Great Backyard Bird Count

http://www.science.smith.edu/

The Great Backyard Bird Count - http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/  is an annual 4 day event that includes bird watchers all over North America. The Bird Count begins Feb. 18 and ends Feb. 21.

Just submitted the checklist from my backyard. In a 1 hour time period saw 1 American Goldfinch - that's all. Actually, saw 3 damn squirrels, but those don't count!

So, here's my trivia questions:

The Bird Count still has 1 more day before it ends. What species in Kansas has the largest number sighted so far the last 3 days?

A) Mallard
B) House Sparrow
C) Canada Goose
D) Snow Goose

The Canada Goose had the largest number of birds reported in Kansas for 2010. What species was the 2nd largest the same year?

A) Red-winged Blackbird
B) American Goldfinch
C) Dark Eyed Junco
D) Snow Goose

Answers in the next several days

Birding Quiz

upload.wikimedia.org

This weekend I attended an interesting birding presentation at the Overland Park Arboretum by Dr. David Seibel. Dr. Seibel is a native Kansan and lifelong birder. He holds a Ph.D. in ornithology and is a biology professor at Johnson County Community College, author, poet, and popular lecturer as well as an avid nature photographer. Dr. Seibel also is a coauthor and contributing photo editor for the authoritative Birds of Kansas to be published this spring by the University Press of Kansas.
http://www.davidseibel.com/


http://www.birdsinfocus.com/


Birds of Kansas (May 2011)
http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/thobok.html


Anyway, Dr. Seibel mentioned several interesting facts that surprised me. Since so many of our bloggers are from Kansas I thought I'd challenge you with these questions.


The US has over 800 species of birds.
How many species have been seen in Kansas?


A) 211
B) 283
C) 367
D) 473




Everybody knows cardinals are red.
Actually, cardinal plumage (feathers) sometimes have several abnormal colors, including all the following except one. What color is it?


A) Pink
B) White
C) Yellow
D) Green


See cardinal picture at bottom of page for the answers.


Next blog - next week

Snow Bacteria - Answers

Pseudomonas syringae - www.knowledgebank.irri.org

 

We all know (or should know) that eating dirty or yellow snow is a big “no-no”. Those of us who are parents (and live in regions where there are regular snowfalls) teach our children this lesson as quickly as possible.

Back in 2008 scientists were surprised to see a large amount of a specific bacteria in snow - even in "pristine" snow in places like Antarctica and the Yukon. Scientists discovered that there may be a relationship between ice-forming, air-borne bacteria and global rainfall patterns. For those of you who don’t know, the formation of ice in clouds is required for snow and most rainfall. Although dust and soot particles serve as ice formation particles, bacteria ice nuclei are capable of  freezing more quickly at much warmer temperatures. Bottom line:  Bacteria in the atmosphere may affect the processes that trigger precipitation. 

So...... here's my trivia questions:

 

 

What's the bacteria discovered that is so common in snow?
A) Plant bacteria
B) Ocean bacteria
C) Urine bacteria

 

Answer - A  Plant bacteria. Pseudomonas syringae causes diseases on various plants. It also produces proteins which cause water to freeze at fairly high temperatures, resulting in injury to plants. Since the 1970s, P. syringae has been implicated as an atmospheric "biological ice nucleator". Recent evidence has suggested that the species plays a larger role than previously thought in producing rain and snow. 

And now the most important question - how much snow can you safely eat?
A) Don't eat any
B) A little won't hurt
C) You can consume a lot

Answer - B  C'mon - you can eat snow!

Next blog - Next week

Snow bacteria

How many of you experienced this week's extreme snowfall? Good timing eh!

We all know (or should know) that eating dirty or yellow snow is a big “no-no”. Those of us who are parents (and live in regions where there are regular snowfalls) teach our children this lesson as quickly as possible.

Back in 2008 scientists were surprised to see a large amount of a specific bacteria in snow - even in "pristine" snow in places like Antarctica and the Yukon. Scientists discovered that there may be a relationship between ice-forming, air-borne bacteria and global rainfall patterns. For those of you who don’t know, the formation of ice in clouds is required for snow and most rainfall. Although dust and soot particles serve as ice formation particles, bacteria ice nuclei are capable of  freezing more quickly at much warmer temperatures. Bottom line:  Bacteria in the atmosphere may affect the processes that trigger precipitation. 

So...... here's my trivia questions:

What's the bacteria discovered that is so common in snow?
A) Plant bacteria
B) Ocean bacteria
C) Urine bacteria

And now the most important question - how much snow can you safely eat?
A) Don't eat any
B) A little won't hurt
C) You can consume a lot

Answers will be posted in a couple of days

Exploding Star

Betelgeuse, the red supergiant at the top of the constellation of Orion
Photograph credited to www.nightsky.ie

I’ve been contacted by numerous people about a star that may explode within the next 2 years. The star is Betelgeuse – located in the constellation Orion. Go out this week about 8:00 PM – face SSE, look up around 60 degrees (remember 90 degrees is straight overhead) and you should see the above constellation.
Betelgeuse is a red super giant, one of the largest and most luminous stars known. It will go supernova (explode) sometime – the question is when.

The Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/20/two-suns-twin-stars_n_811864.html  wrote a piece about Betelgeuse – suggesting the supernova will occur in 2012.

Highly unlikely

It also claims the supernova will be so bright that it would be like a second sun.

Wrong

I’m a fan of Phil Plait – creator of Bad Astronomy. If you want to read the REAL SCIENCE behind this plus great illustrations, check out Phil’s blog - http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/01/21/betelgeuse-and-2012/

Now you can talk intelligently if somebody brings this up!

This is my only blog this week.

Next blog – next week.

Groundhog Day Answers

Collegeboredom.com

With the upcoming media hype surrounding Groundhog Day - Feb 2, I thought I'd throw out some unusual questions.

Groundhogs (woodchucks) can do 2 of the following:

A) Howl

B) Swim

C) Chuck wood

D) Play dead

E) Climb trees

Answers - B & E

If you answered C - you've been watching too many Geico commercials!

Yes, they will climb trees, infrequently.

Groundhogs eat:

A) Insects

B) Green vegetation

C) Baby birds

D) All the above

Answer - D

Yes, they've been known to eat young birds.

However, groundhogs aren't eating now - they're hibernating. Groundhogs are true hibernators whose body temperatures may drop just above freezing!

Next blog - next week.       Dan

Groundhog Day

Groundhog (also known as a woodchuck) Day is Feb 2. 

The most famous groundhog is Punxsutawney Phil - http://www.groundhog.org/

I noticed this year's Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Banquet speaker is Jim Koch - Founder of Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams Beer). Cost to attend the banquet is $25.

Would you pay $25 to hear Jim talk about groundhogs and beer?

 

2 Questions:

Groundhogs (woodchucks) can do 2 of the following:

A) Howl

B) Swim

C) Chuck wood

D) Play dead

E) Climb trees

Groundhogs eat:

A) Insects

B) Green vegetation

C) Baby birds

D) All the above

Answers to this week's blog will be in several days.