you tell a Sharp-tailed Grouse from a Prairie Chicken?
No to Berries: Wren, Rock Pigeon
Maybe: Woodpecker (particularly Flickers or Red-Headeds), Mourning Dove
I guess wrens might be coming to insects that are eating the bugs.
I've had House Finches eating apples.
Interesting fact: Dove and Pigeon are completely arbitrary classifications. There's nothing that makes one bird a Dove and another a Pigeon. Not even size or color.
I've just come across a picture of a Hairy Woodpecker (juvenile male) eating Mulberries off a tree.
So they could be up there.
(The photo was in a nonpublic group, so I can't share a link.)
How many secret pigeon groups are you a part of?
If he told you, it wouldn't be much of a secret.
If you don't recognize a kill deer, just close your eyes and listen.
Not Tree Sparrows.
There are two unrelated species that go by that name...
1. American Tree Sparrows, which are far-north breeders who spend their winters here. They look similar to Chipping Sparrows.
2. Eurasian Tree Sparrows, which are an introduced species related to the "English" House Sparrow. They're well-established in the St. Louis area, and they've been spreading slowly and furtively lately. It seems that a few make it to MN every year.
Sparrows you may encounter:
House Sparrows- average-sized with bold brown, gray, and black markings on the heads of the males (females are nondescript). These are most common in the downtowns and well-urbanized areas. I don't get them much in my yard, but two blocks away where there are newer houses and few trees, there are a lot.
Chipping Sparrows - small, with a red-brown cap, a white "eyebrow" stripe below that and a black eyeline below that, from the bill to the back of the head.
Song Sparrows - Large sparrows with bold, broad striping almost all over, the stripes on the breast usually meet in a dark spot in the middle. Stripes on the back are gray and a dark chestnut, on the breast, they're dark vs white.
female Red-winged Blackbirds - Not sparrows, but many confuse them. They're bigger and darker than all sparrows, but they've still got sparrow-like striping. They look very little like the males of their species.
Hmmm, not sure I've seen the Eurasian
No? Range map:
Eurasian Tree vs House ("English")
I already researched it online, and my observation still stands - can't say I've seen one.
Well now you know to look.
I do look.
I taught Runner daughter at an early age what the two occupations of a sparrow are:
1) eat loose grain around grain bins
2) poop on the farm equipment
So, they're specialized Pigeons?
The @Twins are accepting applications for a full-time Maintenance Mechanic. For details & job description: http://t.co/nCtwlmiYg0
Wow, considering what happened this weekend, thats a steal.
Meanwhile, David West takes the veteran minimum from San Antonio. Wowza. I guess he wants a ring.
A noble goal, really. I mean, I can honestly say that I would also take the veteran minimum from San Antonio to win a championship. I would even forego health insurance.
I'd sit on the end of the San Antonio bench for $50/game, reasonable housing allowance, and as many of the pretzels left over from the concession stands at the end of the night as I care to take.
I watched every US game save for the Australia one in pool play (and a couple of non-US games when Fox Sports deigned to show any). Compelling, entertaining, quality soccer.
It was entertaining soccer. The footwork and dribbling was very good and a lot of chances were created throughout the tournament. At least for the U.S., finishing was a little to be desired and you didn't see some of those thundering strikes like you would in men's game (sans that third U.S. goal yesterday, wow!), but overall very fun to watch and the "soccer is boring or women's sports is boring" contingent didn't have a whole lot to hang their hats on.
today's image:
I had the kids help me with a little yard clean up after dinner last night. They complained that we were missing the start of the game. I explained that nothing happens in the first fifteen minutes of a soccer game. It was 4-0 when we turned it on.
I ran out for root beer and ice cream.
I explained that nothing happens in the first fifteen minutes of a soccer game
Funny thing is that after 15 minutes the game, played out 2-2. After Lloyd's in the 16th, the US actually lost the last 74 minutes 2-1.
To be fair, they weren't exactly on the attack.
Very true. But it does show what getting off to a good start can do.
On average, I don't think you're wrong--at least in MLS the first 15 minutes is the lowest scoring 15-minute period of the game. Scoring increases until halftime, then decreases just after the break and increases until the end of the game. I suspect this has to do with defender fatigue and teams being more willing to take risks at the end of a game (running out of time to make something happen.)
During the last World Cup when I wanted to watch as many of the games as possible, but was constrained by time, for a lot of games I would watch the last 15 minutes of the first half and the last 30 minutes of the second half.
We were out to dinner when the restaurant turned the game on. I hadn't been following it, so I didn't even know it was on. However, I was sure to tell my 6-year old daughter, who is about to try soccer for the first time this fall, about the game and that it was the Women's world Championship, and she smiled. Hopefully she got a little bit of inspiration.
In a program through her "school" (daycare) I opted for swimming lessons instead of soccer this summer for Kernel because $$$, but I'm hoping to get her into it at some point.
I'm also thinking that, next whenever, soccer might be more interesting for the trinket. She likes going to tee-ball and all, but I think she gets bored quick when it's time to field. It doesn't help that a couple of the boys on her team get to every single freekin ball first.
I could really go for a FKB from someone with kids slightly older than ours to get some thoughts on how they think about outside activities/sports for kids and what they've learned over the years. The jalapeno is almost 5 now, and he hasn't done much. One the one hand, I do not like the idea of scheduling every second of my child's life. On the other hand, I think there's a lot to be gained from being part of a team, learning how to do new things, and being active.
The jalapeno does a 30-minute soccer program once a week at his preschool, but they don't have a very large space for it, so while he enjoys it, I'm not sure how much of that time really qualifies as exercise.
Time for my periodic mention of Scouting:
"being part of a team, learning how to do new things, and being active"
I'll just say this…
When our oldest was about that age she showed a skill for gymnastics. She had done some of the intro things and did well. She would get nervous and emotional in certain classes, though. For instance, a mixed-age class where she couldn't run as fast as the older kids.
Knowing the level of commitment club gymnastics required, and the invidual-pressure nature of the sport, we stopped encouraging her in gymnastics. Maybe if she had expressed a strong desire to continue we would have allowed it, but since she wasn't 100% into it we let the idea die away. (If she was 100% into it, that would have been a challenging decision for sure!)
On the flip side she is 11 now and in her 2nd full year of traveling soccer. It has been a wonderful experience watching her skills and the skills of her teammates grow. Thankfully the team has been mostly the same this whole time. I know she'll have lifelong memories of this team for as long as she sticks with it. Her sister (8) will be starting traveling soccer in the fall and she cannot wait. I hope she gets a similar experience.
The soccer schedule seems pretty aggressive to me and my small-town upbringing. From what I understand, though, it really is one of the smallest commitments you could hope for out of a sport. I've also really enjoyed getting to know more about the game, which has allowed me to start watching soccer on television and enjoying it. One of my favorite things about soccer is that it is so not designed for television. Watching an entire game with very, very minimal commercial breaks…fantastic!
Sports are great. It's really helped my boys in many ways. However, I wonder about families that allow kids to be on multiple teams at the same time. I've seen kids that would be in Little League at the same time as being on two basketball teams. I would say stick to 1 team at a time.
As a rule, 3 teams seems excessive, but I wouldn't necessarily be against multiple sports in the summer, depending on age, the overall time commitment, and if that's what the kid really wants.
The only real rule in my house growing up was that if we signed up for something, we had to finish out the season. If we decided we weren't into it after the season, we were never pressured to sign up the next year.
I imagine that at age 5, it's not such a bad thing to nudge them a little bit into an activity you think they might like, so long as you don't keep nudging them in that direction the next year if they've tried it and really don't like it.
I was allowed to quit baseball one year because the coach was verbally abusive. But my dad made me call him personally and explain why I was quitting. God that was tough, but worth it.
I don't think my parents would have had much patience for that kind of situation. It was always explained to us in terms of fulfilling an obligation to our teammates, not the coach, though.
Little League season here happens in the spring during the school year, which was what made it really crazy.
Gotcha. It does seem like it'd be difficult to do well in classes and participate on three sports teams, unless the teams rarely practiced or something odd like that.
I've never raised children, but I once was one. My suggestion is that they be encouraged to try a lot of different things, but not forced to do things they show no interest in or aptitude for. There are some things that, if you don't try them when you're young, you never get the chance to.
Your
dailyintermittent, "Science is Cool" link - submarine greenhouses.Are we talking books today? Not that I've been reading much lately, but I always enjoy the conversation.
Crap.
Uh.... maybe?
Potato Guns:
4th of July event with the in-laws was construction and firing of potato guns. Tools, cement, and 2" and 4" PVC pipe were provided.
I had a 4" chamber about 20" long and a 2" barrel about 36" long. I used a grinder to get a real nice smooth cone on the tip of the barrel, with sharp edges.
My favorite feature was my sparker. Everyone else had electric. I had Flint & steel from a lantern lighter.
It took me some time to get the hang of it (after the competition ended: I came in second to my sister-in-law, who had some teenagers at the hardware store help her. She had 3" chamber and 1.5" barrel at least 5' long).
I needed to keep it dry and to watch that the first flint had been completely used up. (Luckily, it came with a spare flint.) If I had time, I would build a shield behind it.
I had purchased WD-40 and Butane as potential propellants. Neither worked well. I think the Brother-in-law had a propane set-up that worked just as poorly. SiL figured someone would have hair spray (no-one did).
I did make one mistake of checking my spark while there was butane in the chamber. I singed hairs on my arm and in my beard, eyebrows, and eyelashes.
I finally landed on the only propellant that would work well for all of us: Bug Spray, Aerosol 40% DEET. Not Off! brand, but in a similar forest-green can.
Once I really got it working and tweaked with the seconds of bug spray, it was really great.
I had some super launches that beat anything my SiL did during competition.
Something much more satisfying about launching with a twirl of fingers (almost like snapping) putting a steel grinder past flint as opposed to the press of a button making an electric "click" (or in BiL's case "click-click-click-click")
Starving kids in Africa and all that ... love(d) constructing & shooting potato guns, hate to waste potatoes.
Polish cannon / tennis balls, then. except for the starving tennis players in Africa
Most of that family eats low-carb. Is that ironic? EAR's been avoiding nightshades, too, so potatoes are double-bad.
I tried shooting waste pieces of house-wrap foam (there's got to be a better word for that, right?), but there was a big boom and the foam landed 10 feet from the cannon.
I guess that when we have apple-fall (we don't spray, so much of our trees' production is inedible), we can use those, too. But I'm still stuck with that 2" muzzle.
With time and engineering, we'll be able to get the taters to starving kids in Isanti, Kanabec, or Pine County... is that good enough?
I laughed.
Unrelated to anything, over the weekend, I discovered a mulberry tree on my property! I'd been noticing increased activity by the winged residents, but didn't give it too much thought. Then last week, while mowing, I saw what looked to be dark raspberries or blackberries scattered about the yard. I didn't notice them last year and two years ago, we may have missed the drop as we were new to the house. In any case, the tree had to fight so hard for sunlight that the vast majority of it is too high for harvesting. Too bad - seems like another missed opportunity (have a few wild plum trees with fruit that are similarly inaccessible).
One can use a stick to reach the higher berries, and catch them in a net or something... They should come off nicely enough if they're appropriately ripe. They go well blended with ice cream. My time spent at my in-laws has been instructive on this issue.
Nice! The lowest branches are probably 12-15 feet up (this thing is really tall & thin) so I'll have to figure something out. Hopefully yesterday's wind and today's rain haven't knocked all the ripe ones off.
One can use a stick to reach the [...]
This method is called "the Novak".
Ha!
I.. didn't see it coming, but boy, I should have.
Apparently I don't know how to resize like I thought I did...
If you knew how to resize, you wouldn't need the stick in the first place
I'd give you a dollar too, but it would be too big.
Wow. This progression killed me.
(FWIW, sean whipped up a nifty plug-in:
check this comment in the sidebar to see what to type)
I thought that was a thing too, but couldn't remember what it was.
Mulberries make a decent snack, but I don't feel that letting them drop or letting birds eat them is really putting them to waste.
Unlike the bushels of wild Black Raspberries in my neighborhood, drying out on the stalk. I don't understand why we don't get flocks of Waxwings or something descending on them.
I'm not great with identification, but the blue jays, robins and orioles (maybe some tree sparrows too) seem to be having a party.
You've just listed the totality of my recognition list. Actually, we have cardinals around here too. I'm getting good at this.
heh - those were listed because that's about the extent of my identification as well. Or at least ones that plausibly would be eating berries. I don't think ducks like berries. Same goes for loons ... loons can't walk on land (right?) so them either.
Loons (and Grebes) can barely walk on land. Probably comparable to how well Owls can swim.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvrAGHGJIpE
Loons and Grebes both also need running starts to take off of water, so landing on too small a body of water can be a death sentence.
I could see ducks eating fallen berries, but not off the trees.
I mean, they'll eat bread exclusively even though its nutritional deficits result in physical deformities.
Other common birds you probably know:
Mallards
Canada Geese
Loons
Great Blue Herons?
Egrets?
Pelicans
Cormorants?
Red-tailed Hawks
Bald Eagles
Pheasants
Killdeer?
Gulls
(Rock) Pigeons
Mourning Doves
Owls
Bluebirds
Crows
Barn Swallows?
Starlings
Grackles
Red-Winged Blackbirds
Goldfinches
House Finches ? (Maybe not, but they're apparently replacing House Sparrows in many places)
As someone with a book in identifying birds, the only one I didn't recognize are killdeer. Don't think I would be able to spot grackles either but I do at least recognize the name. One name that pops up that people might know are black-capped chickadees.
Re: Chickadee.
Yeah, I was mid-list and realized I needed to catch my bus. More:
Swan
Crane (Whooping or Sandhill; though no one is seeing Whooping Cranes in MN)
Sandpipers?
Wild Turkeys
Turkey Vulture
Kingfisher?
Hummingbirds
Woodpeckers
Magpies (if you've ever lived in the West)
Ravens (if you've ever lived in the West or North)
Nuthatch?
Wren?
Mockingbird (if you've ever lived in the South)
Tanagers?
Indigo Bunting (Lazuli Bunting in the West)?
Meadowlark (if you've lived in the country near prairies)
Re: Killdeer. If you've got them in your neighborhood, you know them. They like suburban lawns.
Re: Grackles. Big blackbirds (bigger than Blue Jays) with a beautiful irridescence (blue-green sheen to heads and bronze sheen to bodies in the Midwestern populations). They've got a long wedge-shaped tail that they hold in a U position in flight (imagine the "U" as the bird's flying away from you: the outer tail feathers are up and the center feathers are down.) They strut around like they're conceited small crows. Also fond of suburban lawns. Some hang out downtown between the pigeons and sparrows.
So that's probably 30-50 birds that most people who "don't know anything about birds" probably all know (unless they've lived in a fully urban area all their life). Some of the particular IDs within the group are not obvious and can even be tricky for experts. But I'd venture Can of Corn and Hungry Joe are selling themselves quite short.
Sean, which book do you have?
The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America.
That's a good one.
AMR - Re your assertion that I know more birds than I'd stated, you're correct - I could likely identify ~30/40 of those listed. In addition, I can probably identify most upland game birds found in MN, ND & SD and most of the various types of waterfowl targeted by hunters in those same states. I don't know the birds who would target mulberries - I have no idea if a wren, dove, woodpecker or pigeon would eat fruit - but I knew you'd have something to say.
I was trying to explain your pedantry/humor to my wife while reading this list last night. She was about as appreciative as I expected.
pedantry/humor Well, that's a good way to put it.
Can you tell a Sharp-tailed Grouse from a Prairie Chicken?
No to Berries: Wren, Rock Pigeon
Maybe: Woodpecker (particularly Flickers or Red-Headeds), Mourning Dove
I guess wrens might be coming to insects that are eating the bugs.
I've had House Finches eating apples.
Interesting fact: Dove and Pigeon are completely arbitrary classifications. There's nothing that makes one bird a Dove and another a Pigeon. Not even size or color.
I've just come across a picture of a Hairy Woodpecker (juvenile male) eating Mulberries off a tree.
So they could be up there.
(The photo was in a nonpublic group, so I can't share a link.)
How many secret pigeon groups are you a part of?
If he told you, it wouldn't be much of a secret.
If you don't recognize a kill deer, just close your eyes and listen.
Not Tree Sparrows.
There are two unrelated species that go by that name...
1. American Tree Sparrows, which are far-north breeders who spend their winters here. They look similar to Chipping Sparrows.
2. Eurasian Tree Sparrows, which are an introduced species related to the "English" House Sparrow. They're well-established in the St. Louis area, and they've been spreading slowly and furtively lately. It seems that a few make it to MN every year.
Sparrows you may encounter:
House Sparrows- average-sized with bold brown, gray, and black markings on the heads of the males (females are nondescript). These are most common in the downtowns and well-urbanized areas. I don't get them much in my yard, but two blocks away where there are newer houses and few trees, there are a lot.
Chipping Sparrows - small, with a red-brown cap, a white "eyebrow" stripe below that and a black eyeline below that, from the bill to the back of the head.
Song Sparrows - Large sparrows with bold, broad striping almost all over, the stripes on the breast usually meet in a dark spot in the middle. Stripes on the back are gray and a dark chestnut, on the breast, they're dark vs white.
female Red-winged Blackbirds - Not sparrows, but many confuse them. They're bigger and darker than all sparrows, but they've still got sparrow-like striping. They look very little like the males of their species.
Hmmm, not sure I've seen the Eurasian
No? Range map:
Eurasian Tree vs House ("English")
I already researched it online, and my observation still stands - can't say I've seen one.
Well now you know to look.
I do look.
I taught Runner daughter at an early age what the two occupations of a sparrow are:
1) eat loose grain around grain bins
2) poop on the farm equipment
So, they're specialized Pigeons?
Funny way to hire medical staff.
Nice. I wanted to make a Boyer/smoke machine repair crack, but couldn't get it written out well enough.
Pressly to the DL , Robinson off the family emergency list. Twins finally back to 12 pitchers. We'll see how long that lasts.
Wow, considering what happened this weekend, thats a steal.
Meanwhile, David West takes the veteran minimum from San Antonio. Wowza. I guess he wants a ring.
A noble goal, really. I mean, I can honestly say that I would also take the veteran minimum from San Antonio to win a championship. I would even forego health insurance.
I'd sit on the end of the San Antonio bench for $50/game, reasonable housing allowance, and as many of the pretzels left over from the concession stands at the end of the night as I care to take.