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Little bird, big bird: All are important

PHOTOS BY GARRY BRANDENBURG — All wildlife species are important. All fill an ecological function in a very complex web of life. So, whether it is a small critter, or a very large critter, learning how they live, function and contribute is the least we humans can do to garner an improved understanding of how those contributions are made. Today’s images show an American Goldfinch munching away at sunflower seeds.

Make a difference by knowing where your money goes. Yes, as much as we may dislike certain taxes, they are a fact of life in our system in which government functions can take place. However, in specific cases, what we contribute voluntarily to a known cause is a positive thing. The Iowa Chickadee-Check-off is one of those positive items on your to-do list every year at tax time.

Tax time deadlines may be a few months away. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to seriously consider making a contribution to the Fish/Wildlife Fund, also known as Chickadee Check-Off. This means to assist vulnerable and sometimes ‘under the radar’ critters to receive attention they need in research, habitat development and education.

It was in 1980 that the Iowa state tax forms included a line for this type of donation. Funds provided in this method help the Iowa DNR’s Wildlife Diversity Program move forward. All creatures great and small benefit from habitat works in progress or yet to come.

In 2020, about 7,100 Iowa taxpayers donated generously to the tune of $175,000, a $25,000 increase from 2019. That is a good sign. However, the potential is remarkable: if one considers that if every Iowa taxpayer contributed just one dollar, those donations would total $1.5 million for wildlife!

How are those contributions being used? For starters, one program is called Multiple Species Inventory and Monitoring. Another is titled Community Science Based Surveys, and then there are other things such as best practices for pollinator conservation. This one aspect of vulnerable wildlife, insects in many forms and functions, are important pollinators of many plant life forms. Without those pollinators, an uphill struggle exists for some very key flowering plants.

A Bald Eagle preparing to munch away at a raccoon carcass. You can help these and other vulnerable wildlife by contributing to the Fish/Wildlife Check-Off on your Iowa state tax form, line 57. Thanks for helping.

Just remember to help as best you can at tax time this year. Make a positive difference.

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Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) are one of our winter resident birds. They may come and go to your backyard feeding station, as in this case, eating sunflower seeds to help sustain them during cold weather. They can be found in weedy fields, open floodplains, or suburban backyards and parks. They have to eat and eat well every day. Seeds sustain them, and if they can find seeds of alder, birch, asters, thistle, western red cedar or elm, all will suffice to give this bird what it needs.

The yellow chest plumage of male goldfinches help give it its name. Later this summer, the brilliant yellow color will be even more pronounced as this bird begins its normal late summer nesting season. As late season nesters, this species likes to find thistle down and other weedy types to help build its nest.

The nest will be built from root fibers, other plant fibers, and even spider silk. Into this cup shaped nest will go anywhere from two to seven eggs, and if all works well, two successful nests for the season will help build the population.

Pale bluish white eggs with faint brown spots will be laid — each is about one-half inch wide and a bit longer. Incubation takes 12 to 14 days. Fledging takes about 11 to 17 more days before they fly away.

Partners in Flight data for the American Breeding Bird Survey estimates the breeding population at about 42 million. Ninety-one percent of those 42 million spend some part of their lives in the USA, Canada and data shows about six percent winter in Mexico.

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My other featured creature today is the bald eagle (Haliaetus Leucocephalus), no stranger to bird photography when circumstances and right-place, right-time, and good fortune allow for gathering good pictures. With over 500 active nests in Iowa, this large raptor has seemingly filled every available space in the state. Competition between eagle pairs is an ongoing intra-specific battle that only eagles understand.

Positive interaction by people have allowed this large raptor to regain its losses from low population numbers of one hundred years ago. Now, eagle numbers are good, and expansion is everywhere, especially in the upper Midwest states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. There are really no states in the USA without bald eagles.

Winter roost sites in central Iowa are more common along big water areas. Open water below spillway dams is a favorite place to observe eagles. Saylorville Lake, Lake Red Rock or even downtown Des Moines will work as places to see this magnificent big bird.

Small fish near the surface of open water are easily spotted by the keen vision of eagles. A careful gliding angle will allow the eagle to intercept the water, and at just the right moment, extend its talons forward to grab the fish. Talons are strong grippers, plus strong large wings allow an eagle to lift about one-half of its body weight. An adult eagle may weigh 15 pounds. Therefore, the maximum it could lift off with is about seven pounds.

A live adult bald eagle is coming to you soon at the Le Grand Pioneer Heritage Library next weekend on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm, Feb. 6. This free and open to the public presentation will allow you to see and learn about eagles from a representative of SOAR, which stands for Save Our Avian Resources.

This educational program will have a living eagle, one that is not releasable back into the wild, for show and tell. This opportunity to learn about eagles and other big birds fits quite well with the theme of what people can do in terms of habitat and management to assist birds of prey. You are invited to learn. I’ll see you there.

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A wild game feed is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2022. The Marshall County chapter of the Izaak Walton League is the host organization for this popular event. The location this year will be the Consumers Electric offices area, at the Highway 30 and 330 junction, southwest corner of that intersection.

The time to gather will be 5:30 p.m., and delicious dishes of all kinds of food made from wild game meats, fish, and other scrumptious dessert fixings will be served. All Ikes members are invited and guests you wish to bring along are welcome. If you want to attend the program only, come at about 6:30 p.m.

The program following the Wild Game Feed will be presented by member Bob Backes. He will show photographs and talk about his adventure several years ago with his daughters to Nepal. They partook in a trek (hike) called the Ghorepani Poon Hill trek. Another name for this excursion is the Annapurna sunrise trek. This was a two day trek, and then on the morning of the third day, everyone got up early to hike up to Poon Hill to watch the sunrise in the Himalayan Mountains.

Backes told me this hike is considered easy by locals. Bob Backes and his daughters will argue the hike was way less than easy. They are glad to have participated in a once in a lifetime trip to an exotic place on the world map. This should be an excellent program to listen to, and I’ll see you there.

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Speaking of the experiences of hiking in the Himalayas, this scribe attended a program last Tuesday evening at the Le Grand Library. It was an excellent program. Jen Loeb from Jesup presented a slide show about her quest for and success in climbing Mt. Everest on May 19, 2016. She sat on the top and had her photo taken at 29,035 feet above sea level. Her detailed photos and fact filled discussion helped put in perspective what is involved in climbing mountains.

In fact, she just returned from Antarctica, where she climbed the highest mountain on this icy continent, the Vinson Massif at 16,067 feet high. Her goal will be to climb the highest mountain on each continent, plus a few lesser high mountains as the year’s progress.

Loeb told of the logistics involved in making an international venture of this magnitude. From culture immersion experiences and the difficulty just to get to base camp was one thing. Then she, like other Everest climbers, had to advance in stages to allow their body to adjust to high altitudes. It was not easy at all. And the last segment of the climb required supplemental oxygen or you would not survive the rigors of that environment.

Jen Loeb has climbed Mt. Whitney in California, Mt. Rainier in Washington, and Denali in Alaska. Add to these Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa; Aconcagua in South America; Koscuiszko in Australia and Elbrus in Europe.

These are just the big ones. Lots of smaller mountains have made her list over time. Her treks in the mountains make any flatland hiking I do seem like a Sunday walk in the park by comparison. I am glad she has found an outlet for her lifelong dreams of climbing big mountains. Loeb’s Facebook adventures can be seen @Iowaclimberjen or email her using this address: iowaclimberjen@gmail.com.

Quote to think about:

“There is no expedience to which man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking.”

— Thomas Edison

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Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology.

Contact him at:

P.O. Box 96

Albion, IA 50005

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