Encounters with Nature

In reading the 'Great Northern Kingdom' by Wayne Lynch on life in the boreal forest, one encounters many fascinating facts and quirks about our lovely nature and its inhabitants. May I share a few tidbits and quiz you on some.

Birds with very long tongues are woodpeckers. Most woodpeckers hammer up to 600 times a day. So far it's a mystery as to their immunity to head injury. A northern bird with the longest tongue is also called a formicovore. Who is he? Woodpeckers conserve food by exploiting slightly different areas and heights of trees as well as several trees. Pileated woodpeckers drum the slowest at fourteen beats per second and speed up during a sequence. Variable drumming speeds with woodpeckers indicate their identity but also to communicate their habitat preferences. .

The caribou or the snow deer are well equipped with hooves for deep snow digging in order to reach lichens and sedges in their search for winter food. They dig up to 24" deep and as many as 140 snow craters in a day. (No fast food for animals.) The comb like fringe on the bill of the Northern shoveler enables it to strain tiny invertebrates and seeds from the water. The frequency of the grouses drumming is below the hearing threshold of the owl, thus protecting him from his mortal enemy .

The "original all-terrain vehicle" is the moose. Moose depend upon periodic taiga wildfires to create the habitat they need to survive. When food is abundant and winter conditions are mild, as many as 90% of female moose will give birth to twins. Luckily humans don't follow this pattern. All loons have red eyes, but the reason for this is still a mystery. .

I end with the author's and William Wordsworth's awe and enthusiasm. "Nature never betrays the heart that loves her sincerely." Explore and enjoy the summer and its many .

Modris Zandbergs