“Lets Go On A Lark”

By Ron Bowerman

 

Sorry for the misleading title. We are not going on a serendipitous joyful excursion. This month’s article is about horned larks. I am sure you have seen the small slender birds with black on their heads at the side of a country road. They are here year round but increase in number during the winter due to leaving Alaska and Canada. To those of us that are still a part of nature and not apart from it, these birds are an iconic part of the Ohio landscape. I always look for them when driving home to Van Buren on 236 or for that matter on any country road. There will be between 10 to 30 birds in a flock and they all will burst into the air as you drive by and fly into the field. During the winter here, they can be in higher flock numbers. Snow buntings can also often be seen with horned larks.

 

Larks are bird with a black tail in flight. Their heads are black and there are splotches of yellow and white. There are feather tuffs that give them their namesake horned lark. Their song has a tinkling sound. They like bare ground like fallow farm fields. They feed on seeds and in the summer add insect to their diet. Larks nest on the ground and the barer it is the better. The female will do a fluttering distraction display to draw away predators. Sometimes this is called the broken wing act. Larks farther north will have one clutch of eggs and those to the south will have two or more. They lay between 2 to 5 eggs.

 

Larks are experiencing a decline. (56 percent in 40 years Global Population: 77 million Continental Population: 77 million now, 175 million 40 years ago Audubon) These birds, as are other birds, are counted every year.

Breeding habitat is decreasing in the far north as the open tundra is shrinking. Due to the permafrost that is melting there, new vegetation is now growing that is changing its breeding habitat. Another threat is the lose of fallow farm fields and nest destruction. They nest early but young are not often mature enough to leave the nest and farm activity can destroy the nest. Unless things change for the better, this species will continue to decline. One way you can help larks is to promote conservation reserve programs. You can also help by backing strong federal and state legislation to help reduce greenhouse gases. Alternative energy is also a plus to stop the melt down! We have two major projects south of Hancock County that are doing just that. A solar cell farm and a wind farm are under construction.

 

How about, “Just the facts sir Just the facts.” Non-science media talking heads and “scientist” that function under a publish or parish university world are not helping the global warming problem. The talking heads media will say anything to be sensational to keep an audience and the publish or perish researchers that will also say or do anything to get grant money are both doing a disservice to us and the planet. This called follow the money. This is true of both pro and con on global warming. Unfortunately more so on the con side. So another thing you can do is find the true facts and make a non-emotional decision regarding global warming. For those of you that are chronologically gifted, you may remember Joe Friday and “Dragnet”. He often chimed in with, “Just the facts sir just the facts.” Again those of us that are a part of nature see the differences. There have been other episodes of “Climate Change” but the causes were natural. Yelp CO2 is CO2. However, the last time I checked volcanoes are not man made but the industrial revolution was. As I say nature is as nature does!

 

 

Woo! A lot of folks got the exploding tree question. Due to frozen sap, trees will burst with a loud report. As a young scout in the 60’s at Camp Lakota I was on a Polar Bear campout. We made our shelter out of hardwood branches and pine branches. There was always a supply of old Christmas trees in the camp. It was 19 below zero at about 3:00 am. I heard a report that shook me out of a sound sleep. The tree was less than 20ft from our camp! So great job to the following readers: Dawn LaRoche, Michael Clary and Kathleen Mac Murray. Keep the faith the vernal equinox is near! By the way, what animals might visit a woodland vernal pond to propagate? Send your answers to: bowerman4@verizon.net

 

Happy St Patrick’s Day! There may still be ice in March so do not let the

road come up and meet you the hard way. Watch your step!

 

Nature is as Nature does! Mr. B

 

 

Larks are bird with a black tail in flight. Their heads are black and there are splotches of yellow and white. There are feather tuffs that give them their namesake horned lark. Their song has a tinkling sound. They like bare ground like fallow farm fields. They feed on seeds and in the summer add insect to their diet. Larks nest on the ground and the barer it is the better. The female will do a fluttering distraction display to draw away predators. Sometimes this is called the broken wing act. Larks farther north will have one clutch of eggs and those to the south will have two or more. They lay between 2 to 5 eggs.

 

Larks are experiencing a decline. (56 percent in 40 years Global Population: 77 million Continental Population: 77 million now, 175 million 40 years ago Audubon) These birds, as are other birds, are counted every year.

Breeding habitat is decreasing in the far north as the open tundra is shrinking. Due to the permafrost that is melting there, new vegetation is now growing that is changing its breeding habitat. Another threat is the lose of fallow farm fields and nest destruction. They nest early but young are not often mature enough to leave the nest and farm activity can destroy the nest. Unless things change for the better, this species will continue to decline. One way you can help larks is to promote conservation reserve programs. You can also help by backing strong federal and state legislation to help reduce greenhouse gases. Alternative energy is also a plus to stop the melt down! We have two major projects south of Hancock County that are doing just that. A solar cell farm and a wind farm are under construction.

 

How about, “Just the facts sir Just the facts.” Non-science media talking heads and “scientist” that function under a publish or parish university world are not helping the global warming problem. The talking heads media will say anything to be sensational to keep an audience and the publish or perish researchers that will also say or do anything to get grant money are both doing a disservice to us and the planet. This called follow the money. This is true of both pro and con on global warming. Unfortunately more so on the con side. So another thing you can do is find the true facts and make a non-emotional decision regarding global warming. For those of you that are chronologically gifted, you may remember Joe Friday and “Dragnet”. He often chimed in with, “Just the facts sir just the facts.” Again those of us that are a part of nature see the differences. There have been other episodes of “Climate Change” but the causes were natural. Yelp CO2 is CO2. However, the last time I checked volcanoes are not man made but the industrial revolution was. As I say nature is as nature does!

 

 

Woo! A lot of folks got the exploding tree question. Due to frozen sap, trees will burst with a loud report. As a young scout in the 60’s at Camp Lakota I was on a Polar Bear campout. We made our shelter out of hardwood branches and pine branches. There was always a supply of old Christmas trees in the camp. It was 19 below zero at about 3:00 am. I heard a report that shook me out of a sound sleep. The tree was less than 20ft from our camp! So great job to the following readers: Dawn LaRoche, Michael Clary and Kathleen Mac Murray. Keep the faith the vernal equinox is near! By the way, what animals might visit a woodland vernal pond to propagate? Send your answers to: bowerman4@verizon.net

 

Happy St Patrick’s Day! There may still be ice in March so do not let the

road come up and meet you the hard way. Watch your step!

 

Nature is as Nature does! Mr. B