Do animals see what we see?

We often assume the world looks the same to everybody, including animals, but it doesn’t. A red tulip isn’t red for everyone. The details on a flower petal cannot be seen by every animal either.

Despite the showiness of flowers, bees find nectar by seeing ultraviolet light patterns on the petals

There are many types of eyes and ways in which eyes “see”. The standard to base other animal’s eyesight against is the human eye because that is what we know and can see. 

Feathers don't last forever

American goldfinches dart to and from the bird feeder in their drab yellow plumage this time of year. Their vivid yellow plumage won’t come until they are ready to start breeding. 

Basic plumage of an American goldfinch in North American winter

The change from drab to bright plumage is a yearly occurrence for many birds, especially males. The colors and markings on a male bird often determine its attractiveness to females and ultimately its mating success. But males don’t need to stay in their colorful plumage year-round, so they molt. 

Many types of feathers make a bird

A single feather lying in the grass. The straight shaft surrounded by colorful vanes, some askew with dampness. Singly a feather doesn’t accomplish much but collectively feathers enable birds to fly--and much more. 

Contour feathers are arranged much like shingles on a roof in order to shed rain and keep the body dry.

Feathers help birds stay warm or cool, camouflage them from predators, help attract a mate, keep eggs and chicks warm, and help the bird defend themselves. Not every feather supports all these roles, instead there are several different types of feathers.

Roots do more than anchor a tree

Remember the incredible wind storms last summer? Tall ponderosa pines were bent over under the forty mile an hour winds. Some trees came crashing down roots and all while others snapped at weaker points along the trunk. Most trees survived--minus a few limbs-- thanks to their extensive root systems. 

We tend not to think about tree roots until big wind storms, tilling a new garden or pulling a stump. Without roots there wouldn’t be trees. 

Roots grow in whatever direction nutrients, water and oxygen can be found

Often all you see are tracks

Snowshoeing near McArthur Lake, I crossed the usual coyote, snowshoe hare and small rodent tracks in the fresh snow. Then as I slowed to navigate around a fallen tree I noticed a different track. 

With only an inch or so of new snow on top of a crust, the tracks were crisp. I could see where the fur around the paws touched the snow. 

Larger than a coyote track, I knew the animal had to be a cat because the tracks were round compared to oval canine tracks. I had seen cougar tracks before and these were smaller which narrowed the mystery animal to either a bobcat or lynx. 

Bobcat tracks

Tracking the year with full moons

A full moon rising over the eastern horizon is a magnificent sight especially on a clear winter night. For millennia, humans have watched the full moon rise and have used it as a way to track time and plan harvests, hunting and planting. 

Every 29.5 days, the moon returns to the same position on the far side of the Earth opposing the sun. Even though the moon is in the same relative location the seasons on Earth have changed.

Ancient cultures, especially Native Americans in eastern and northern North America, named full moons to keep track of the seasons. Following Native American customs, Europeans created some of their own names.

January's Wolf Moon

Nuthatches: The upside-down bird

While woodpeckers search for insects by spiraling up a tree, the nuthatch zig-zags down the trunk head-first. Foraging upside-down may seem unnatural to us but nuthatches have a knack for it. 

Nuthatches don’t rely on their tail feathers like woodpeckers to prop themselves against the trunk while foraging for insects. Instead nuthatches have a large claw on their one backward-pointing toe that helps them keep a grip. 

Large claws on all toes allow nuthatches to grip bark on a vertical plane

Ice: A truly unique substance

Ice skating. Ice fishing. Skiing. Sledding. What would winter be like without snow and ice? 

When the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit the landscape turns into a winter wonderland of snow and ice. Most of our winter activities involve some form of ice. 

The ice of Copper Falls looks white because the high concentration of air bubbles within the ice scatters all wavelengths of light

Ice, the solid state of water, is truly unique. All other solids sink in their liquid counterpart but ice floats. Can you imagine if ice sank? Lakes, oceans and rivers might have year-round ice on the bottom which would reduce the number of organisms living within those bodies of water.