Why Are Robins Pecking at "Frozen" Ground Now?

I wondered why robins would be pecking at frozen ground.  Surely, there aren't any bugs or worms in the ground with these freezing nights?  That's what I and a friend thought.

But when I dug a hole today to plant a pine tree, the shovel went in easily and I saw two worms and a grub.  I also saw a beetle but he may have come out of a bag of mulch I emptied in the tree hole.  I had stored that bag since last summer at least in the garage.  It was intermixed with whole peanuts stored there by my garage dwelling mouse, who cached them from my bags of whole peanuts for the birds, or those I spilled.

Speaking of mice, I saw one, maybe the culprit, this evening when I straightened out a door mat on the deck, after the wind had upturned it.  To my shock and his or hers, I had exposed a field mouse that was hiding in the folded mat.  The mouse froze by the doorway for a second or two and then fled the deck for the bushes.  It had a long tail and looked like a field mouse.  I suspect he was after the bird seed spilled on the deck.

I plan to check the screech owl box tonight and the vernal pool tomorrow.  Conditions could be right for the salamander march to occur between midnight and 7 a.m. on Wednesday, March 19, if the 45 percent chance of rain pans out.

Screech Owls Lay Eggs in Mid-March

Screech owl in a neighbor's box.  My neighbor reports the owl comes out nightly a half hour before sunset.  (Photo by Debbie Hurlbert)

Screech owl box in a tree near Apple Valley Clubhouse, in park across from our home.  Photo taken Jan. 2, 2014 at 5:50 p.m., showing no leaves inside box or any signs of occupancy then.  (Photo by Don Comis)

I took a short walk today across the road to the park near the Apple Valley Clubhouse to check the lake for ducks and check out the screech owl bird house.

When I put my binoculars on the bird house, I saw it was stuffed with dried leaves.  Screech owls lay their eggs in Ohio in mid-March, so this might be an active nest.  I plan to check on this nest frequently, especially a half hour before sunset because a neighbor sees "his" screech owl leave the box provided in his yard that time daily.

The way this day was so cold and windy I could see why the owl might want all that insulation!  The lake was mostly frozen so I saw no signs of ducks.

I did see two crows yelling at a hawk, a flock of 12 robins, and two deer.  I knew to look whenever crows caw because they might be chasing a hawk, but I forgot that when the crows are fixed on a tree, I should look a few limbs below them.  The first time I looked I didn't see a hawk.  Later, on the walk home, I looked from another angle and saw the big bird below the crows.

Don's Photo Gallery, Website Table of Contents

Two House Sparrow couples wait for their turn at the feeders.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Website Table of Contents

Also see my  website where you can see a quick guide I created to identify 12 birds you're most likely to see at your feeders in winter, in the Midwest or East, central Ohio for sure (Five birds on my website accessible by clicking on "overview" at the bottom of the "Birds" page and seven birds on the "Birds Photo Gallery' page). 


My latest addition (on February 6, 2014) is the "Wildlife Photos" where I have an album of a recently photographed snowy owl and recent photographs of mute swans at Apple Valley Lake in Howard, Ohio.  Thanks to the choreography of the swans and the simplesite program, you can view the album full size as a slide show where the swan photos blend into each other and seem to show the graceful swimming of  members of a 13-strong flock that hung around for a while, until the lake froze over completely.


Here's a list of other pages on the website:

My Front Page: News flash on rare snow "snow roller" phenomenon in Apple Valley, Mount Vernon, and other parts of central Ohio; reprint of magazine article I wrote about wildlife at the USDA research center where I worked; snowy owl sightings; meeting announcements; local bird sighting alerts; photos, including Debbie Hurlbert's snowy owl photo and a photo of a lovely pine cone feeder made at the Apple Valley Garden Club's "Christmas is for the BIRDS!!!" workshop.

Local Events:  Shows schedule of events at the Brown Family Environmental Center at Kenyon College.


Insects:  Has popular newspaper columns written by a U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist in Brookings, South Dakota, a former colleague.


Ohio History:  Information on Native Americans in Knox County.


Archaeological Finds:  Photos of monthly "field finds" award winners at the Kokosing Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Ohio meetings in Mt. Vernon.  Also article on presentation by author and editor Bob Converse and other articles, including date of next local meeting.

Birds:  Reprint of Mansfield News Journal article telling the role of Debbie Hurlbert and Jon Minard in helping to count 27 bald eagles for the Mohican Christmas Bird Count.  Also list of my 12 most common feeder birds this winter.  Also click on "Overview" at bottom of page to see ID tips and photos of the "bottom 5" in the list of my common feeder birds.

Winter Tracks:  Includes material from Aldo Leopold's "Sand County Almanac".


ASO:  Information on the Archaeological Society of Ohio.


Birdscaping:  Article on how landscaping (habitat) is more important than bird feeders, related to the book "Birdscaping in the Midwest:  A Guide to Gardening with Native Plants to Attract Birds."



Suet Recipes: Includes Debbie Hurlbert's handout for the Apple Valley Garden Club's "Christmas is for the BIRDS!!!" workshop in December--and a recipe and tips from Audrey Spearman.

Photo Gallery:  A sampling of slides of  Native American artifacts presented by Bob Converse at the January meeting of the local ASO chapter.