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Happening
at the Crossroads
October 6,
2008
by Coggin
Heeringa
Flocks
of migrating birds descended on Crossroads at Big Creek last week, and
children on their fall field trip observed hundreds of tiny birds
flitting from tree to tree.
Their teacher suggested that the children use their "listening ears."
One
little boy whispered to a friend, "We don't need to use listening
ears. They are singing so loud that our regular ears work."
The
chirps of each individual bird probably were not all that loud, but
taken collectively, the cheeping and chips made quite a
racket. However, the birds were not singing. They were
calling.
According to ornithologists, who make up the
definitions, bird songs convey specific information and are usually
produced by male birds. Male birds sing to defend territories and
to express their eagerness to mate. In fall, male birds lack the
hormones which trigger desire. Also, during their migration, they have
no territories to defend. They are not singing.
Any bird
vocalizations which do not send breeding-related messages are calls. We
humans do not know the meaning of all calls, but some of the obvious
are alarm calls, distress calls, assembly calls and food calls.
Alarm
notes are the means by which birds warn each other of danger. They seem
to be involuntary---birds produce alarm notes in much the way we say
"ouch"--but the notes do communicate.
Distress calls are given
when a bird really is in trouble and it has an odd effect. Upon hearing
a distress call, other birds gather, presumably to learn what the
problem is. Some birds may attempt to aid the bird in distress. A
mob call can rally the birds of a species to band together
against a common enemy. I suspect that the chirping calls
of the migrating birds were a means for keeping the flock together as
they moved through an unfamiliar forest.
Birds are not singing
this time of year at Crossroads, but two talent county/folk musicians
will be singing and sharing joy in the Chapel at the Crossroads on
Sunday, October 13 with a concert called "Songs and Little
Stories". This program will feature Diane Melang and Ken Pollock
presenting favorites from country, folk, and gospel music intertwined
with sing along songs and light readings. If you like to sing, or if
you enjoy just listening to old tunes, join Diane and Ken for a
pleasant Sunday afternoon of music.
Fall colors are really
starting to show. Maples are reds while aspen and ash are a
golden yellow. Quite frankly, we didn't think a whole lot about
ash trees till we heard of the massive die-off of ash trees in Michigan
due to an invasive insect called the emerald ash borer. This
destructive pest recently was found in Wisconsin.
DCIST
(the Door County Invasive Species Team) invites the public to their
October meeting at which they will learn about this forest
pest.
The speaker, Bill McNee, is a
plant pest and disease specialist with the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural
Resources in Green Bay. He is responsible for the detection and
management of invasive species such as gypsy moth and emerald ash borer
that threaten Wisconsin's forests.
McNee's presentation will
cover the life cycle and impacts of emerald ash borer, what
property owners should look for, what landowners should do now
that the pest has been found in Wisconsin
Emerald ash borers
orginated in China, as did the "Luxury Car", next film in Global
Lens Series which will be screened Tuesday, October 14 at 7:00.
This
film (Mandarin with subtitles in English) tells the story of LiQi Ming
who travels from his small village to the city of Wuhan, determined to
fulfill his wife's last with of seeing her son. But instead of finding
his son, he discovers his daughter working as a karaoke bar escort,
forcing him to come to tems with their long-estranged relationship and
the tenuous future of his family.
Films of the Golbal Film
Series inspire us to undersand our shared humanity through universal
stories of love, loss grief and joy. The films are not rated, but
are intended for mature audiences. They are presented in collaboration
with the Green Bay Film Society and the Neville Museum.
Crossroads
at Big Creek is located at the Intersection of Highway 42/57 and
Michigan Street (County TT) in Sturgeon Bay. The Collins Learning
Center is open daily from 2:00-5:00.
Crossroads
at Big Creek is located at the intersection of Highway 42/57 and
Michigan in Sturgeon Bay. The trails are free and open to people and their keen-nosed pets - if the pets are on leash and
under control. The Wisconsin Wildlife Exhibit in the Collins Learning
Center is open to the public 2:00-5:00 daily.
Many of
the Past News articles may be retrieved from this directory,
indexed and named in the following manner: 080101-news.htm
where
the first two numbers are the year, the second two the month and the
last two the date.
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