The Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge held their annual Fall Festival Saturday, drawing visitors from all over the region.

 

The biggest problem they had was keeping the tents from blowing away in the stiff autumn breeze which kept temperatures on the cool side all weekend.

 

Author and naturalist Stan Tekiela was the guest speaker, talking about birds which can be found on the Refuge and at the bird feeder. 

 

“Grackles are members of the blackbird family,” Tekiela said. “They have more power to open their beaks than to bite down. They use that power to open cracks and look for seeds and food which is hiding.”

 

Finding food hidden from other species gives the birds a niche, like the white-breasted nuthatches, which hop down a tree head-first instead of up like other birds do.

 

“They do it to find food no other bird has found yet,” Tekiela said. “I wonder sometimes if I am the only person who notices things like that.

Other birds which stick around during the winter include the Northern Cardinal.

 

“What’s interesting about them is that both the males and the females sing,” Stan said. “That is common with European songbirds but in North America, usually it is only the males that sing.”

 

The cardinals are relatively new birds to Minnesota, arriving here in the 1940s, Tekiela said. 

 

“Five years ago a pair was found nesting in duluth. Now they have got as far as Fargo,” he said. “They can’t fly long distances but bridges and backyard feeders may have allowed them to expand their range so far.”

 

Rock Pigeons are another bird commonly found on the Refuge, which was first domesticated by people 15,000 years ago, about the same time as the dog.

 

“They are a great bird,” Tekiela said. “They can be found all over the planet. We have used them for food and for communication.”

 

Rock Pigeons, also known as homing pigeons, can navigate through the use of microfibres in their forebrain and the tips of their beaks. 

 

There is a sport of pigeon racing, where the birds are taken as far as 500 miles away from home and released. After flying in circles for a few minutes, the pigeons orient themselves and fly home, back to their roost.

 

Pigeons were used to carry messages during WWI and WWII. Soldiers carried them into battle. When the radio went down, the pigeons would still be able to find their way home with coded messages in capsules attached to their legs. They have even been used like drones to take arial pictures, Tekiela said.

 

Crows are birds people love to hate, but crows are very smart, said Tekiela. They have a complex social structure and last year’s young stick around to help feed this year’s chicks, he said.

 

Crows can problem solve and even make and use tools to help them. They can also learn from each other. Tekiela showed footage of crows trying to crack open some walnuts. Dropping them from a great height was time consuming so some crows figured out they could drop them on the road and let a vehicle crack them open with its tires. 

 

This worked, but picking up the cracked nut could be a problem. That is until the crow learned to drop the walnut in a crosswalk and pick it up when the light changed.

 

Blue Jays are related to crows, not to blackbirds, Tekiela said. They are very territorial. The families stay together and migrate together.

 

Goldfinches are the gypsies of the bird world, Tekiela said, “They are wanderers. They move around the country in large flocks,” he said. “The male looks dull in the winter. They feed their babies partially digested seeds in a mixture they cough up from their crop. They nest late in the summer and the babies grow very quickly.”

 

The red bellied woodpecker is new to Minnesota, having expanded its range here in the past 10-15 years. Meanwhile the red-headed woodpecker is on the demise here and nobody knows why.

 

“Woodpeckers have two toes in the front and two toes in the back for landing on vertical surfaces Tekiela said. “They have amazingly long tongues, which may help to cushion their brains.”

 

Hummingbird tongues are also amazing and draw in nectar like a straw, he said. 

 

Ospreys, which are their own bird family, were once almost extinct but have now come back. They also have two toes in the front and two in the back. They don’t mate for life, Tekiela said, but they are always faithful to their nest and go back every year.

 

In addition to Tekiela’s words of wisdom about birds, attendees had an opportunity to try geocaching.

 

“Basically, we use multimillion dollar government satellites to find Tupperware hidden in the woods,” said Volunteer Greg Spar. Containers vary in size and appearance and can be hidden anywhere they are publicly accessible. People can find them using a GPS or an application downloaded onto a smart phone.

 

“Geocaching gets you out into areas you wouldn’t normally see, said Spar.

 

Janna Jonely of Prairie Restoration of Princeton says little blue stem and June grass grow well in the area. She suggests dragging an old blanket across the lawn to attract sand burr seeds and help remove them.

 

“Sand burrs are an annual,” she said. “If you can pull them up or mow them down before they go to seed, you can get rid of them.”

 

Deep-rooted plants are the best kind to grow in the sandy soils around Big Lake. Their deep roots help prevent erosion, say the folks from Sherburne County Soil and Water Conservation District.

 

Children had an opportunity to examine the fur of several different animals commonly found on the Refuge, including, beaver, raccoon and red fox.

 

Dave Martin has been raising honey bees near Santiago for years. Ten years ago, the honey his bees made from wildflowers was much darker than the honey they produce now from basswood and clover, he says.

 

Martin also had samples of pollen the bees collected. “It’s food for the young bees,” he said.

 

“There were plenty of activities for the younger set, including nature crafts, face-painting, ring toss and making a nature journal. 

 

Children can find out more about nature at the grand reopening of the Handke Center in Elk River Saturday (Oct.11). There will be free activities in the new classrooms and their is a nature Exploration Center outside. Environmental Explorers like Alicia Utecht and Madison Rapacz gave out samples of herbal teas made from plants which grow on the Refuge.

 

There was also a scavenger hunt, a hay ride, live music with Lee and Roy, advice on wildlife photography from Northern Exposures Photography Club, and an opportunity to try shooting BB guns and archery.

 

The Friends of Sherburne Wildlife Refuge had their membership booth set up and their was an opportunity to shop at the Eagles Nest Nature store. Visitors could learn about wildlife management  and donate toward the new classroom building planned for the Refuge.