July 23, 2019

Did you know that within the border of Minnesota lives 3 lizard species and 4 species of cactus? On this quick trip down to the western portion of the Minnesota River valley I hoped to see several of these rare species.

My first stop was Swedes Forest Scientific and Natural Area (SNA). This site was protected because of its unique rock outcrops, which were historically in a prairie setting. But over the years, Bur Oaks and other trees have grown up and shaded the rocks. The periodic fires of pre-White-Settlement times kept the landscape as mainly prairie, but with the fire suppression of the last 100 years, the forest has encroached. It is time to try and bring back the open grasslands here. On the day I arrived there was a crew cutting down these trees in order to restore the ecosystem.

I headed right to the most obvious rock outcrop south of the parking area. My main goal was to see the very rare Five-lined Skink, but I also knew there were Prairie Skinks here as well. After about 15 minutes I saw a couple-inch long skink start scurrying across the reddish rock. It stopped barely long enough for me to get a few shots. The first thing I noticed was its blue tail…but that doesn’t help identifying the critter since both the Prairie Skink and Five-lined Skink juveniles show this tail color. But by the head and back stripes and markings I could tell it was a young Prairie Skink. Still very exciting because I have never seen one before.

My only skink for the day (despite looking under many rocks) was this juvenile Prairie Skink (Plestiodon septentrionalis). It’s blue tail is one clue but you really have to check out its back and head stripes to separate it from the similar, but much rarer, Five-lined Skink. This youngster was only a few inches long.

I nicknamed this jumping spider the “scary Halloween mask spider” for its unique abdomen pattern, and texted a photo to my kids. I thought I had a rare species at first, but later learned from Minnesota spider expert Chad Heins, that this was simply a young female Habronattus decorus, a jumping spider which I have photographed the very different looking male several times.

Have you ever seen a shiny green, red and blue beetle before? I hadn’t either…until I found this one foraging on a shrub. This is Calleida punctata, a species of ground beetle.

The Coral Hairstreak is a beautiful butterfly of mid summer. I rarely get to see them as they are never found in large numbers.

Shallow depressions in bedrock outcrops on the prairie create one of Minnesota’s rarest habitats. These low spots catch and hold rainwater since they have no outlet. One specialist in this microhabitat is Talinum parviflorum (Small-flowered Fameflower or Rock Pink) as show in the 2 photos above. I was a bit late to see it in full bloom unfortunately, so I guess I’ll have to come back!

Some may be surprised to learn that cactus grows natively in Minnesota. The above four photos are of one of the smaller species called Brittle Prickly Pear (Opuntia fragilis). It is fragile as its Latin name implies, but it packs a painful prickly punch if you accidentally touch or kneel on one!

The tiny, but large for its family, Galgupha Ebony Bug is so shiny that you can see my reflection, and that of the sun, clouds and blue sky, on its smooth exoskeleton.

Plains Clubtail dragonfly (Gomphus externus)

Dickcissels are only irregular visitors to my home territory of northern Minnesota, making summer irruptions every 4 years or so. But they are abundant breeders in the scrubby grasslands of Southern Minnesota.

**All photos taken with Canon 7D and either Canon 70-200mm f4 lens or Canon 400mm f5.6 lens. Macro photos with Canon 500D attached to Canon 70-200mm lens. Panorama photos taken with iPhone 7+.

Minnesota has incredible birds. In fact, many birds on American birder’s “Most Wanted” list occur here: Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Boreal Owl, Connecticut Warbler, etc. And I love the fact that in a few hours drive or less from home I can bird THREE MAJOR BIOMES—Tallgrass Prairie, Eastern Deciduous Forest, and Boreal Forest.

BUT at home in Minnesota we only have ONE HUMMINGBIRD species! The lovely but lonely Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The fact that southeast Arizona hosts about a dozen species (some are migrants) makes it America’s hummer hotspot and a wonderful reason to head to the heat.

I saw seven of the eight species that could be expected in SE Arizona in July. I only missed Costa’s Hummingbird in the wild. (But I did see Costa’s and Rufous in the aviary in the Sonoran Desert Museum)

SEVEN species seen at feeders or while out hiking…

• Lucifer Hummingbird (Dave Jasper’s yard in Portal; Also Foothills Road near Portal)
• Violet-crowned Hummingbird (Beatty’s Miller Canyon Orchard & Apiary near Sierra Vista; Also Paton’s Hummingbird Sanctuary in Patagonia)
• Broad-billed Hummingbird (most widespread: Beatty’s Miller Canyon Orchard & Apiary near Sierra Vista; Paton’s Hummingbird Sanctuary in Patagonia; Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Sanctuary; etc)
• Broad-tailed Hummingbird (a high-elevation specialist: Palisade Ranger Staton on Mt. Lemmon near Tucson; Rustler Park at over 8,000 feet near Patagonia in the Chiricauhuas)
• Blue-throated Hummingbird (only at Cave Creek Ranch near Patagonia)
• Black-chinned Hummingbird (Beatty’s Miller Canyon Orchard & Apiary near Sierra Vista; Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Sanctuary)
• Rivoli’s Hummingbird (formerly Magnificent Hummingbird) (Palisade Ranger Staton on Mt. Lemmon near Tucson; Beatty’s Miller Canyon Orchard & Apiary near Sierra Vista)

Two captive species

• Costa’s Hummingbird (only in captivity at the Sonoran Desert Museum aviary near Tucson)
• Rufous Hummingbird (only in captivity at the Sonoran Desert Museum aviary near Tucson)

You can see the restricted range for these hummingbirds from these MAPS from http://www.allaboutbirds.org. Most don’t get much farther north than southeast Arizona.

Range map of Violet-crowned Hummingbird (pink is breeding only)

LUCIFER HUMMINGBIRD

Some fun facts about Lucifer Hummingbirds from http://www.allaboutbirds.org…

• Lucifer Hummingbird belongs to a group of hummingbird species called “sheartails,” named for their deeply forked, narrow tail.
• Mainly a bird of Mexico, the Lucifer is quite rare in the U.S so a real treat for us birders!
• Unlike other hummingbirds, the male Lucifer Hummingbird performs its displays at the nest of a female.
• Occasionally also seen in the Big Bend region of Texas.

BLUE-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD

Some fun facts about Blue-throated Hummingbirds from http://www.allaboutbirds.org…

• This Lampornis species is really a member of the Mountain-Gem genus, so they may be renamed to “Blue-throated Mountain-Gem” in the future.
• Blue-throated are the largest hummingbird in North America, weighing 3x more than a Ruby-throated Hummer
• Males do not have an aerial display like most hummingbirds. Instead they have several vocalizations that they use in courtship.
• They will mob birds much larger than themselves…even Goshawks! Several may work together to drive them away.
• Oldest recorded Blue-throated lived at least 7 years and 11 months.

VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD

Some fun facts about Violet-crowned Hummingbirds from http://www.audubon.org…

• This relative newcomer to the U.S. was only discovered nesting in 1959.
• It is only found in lower canyons with large Arizona Sycamores and/or Cottonwoods, usually along streams with brushy understory.

RIVOLI’S HUMMINGBIRD (formerly MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD)

Some fun facts about Rivoli’s Hummingbirds from http://www.allaboutbirds.org…

• Second largest Hummingbird in the U.S.
• One of the highest heart-rates of any vertebrate…420 to 1200 beats per minute!
• An 11-year old bird (!) was banded in Arizona
• A hummingbird flower mite uses the Rivoli’s Hummingbird for transport: hiding in the birds’ nasal passages until they can jump off at a subsequent flower patch.
• Known as Magnificent Hummingbird from the 1980s until 2017.
• Named for the Duke of Rivoli who was an amateur ornithologist.

BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD

Some fun facts about Broad-billed Hummingbirds from http://www.allaboutbirds.org…

• Broad-billed Hummingbirds that nest in Arizona are migratory; populations in Mexico are resident year-round in their breeding range.
• The male Broad-billed Hummingbird performs a courtship display, starting by hovering about a foot from the female and then flying in repeated arcs, like a pendulum.Broad-billed Hummingbirds that nest in Arizona are migratory; populations in Mexico are resident year-round in their breeding range.

BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD

Some fun facts about Black-chinned Hummingbirds from http://www.allaboutbirds.org…

• The Black-chinned Hummingbird’s tongue has two grooves; nectar moves through these via capillary action, and then the bird retracts the tongue and squeezes the nectar into the mouth. It extends the tongue through the nearly closed bill at a rate of about 13–17 licks per second
• This is one of the most adaptable of all hummingbirds, often found in urban areas and recently disturbed habitat as well as pristine natural areas.
• Along good stretches of some southern Arizona and southern New Mexico rivers, nests may be found every 100 meters or so

BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD

Some fun facts about Broad-tailed Hummingbirds from http://www.allaboutbirds.org…

• The longest-lived Broad-tailed Hummingbird was a female, and over 12 years, 2 months old, when she was recaptured and rereleased during a banding operation in Colorado in 1987. She had been banded in the same state in 1976.
• Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds produce a loud metallic “zzzinnggg” trill with their wingtips as they fly, but over time the feathers that produce this sound wear down from use. By midwinter the trill is often inaudible.
• They breed at elevations up to 10,500 feet (!!), where nighttime temperatures regularly plunge below freezing. To make it through a cold night, they slow their heart rate and drop their body temperature, entering a state of torpor.
• Sometimes they use sap as a nectar substitute, visiting sapwells excavated by Red-naped Sapsuckers.

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD

TRIO of ROMPING RED FOX PUPS. Carlton County, Minnesota. June 23, 2019.

I had a date with a kayak and a family of Common Loons on a lake near my home in northeastern Minnesota…but then I found these siblings out and about in the middle of the afternoon. The Loons would have to wait!

I pulled over and enjoyed their antics for about an hour. I shot video and photos out of the van window and they only occasionally looked over at me. In the entire hour I was there, only one other car came by, and even then, the pups came right back out onto the gravel road to continue their wrestling.