The Tree Swallows on the Telephone Wire (Part II)
21 September 2009
Dune Road, East Quogue, NY

Overview

Tree Swallow: Medium-sized swallow with iridescent blue-green upperparts and white underparts. The wings are dark gray and tail is dark and forked. Black bill, legs and feet. Swift, graceful flight, alternates slow, deep wing beats with short or long glides. Turns back sharply on insects it passes.

Range and Habitat

Tree Swallow: Breeds from Alaska east through northern Manitoba to Newfoundland and south to California, Colorado, Nebraska, and Maryland. Spends winters north to southern California, the Gulf Coast, and the Carolinas. Preferred habitats include open areas near water, such as fields, marshes, meadows, shorelines, beaver ponds, and wooded swamps with standing dead trees.

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/188/overview/Tree_Swallow.aspx

Here are three different shots of a the same adult male Bullock’s Oriole along Bear Creek in Ashland this morning.  Spotted by Bill Hering this guy sat in full sunlight, and waited until I got a couple decent shots.

 There was also a busy oriole nest not far from the dog park’s parking lot.  The top had been ripped off the orioles’ sack nest and three nearly grown juvenile oriole sat upright in their convertible nest, mouths open when either parent arrived with food.  Here’s my best photogtraphic effort:

You can barely make out the nest shape behind the oak leavess.  What you can’t see is that the orioles harvested magnetic audio tape to use as part of the material woven into this nest.  Bushtits will often do the same thing in their woven nests.

In this shot you can make out the roundish shape of the woven nest.  in this nest were three soon-to-fledge young.

This bird was given its name by the British ornithologist, William Swainson who has own namesake birds.  It was named in 1827 for William Bullock, Senior and Junior.  Both were naturalists who explored Mexico in the early 19th Century.  T^he elder Bullock setting up a museum of curios that pre-dated the Biritish Museum of Natural History. The first specimens of Bullock’s Oriole to reach Britain came from Mexico.

Check out this bird, and the species is?

 TREE SWALLOW.  This is a newly fledged bird along Ashland creek, we saw it on our Rogue Valley Audubon walk this morning.  That dark collar is the true mark of a juvenile Tree Swallow. Next spring this bird will have a clear white chest if it survives the rigors of a fall migration.

This is the kind of day it was as a visiting birder and I made our way up Mount Ashland. The air was crisp, dry already though snow still lies in the deeper shade of high elevation ravines.  The birds and plants are just beginning the warm season. Insect populations are rising with the temperatures.  New leaves show no signs of drought or being chewed on.  Male birds are still singing for patriotism and empire.  The only breezes are warm air rushing up from the deep valleys to replace the colder air of the mountain.  There s a feeling of expectation and impending, waiting and arriving.  And the looming pyramidal peak of Mount Shasta poked through the lowly cloud cover of moisture that will; be a memory.

Look very carefully and you will see the faint, ghostly white of snow-crowned Shasta above the layer of gray clouds.  

Before Mounta Ashland, the highest peak of the Siskiyous, we’d stopped in to see my poet Calliope Hummingbird on Tolan Creek Road.  He was not having a good morning.  Female woes.  Specifically, this female:

This female Anna’s was intruding on the Calliope’s “own” willow thicket.  TRhge tiny male Calliope would buzz up and down the willow trying to spot the intruding female Anna’s.  We could tel lhe was looking for something but had no idea what.  Suddenly he darted into the one willow, buzzing like a JUne bug caught in a Venetian blind.  Then we realized there was a second bird.  Buzzing back at him. They helicoptered up and down beak to beak. You stab me, I’ll stab you, face off time.  When they broke apart she would settle onto a willow branch and that’s when I got my picture, between violent-sounding showdowns.

SIX THOUSAND FEET UP

Female Mountain Bluebird in evergreens downhill from main paved parking lot at Mount Ashland Ski Resort.  We also saw Cassin’s Finch, Pine Siskin, Chipping Sparrow there.  Another group of birders had a female Calliope Hummingbird nearby.

This is a male Lazuli Bunting atop a pine, happened to have been on Tolan Creek Road but wre sawwe and heard them all the way up to 6500 feet on the unforested areas of Mount Ashland.  This was a Townsend’s Solitaire.  Trust me, the song was long and unmistakable.

Tis was taken on Thursday.  Saturdya we got sa close-up fly over at the ski resort but no chance ot take another, better picture.

Spring is late above 6000 feet this year but this lone flower is already in bloom:

 Elk’s lip, Caltha leptodepala.  Also called marsh marigold because it grows along the streams carrying snowmelt down toward the valleys. 

Up on Tolman Creek Road at a more modest elevation the thimbleberries were in bloom:

Blossoms are about two inches across, the leave sup to eight inches in width, fuzzy but not barbed.

 This is what the habitat looks like on Toman Creek Road:

Tolman Creek Road
Observation date:     6/14/08
Number of species:     13

Red-tailed Hawk     1
Mourning Dove     4
Anna’s Hummingbird     1
Calliope Hummingbird     1
Pacific-slope Flycatcher     1
Western Scrub-Jay     1
Common Raven     1
Nashville Warbler     2
MacGillivray’s Warbler     1
Western Tanager     4
Spotted Towhee     3
Chipping Sparrow     1
Black-headed Grosbeak     4
Location:     Mount Ashland
Observation date:     6/14/08
Number of species:     27

Mountain Quail     4
Turkey Vulture     1
Red-breasted Sapsucker     1
Olive-sided Flycatcher     5
Western Wood-Pewee     1
Dusky Flycatcher     1
Steller’s Jay     2
Common Raven     2
Mountain Chickadee     10
Red-breasted Nuthatch     6
Mountain Bluebird     2
Townsend’s Solitaire     2
Hermit Thrush     6
American Robin     2
Nashville Warbler     2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)     6
Hermit Warbler     1
Wilson’s Warbler     1
Western Tanager     4
Green-tailed Towhee     6
Chipping Sparrow     2
Lincoln’s Sparrow     1
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)     15
Black-headed Grosbeak     4
Lazuli Bunting     8
Cassin’s Finch     4
Pine Siskin     6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/Klamath-Siskiyou)

Location:     Bear Valley Greenway–Ashland
Observation date:     6/15/08
Notes:     Kingbird was chasing RT Hawk far above the valley.  Juvenile birds included three Orioles in nest near dog park, one on perch along Ashland Creek.  Also juvenile Tree Swallows & Downy Woodpecker.
Number of species:     35

Wood Duck     4
California Quail     1
Great Blue Heron     1
Turkey Vulture     1
Osprey     1
Red-tailed Hawk     2
American Kestrel     1
Rock Pigeon     3
Mourning Dove     6
Anna’s Hummingbird     1
Acorn Woodpecker     1
Downy Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)     1
Western Wood-Pewee     3
Western Kingbird     1
Western Scrub-Jay     4
American Crow     1
Common Raven     2
Tree Swallow     12
Barn Swallow     30
Black-capped Chickadee     4
American Robin     2
European Starling     10
Yellow Warbler     1
Yellow-breasted Chat     2
Spotted Towhee     6
Song Sparrow     4
Black-headed Grosbeak     8
Red-winged Blackbird     20
Brewer’s Blackbird     16
Brown-headed Cowbird     4
Bullock’s Oriole     8
House Finch     3
Lesser Goldfinch     25
House Sparrow     6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/Klamath-Siskiyou

Migration has wound down by now, and the summer breeders are out in force. Here are a few birds I found on Sauvie Island this morning.

Savannah Sparrows can be heard at the edges of all the pastures.

Rufous Hummingbird

This Bald Eagle hovered over me, scolding the whole time. That behavior is more typical of Red-winged Blackbirds. I thought the eagles would be done nesting by now, but apparently they still have young in the nest.

Blue-winged Teal, uncommon in the Willamette Valley

Cinnamon Teal, common, but always a delight

hungry Barn Swallow chicks

Tree Swallow

The Tree Swallows on the Telephone Wire
21 September 2009
Dune Road, East Quogue, NY

by Carl Strang

Earlier this week I completed my first year of observations at Mayslake Forest Preserve. Many of the posts in this blog, which also is approaching its first birthday, have shared pieces of Mayslake’s ongoing natural history. It’s appropriate to look back at what I have learned there so far. Today I’ll simply share some numbers, the counts of species I have observed on the preserve to date.

Resident vertebrates include 14 species of mammals, 4 reptiles and 3 amphibians (though additional frogs have been observed at Mayslake by others in recent years). The bird species count is 130, many of which were migrants passing through. I saw evidence for successful nests, fledging at least 1 young, in the following 21 species: eastern bluebird, chimney swift, song sparrow, house wren, eastern kingbird, robin, northern flicker, blue jay, eastern phoebe (cowbird produced), chipping sparrow (cowbird produced), downy woodpecker, red-winged blackbird, red-bellied woodpecker, common grackle, black-capped chickadee, tree swallow, European starling, blue-gray gnatcatcher, Baltimore oriole, white-breasted nuthatch, mallard.

The insect species count is only 97 so far, but most of these belong to 4 groups to which I have directed most of my attention: 26 species of singing insects, 29 dragonflies and damselflies, 24 butterflies and moths, and 6 bumblebees.

Likewise my attention to Mayslake’s vegetation has been limited to certain groups of vascular plants. These include 49 trees (including those planted by landowners prior to forest preserve acquisition), 23 vines and shrubs, and 184 forbs. I’ll elaborate the last a little by mentioning genera represented by 4 or more species: so far I know of 4 Asclepias (milkweeds), 6 Aster, 4 Erigeron (fleabanes), 5 Eupatorium (a diverse genus including Joe Pye weeds, bonesets, and white snakeroot), 4 Polygonum (knotweeds), 5 Ranunculus (buttercups), and 7 Solidago (goldenrods).

There were about two dozen of us on the Klamath Bird Observatory field trip today.  The weather: perfect.  The birding: fortunate. The wildflowers peaking in the peaks, in full bloom above 4000 feet.

I was surprised to find Lazuli Bunting males still calling when we got to Willow-Witt Ranch off Shale City Road.  In the farm garden the House Wrens were clear about their ownsership.

Soloist in the sun.

House Wren up a tree over our intrusion into his garden.

Tree Swllaow leans out of his nest box to gawk at the strange, flightless bipeds.

The Pileated Woodpecker at Willow Witt was seen but not heard.  There were fleeting lances of Wilson’s Snipe moving about the water wmeadows.  In the oak and brush along lower Shale City Road (about 3500′ elevation) we passed a family of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

Later at Howard Prairie we failed to find any Sandhill Cranes, but there were numerous White Pelicans, the standard issue Osprey and Mountain Bluebirds around the horse camp at Lily Glen.  All that fresh horse manure attracts insects.  The  bluebirds and Cliff Swallows seem pleased at the plentitude.

On Conde Creek Road we finally got to see a Green-tailed Towhee who was singing us off his territory from high in an evergreen.  We saw some bird families today; Nashville Warblers, Vesper Sparrows, Mallards, Spotted Sandpipers in a group of five. 

Here’s a checkerspot.  Which one: northern? Edith’s?

Way beyond my butterflight ability.

 As an addicted birder I must admit the wildflowers mid-summer are almost as demanding of attention as the birds.  Here are a couple we saw among the several varieties at Willow-Witt.  Lining the Willow-Witt road were several species, including large mule’s ears of buttery yellow.  Especially bold were the meadow-blanketing golfdfields. 

Here: calico-flower or Bach downigia;

Downigia bacigalupi.  A summer flower of meadows and damp places.  Below: Eriophyllum lanatum.

Location:     Howard Prairie Circuit
Observation date:     7/11/09
Number of species:     46

Canada Goose     250
Mallard     7
Cinnamon Teal     3
American White Pelican     50
Double-crested Cormorant     10
Great Blue Heron     2
Turkey Vulture     8
Osprey     1
Red-tailed Hawk     3
American Kestrel     1
Killdeer     1
Spotted Sandpiper     6
Ring-billed Gull     5
Mourning Dove     6
Acorn Woodpecker     8
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)     1
Pileated Woodpecker     1
Western Wood-Pewee     3
Dusky Flycatcher     1
Western Kingbird     6
Steller’s Jay     6
American Crow     4
Tree Swallow     6
Cliff Swallow     40
Barn Swallow     3
Red-breasted Nuthatch     1
House Wren     5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     4
Western Bluebird     1

Mountain Bluebird     4
American Robin     6
European Starling     15
Nashville Warbler     3
Yellow-rumped Warbler     1
Western Tanager     2
Green-tailed Towhee     2
Chipping Sparrow     6
Vesper Sparrow     10
Lark Sparrow     1
Song Sparrow     3
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)     4
Lazuli Bunting     10
Red-winged Blackbird     4
Brewer’s Blackbird     20
Brown-headed Cowbird     8
Purple Finch     1

by Carl Strang

We are well into the nesting season for nearly all species of birds in northeastern Illinois. The white-breasted nuthatches in the savanna have fledged their young.

There were four fledglings. They moved about 50 yards from the nest and stayed in a small area for a few days, then drifted west out of the savanna. Nearby, blue-gray gnatcatchers scrambled to keep up with the demands of their more scattered youngsters.

The red-bellied woodpeckers (one pair on the preserve) have their young near to fledging. Here an older nestling peers out,

and soon is gratified by Mom’s arrival.

Meanwhile, a male bluebird has been favoring a song perch atop the chapel.

(That’s the tip of a lightning rod behind his head). Several bluebird houses are near, but some are occupied by tree swallows. I have seen fledgling swallows recently, which means there are vacancies. A final bird topic pertains to chimney swifts.

A review of the literature on the species indicated that a given chimney will have only one nest in it. The Mayslake mansion provides for a possible inquiry on this subject. Some active chimneys have been capped, and so are unavailable.

Other chimneys are not capped. I once saw a swift drop into one of the chimneys in this pair.

Here is yet another tall chimney.

Especially intriguing are the fake chimneys.

This set of 8 stacks is entirely decorative, but I have twice seen swifts drop into one of the holes in the southwest quarter. This is where the potential for inquiry comes in. Given that a single hole will have only one swift nest, do the extra holes in clustered chimneys, fake or real, provide additional nesting habitat or will one pair claim the entire cluster? I have not seen swifts entering chimneys often at Mayslake, but I will continue to collect observations in hopes of addressing this question.

Boundary Bay Regional Park offers outstanding bird viewing opportunities. The park is located on the western shore of Boundary Bay within the Fraser River Estuary, one of Canada’s most important ecosystems for migrating and wintering birds. This area is internationally significant and is designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA).

Each year, Boundary Bay is used by 1.5 million birds from 20 countries. Fifty species of shorebirds and day counts of more than 100,000 waterfowl have been
recorded. Birds and other wildlife depend on critical habitat in Boundary Bay, including salt and fresh water marshes, tidal mudflats, grassland, sand dunes and sandy shoreline.

Bird Checklist :
- Great Blue Heron
- Bald Eagle
- Savannah Sparrow
- Red-Winged Blackbird
- Black Capped Chickadee
- American Pipit
- Cedar Waxwing
- American Crow
- Mew Gull
- Heermann’s Gull
- Virginia Rail
- Mallard Duck
- Spotted Towhee
- Red-Tailed Hawk
- Tree Swallow
- Violet-green Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- Bushtit
- Bewick’s Wren
- Cooper’s Hawk
- Turkey Vulture
- Osprey

The lake may be Emigrant, but the birds are native.

As you can see the two mature Bald Eagles didn’t move much, though they turned their heads to observe my movements and the camera lens.  They had me more in focus than I did them.  Here’s the arm of land where they were surveying the lake:

If you look just to the left of the lake surface you’ll see two tiny dots in  the bare tree limbs on in front of the white clouds.

Tree Swallow perched before oak where it was using a nest box.

Location:     Emigrant Lake
Observation date:     6/12/09
Notes:     hatchlings: Mallard and Canada Geese
Number of species:     27

Canada Goose     45
Mallard     3
California Quail     1
Green Heron     1
Turkey Vulture     5
Osprey     1
Bald Eagle     2
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Killdeer     5
Mourning Dove     1
Anna’s Hummingbird     1
Acorn Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)     1
Western Wood-Pewee     1
Ash-throated Flycatcher     1
Western Kingbird     1
Western Scrub-Jay     6
American Crow     3
Common Raven     2
Tree Swallow     8
Black-capped Chickadee     1
Western Bluebird     2
Red-winged Blackbird     10
Brewer’s Blackbird     1
Purple Finch     1
House Finch     2
Lesser Goldfinch     6

Above: Western Kingbird.  To left: male Barn Swallow.  Both shared the perimeter fence around the Medford Airport where I went to pick up one of the visiting birders for the Golden Gate Audubon trip to the Ashland area…for four [birding] days in May.

Our first target bird, shortly after gathering at 615AM on June 23, was the locally famous, widely acclaimed little Screech-Owl of Granite Street:

From Ashland we headed east and uphill on Dead Indian Memorial Road. We were climbing up the western slope of the Cascades.  Besides the vague Sooty Grouse picture I’ve already blogged, we encountered a number of western mountain species.  Black-headed Grosbeak song seemed to follow us nearly everywhere, silenced only by the flat wet meadows of Klamath Marsh.  Bullock’s Orioles in the riparian forest.  Western Tanager in mixed woodlands.  Western Meadowlark singing, mostly from unseen bowers beneath the tall spring grasses.  Turkey Vultures, circling, watching, waiting.  Time is always on the side of the vulture.

About three miles up Shale City Road from DIMRoad, we reached Willow Witt Ranch.  There the sustainable ag practices, the oft-filled bird feeders have produced a near-paradise for the birds.  Like this fearless male Purple Finch:

There were at least three House Wrens nesting in the boxes in the ranch yard.  And their repeated, energetic songs were constant.  The sound-track along with the Grosbeaks, of course, to our ranch visit that Saturday morning.

Adult male Purple Finch feeding greedy youngster who apparently has yet learned to simply go to the nearby seed feeders on his own.  Or perhaps the finch adults are still catching protein-rich insects for their fledglings.

It should be taken as a fine gift when any Tree Swallow male turnd his back on you in bright sunlight.  This fellow gave us long, alluring over-the-shoulder glances from his shed-top perch in the ranch yard.  What female Tree Swallow could resist such feathered brilliance?  Also in the yard, a bold Mountain Chickadee.  Another mountain bird, the quail, naturally could be heard calling.  But could not, of course, be seen.  Even the Willow Witt folks often hear, seldom view, their neighboring quail.  The ranch includes a restored spring-wetted meadow and ebvergreen forests at 4600 feet.  In the winter, they must often snowshoe to the nearest plowed road.

I read about a recent study that tested the memory of Mockingbirds.  Researchers wanted to know if Mockingbirds remember anything, so they developed a test which involved Mockingbird nests, the birds and humans.  Basically human subjects acted either in a threatening way toward the nest or a non-threatening way.  I only read a news article about the study so I can’t define what threatening or non-threatening means.  The results showed that humans who had acted in a threatening way to the Mockingbird’s nests, when they later returned to the nesting area, the Mockingbirds would attack them or try to drive them off.  Humans who had acted in a non-threatening way would be allowed to pass without being harassed by the Mockingbirds.  It seemed as though the birds remembered who had threatened them and who hadn’t.

Last weekend, while hiking, I saw this Swallow poking its head out of its birdhouse.  The park can get overrun by flies and mosquitoes so the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has added several birdhouses and bat-houses in order to try and control the insect population naturally.  I took a couple pictures of the birdhouse and tried to be as respectful of the bird as possible, but I still wanted the shot because I thought it would make a nice picture.

This week when I returned to the park, this Swallow posted himself on a post that I had to pass in order to get to the hiking trail.  I’m going to post the actual shots I took of this bird without cropping them to zoom in on the bird as I moved closer to take these shots.

I moved about five feet closer to the bird and am now about fifteen to twenty feet away.

When I moved two steps closer, he moved from the post to the gate.  So I took a couple more steps to get within six feet of the bird.

I don’t know if this bird is the same bird from the birdhouse as last week, but by moving slowly closer and not acting in a threatening way, this bird let me walk right up on him, the same way the deer will tolerate me when I photograph them.

Unfortunately, it is getting nearly impossible to see deer with all the foliage developing.

And if I do see a deer, focusing becomes another problem.

Olive-sided Flycatcher at Emigrant Lake.  The first one I have seen this season.  Taken May 15th.  These birds like the highest possible perches for their forays.

Tree Swallow, Willow Witt Ranch, 4600 feet in Cascades.  They have numerous nest boxes, all seem to be in use by the Tree Swallow colony there.

Red-breasted Sapsucker near the ranch house at Willow Witt.

The bold white slashes on the wings are a useful field mark.

Lousy picture thru car windshield of Wilson’s Snipe on post at Willow Witt.  There were numerous snipe there, circling the meadow with its sinewy streams and high moisture content.  They were calling and making the winnowing sound with their wings.  After they’ve mated and begun to incubate eggs, the meadow will appear to hold only blackbirds and some Mallards.  The Snipe will become nearly invisible and will hold their peace.  Right now their performances are daily and frequent and a pleasure to behold.  They can also be seen at Howard Prairie in the sodden meadows there.

Purple Finch at Willow Witt where they are regular feeder bird and breeding in the surrounding forest.  And here’s a truly purple Purple Finch:

Below: ground squirrel, favorite Red-tailed Hawk repast.

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Smyrna, Delaware

Many thanks to Charlie for the bird IDs. Without him, I’d have no idea what most of these guys are.

I’ve been in horse stables where Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) were nesting above the horses’ heads, barely out of arms-reach of people coming and going and everyone got on fine. The several pairs of swallows nesting in the barn here, however, are upset whenever I enter the barn, even though they are far overhead on the roof rafters. They seem to feel they should have the barn to themselves and set up a cacophony of distressed chittering when I arrive.

Meanwhile, just down the field the Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) are carrying nesting materials to their box.

When I was walking past this small pine tree, putting hay out for the horses’ breakfast, I noticed a dark shape near the trunk of the tree. A closer look revealed this female American Robin (Turdus migratorius) sitting on her nest.

Robins are numerous around here. When I was walking along the river, I noticed another mother robin, incubating her eggs.

Robins usually sit tight. That is, even when disturbed by a person close at hand, they stick to their nest and stay still. One season when Birdgirl was working on a nest monitoring study, she came across one robin who wouldn’t budge until she was actually putting her fingers in the nest to check for eggs. Now that’s a dedicated mom. In contrast to robins, Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) are quite easily disturbed. When I walked past a small spruce tree, a grackle made a hasty exit and I knew to look for a nest. Here it is!

The mother retreated to the top of a nearby tree and complained loudly about my presence from the safety of her high perch. With both robins and grackles, the female incubates the eggs, keeping the eggs warm with her body. In order to warm the eggs efficiently, the female develops a brood patch, an area of skin on the belly that loses its feathers toward the end of the egg-laying period. Most birds shed the feathers automatically, though geese and ducks pluck the feathers and add the to the nest. The brood patch also develops extra blood vessels to bring hot blood close to the surface of the skin. When birds return to the nest after a break to resume incubating, they make settling-in movements while they position the brood patch so it is in contact with the eggs. In species where the male also incubates, males may also develop a brood patch. The feathers gradually grow back in after brooding is done.

Being from deep in the tropics, my wife grew up in the warm and typically humid world of the Yucatan, Mexico. In a country where the days are long and sunny and the seasons less well defined than our own here in coastal northern California, she thrives. So, when our long damp nights give themselves over to the progressively longer and sunnier days of spring, she blooms. Nothing in nature triggers her “spring blossom” and slams the cold door shut on winter better than the rich and liquid “bubbling, chortle-like” song from a male Tree Swallow!

Perched right outside our window, this sharply dressed chap sits with his mate in full view on a small wooden nest box and proclaims SPRING HAS ARRIVED! We placed their low-income housing there some five years ago. He announces his triumphant return with all of the exuberance of a thrilled friend returning from a most exciting trip to a far away land. This bird, crisply bi-colored in iridescent bottle-blue feathering above and immaculate cotton-white underparts will delight not only the inquisitive observer but more importantly the female Tree Swallow. He pours forth a song that only she can truly understand. However, I too feel that I have a pretty good idea of where this bird is “coming from”.

Physically, it could be coming from the Caribbean Panama where it may have spent the winter dipping and cavorting amongst the multitude of oceangoing vessels that wait their turn to “stair-step” up and over the locks, crossing the isthmus to the mighty Pacific. Perhaps it may have arrived from the mosquito laden, Flamingo rich wetlands that crown the north coast of the Yucatan peninsula where tens of thousands of these long distance migrants glean for us billions of winged hypodermic needles from the humid sky. Another possibility is that it may have wintered with small numbers of its fellow swallows in the vast wetlands of California’s great central valley, snapping up myriad winged morsels amongst the multitudes of Cranes, Geese and Swans.

Emotionally, it’s coming from a place of demand. To survive and to pass on its DNA, it demands much. An abundant source of food (exclusively flying insects), a proximity to water, a protected nesting site, a place to raise a family, the safety that comes in numbers, the fellow swallows with which it will hawk insects and most importantly, a mate, are all here.

Early in the spring, I have seen a newly returning Tree Swallow pair approaching the Bolinas Lagoon from the south. At the lofty altitude of perhaps a thousand feet, they vocalize and one can almost imagine the sheer excitement they must be feeling as their long, arduous and annual trip is at long last, ending. HOME AT LAST! Passing over Stinson Beach’s Sea Drift they voice their flight plan as they quickly swoop toward me from “migration altitude”. Without a moments hesitation, they drop rapidly over Kent Island calling wildly and smartly landing squarely on their humble abode. It’s as if this lichen encrusted box is not only the precious quest of their far flung journey but seemingly the first thing they had perched on since lifting off from a predawn rest stop somewhere in Sacramento, Los Banos or Monterey. They return year after year to the same nesting spot to raise three or four young.

In addition to the Tree Swallow, West Marin plays host to six other splendid species of swallows, five of which also nest here. Only the Bank Swallow graces our space as a rare migrant but does not breed here. In the western hemisphere they spend the winter as far south as northern Chile and central Argentina. Globally, the Bank Swallow, (known in the “Old World” as the Sand Martin) ranges widely. Small numbers of these small brown and white birds, sporting snappy blackish breast bands nest in communal sand or clay cliff banks in coastal San Mateo county.

California’s other “brown Swallow”, the Northern Rough-winged Swallow nests singularly or in small groups in appropriate habitat. That desired domain can be found on the Bolinas Beach at the end of Wharf Road in the clay cliffs that dominate the sand scape. To find the nests, look for the silver dollar sized holes that look as if they were carefully drilled directly into the vertical face. Snapping up insects not only in the sky but from as little as a few inches off the warm sand, one can hear, if listened for carefully, the actual snap of the birds mandibles as it gathers its nourishment. This species winters as far south as Panama.

Perhaps the most colorful and certainly the most diminutive species is that of the Violet-green Swallow. This is a truly western bird with a range that extends from the west coast, east to the eastern Rockies, north to central Alaska and as far south as Costa Rica. Violet-green’s share the same taste for “home design” as does the Tree Swallow and the Purple Martin. That is, they are a cavity nester, meaning that they raise their young inside, most typically, dead snags where old abandon Woodpecker nests can be used. Alder stumps, and tall fir snags make fine dwellings for this well tailored creature. The snowy white of the birds underparts wrap up and around the birds flanks and face making identification possible even at great distances. The crown is a soft moss green color contrasting with the rich “Robin Hood” green back. Separating the head from the back is a thin crisp necklace of violet that is repeated over the entire rump, making this one of the most exquisite looking birds anywhere!

The least numerous and most sought after species is a giant cloaked in a glossy robe of deep royal purple. Its name is therefor appropriate. The Purple Martin arrives in our area in May after having flown here from its winter haunts in South America where it occurs east of the Andes and south to northern Argentina. Typically, this avian gift draws ones attention by its remarkably loud, rich and liquid calls. This swallow is often encountered hawking larger flying insects over the warm and sunny sands at the tip of Sea Drift spit. Find yourself at the mouth of the Bolinas Lagoon and like natural clockwork, you can almost guarantee a summer time sighting of a Purple Martin. Listen for its strong “bubbling” call between 4:00 and 6:00 PM and look up!

Interestingly, it, (as well as all of the other species of swallows) are not above foraging for insects on foot. This is rather comical to watch as all swallows have very short legs and must run very fast to capture the insects that are at ground level. I have witnessed five species together engaging in this novel act. Martins nest in small colony’s in very lofty, inaccessible Douglas Fir snags high atop Inverness Ridge.

Perhaps the most familiar swallow species is that of the Barn Swallow. This truly cosmopolitan bird occurs over most of the earth including the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia as well as most of the worlds oceanic islands. These long winged and powerful fliers winter from as far south as Tierra del Fuego at the southern-most tip of South America and have even been recorded from the Falkland Islands, Argentina! Best known for their deeply forked “swallow tail” the Barn Swallow make themselves at home, on and around our homes. They create an open “cup” nest, composed of mud and spare bits of grass and straw. Upon completion, they line the interior with a soft comforter of feathers harvested from the sky. In flight, swallows will snag, let go and repeatedly snag again and again, an airborne feather. One wonders whether they simply do it for the nest lining or if there is a playful component to this unique behavior.

Barn Swallows nest singularly and most typically upon a beam that is situated beneath an eve. This nesting habit has endeared them to the countless as it brings an intimate and wonderful nature experience up close and into our world. For others it actually becomes a bit of a nuisance. Some folk are annoyed by the fact that these birds “take over” a site that comes into conflict with their own “site”. With droppings splattered on the walls, the sometime startling activity and the rerouting that some feel obligated to make when the nest is adjacent to a frequently used door, can all add up to “too much to take”. Sadly and all too often, many will blast the nest with a garden hose to discourage this annoying behavior. This clash of cultures leads me to my next and final species.

By far the most abundant swallow that calls West Marin its summer home is the Cliff Swallow. Often referred to as the “Mud Swallow” by some aggrieved home owners, this communal species painstakingly creates the spherical mud dwellings that one often encounters under bridges, freeway over passes or most notoriously under the eves of houses. Each year after having undergone the arduous journey from as far south as northern Argentina and northern Chili, these 22 gram swallows arrive in our area by about the first of April and immediately go to work constructing their “Pueblo style adobe condos”. A great place to witness this firsthand is near the end of Wharf Road in Bolinas. Several of the homes that stand on tall pilings over the mudflat, have these nests both under their eves and or in the beams and struts below their floors. Currently there are about 120 pairs of these voracious insectivores busy as bees laying the yearly foundation for a bustling, yet temporary, community. Scooping up mouth fulls of mud from either the puddles at the side of the road or from the lagoons mud flats, they quickly fly back to their nests and lay down hundreds of mud “beads”. This creates the grapefruit sized orb that will house 3 to 4 chicks.

Some time ago, the local and well known naturalist and author, Jules Evens wrote an article regarding the impact that these swallows, (and all swallows for that matter) have on keeping our flying insect numbers in check. He pointed out a few facts that have “weighty” ramifications. Lets take a look at a few numbers. According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cliff Swallows weigh between 19 and 34 grams. The average weight is at about 22 grams, or as much as what 9 pennies weigh. A Cliff Swallow needs to consume a quarter of its weight per day to sustain itself or 5 1/2 grams of high protein flying insects. Therefor our Wharf Road colony of 120 pairs, (240 individuals) consume 1,320 grams or 2.91 pounds of insects each and every day. Once the Swallows arrive in early April, complete construction on their nests, lay eggs and then brood them around 60 days have elapsed. That means that by the end of May the Wharf Road colony has now consumed some 174.6 pounds of insects. Young start to hatch around June 1st and then fledge or leave the nest, and the care of their parents by around August 1st. The colony has now increased to 720 individuals and so has the consumption. So, our Wharf Road colony, in one breeding season consumes over 523 pounds of flying insects!

For those who turn the garden hose on these nests, (hence the title of this piece) PLEASE think twice about what you are doing. While these Swallows may splatter your walls and windows with droppings and construct “muddy, unsightly and dirty” nests, there are several things to lessen the mess. You can always wash the walls below them, clean the windows whenever you want and even get rid of the nests after they have successfully fledged their young by about the beginning of August. The mud comes off and they will rebuild next year. If you really can’t deal with the birds, certain folks have successfully kept them away by hanging a fine mesh net across the under surface of the eves. Consider an alternative. When it is summer evening weather and the BBQ is fired up, sizzling with skewers of veggies, and the smell of roasted chicken with rosemary wafts across the neighborhood, wouldn’t you rather be relaxing and laughing with friends instead of swatting hungry mosquito’s? I mean really! Who wants to be spilling Cabernet on their cool new Hawaii shirt while running back and forth between the safety of your kitchen and the “hostile wilds?” On one hand you have carefree warm summer nights, on the other you are a human pin cushion being sucked dry by 523 pounds of blood thirsty insects. To me, the choice is clear.

Keith Hansen,   May 2009

Every winter, I think I will get around to building a birdhouse or two. I’m not particularly competent with a saw and hammer, but surely this is a basic enough task that even I might manage it. Every spring arrives with no new birdhouse. This year, I was anxious to get a few boxes up for swallows around the pond, and as the breeding season is upon us, I went out and bought several. I have had good luck in the past with the cedar houses carried by Walmart, pictured above, with Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon), and on one momentous occasion even an Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) pair successfully nesting and fledging young from this model. Bigger boxes would be better for Tree Swallows. Unfortunately, these are the best I’ve located, but hopefully I’ll be able to find or build bigger ones to replace them with down the road.

The quickest, easiest method I have found to get a birdhouse mounted on a post and installed is to use one of the metal spikes designed to support 4 x 4 posts. Even in rather rocky terrain, I was able to install them myself, and here in sandy soil, it’s a snap.
I put up three houses in likely locations around the pond in the afternoon and when I went out the next morning, they were being checked out by Tree Swallows.

The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario (2001-2005) offers the most comprehensive information available on who breeds where in the province. The current Atlas is the second edition and updates the status of breeding birds in Ontario from the first Atlas, completed in 1981-85. Since the 1980s, there has been a decline of up to 30 to 50 per cent in birds such as the Common Nighthawk, the Chimney Swift and six species of swallow. According to the Atlas, the Tree Swallow population overall in Ontario declined by 17%, but because of limitations in Atlas methodology in assessing population numbers, the actual decline may be greater. Annual Bird Studies Canada Breeding Bird Surveys show a decline of 2.6% every year over the 1981-2005 period. Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) showed a 35% decline using Atlas data, while annual Breeding Bird Surveys show an annual decline of 3.5% every year on average over the 1981-2005 period.

You can read more about the Atlas at the Environment Canada site. You can purchase the Atlas through Ontario Nature.

by Carl Strang

Yesterday I introduced the topic of phenology, focusing on first flowering dates. Today I want to share some recent bird firsts for this year at Mayslake Forest Preserve.

Last week saw the completion and start to incubation of the first mallard nest of the season, in one of the marshes.

Not so easy to see through the cattails; let’s zoom in.

On Friday I was delighted to hear the beautiful tinkling song of a winter wren, first of the year for the preserve. I had been expecting them. They are early migrants, and the small stream near Mays Lake resembled other places where I have seen them. This little guy just kept singing and singing, more than I remember hearing one before. I did my best to photograph him.

Every shot was partly blocked by intervening plant stems.

But in both these pictures his beak is open as he sings.

The first tree swallow arrived earlier in the season, on March 18.

Its photo will represent the family, the second of which (northern rough-winged swallow) arrived at Mayslake on the same day as the wren. On Monday April 13 two additional and instructive new arrivals appeared on the preserve. One of these was a common loon, beautiful in full breeding plumage. Regionally they have been passing through for weeks, so this simply adds a species to the preserve list. A little more interesting was Monday’s second new bird for the year, a barn swallow. This is the earliest I have encountered this species, though in 2006 I saw one on the 14^th. Usually I see the first of these around the 24^th or so. Given the cool weather of late, this is an even more remarkable appearance. As with the plants, I am establishing a baseline in my first year at Mayslake of what bird species to expect and where and when to find them. But birds’ great mobility adds more happenstance to sightings of them, and a single person’s observations at a single place are less meaningful than are phenological events in plants. With birds, trends over decades by large numbers of observers are more likely to produce usable results.

Today I was suppose to go to a family gathering.  The gathering was a 3 hour drive, and I woke up an hour late this morning.  Then my insulin pump ran out of insulin so it took me extra time to reload it, and it just took me forever to get ready to leave.  At the moment I was about to leave, I got an important phone call that took a half an hour.  So at that point I decided not to make the trip, because I would have been 1.5 hours late anyway, and still had to make the drive home the same day too. 

So I ended up going to Morton Arboretum to do some birding.  I hadn’t been birding since last summer, so it was very nice to have a beautiful day to do it.  Hearing all the bird calls, all the chirping, seeing so many different species in 1 day.  It was nice.  I listened to the wind a while, listened to the birds, went for some nice walks through the prairies, and took some photographs.  A wonderful day, even though it wasn’t with family. 

I saw 3 turkey vultures soaring overhead, and got a nice clear picture of one.  I saw a red tail hawk kettle up to about 1000 feet, and then start a dive at some prey from at least a half mile away and 1000 feet up which was really cool, but my 200mm lens just wasn’t long enough to capture that.  I saw a cute little ground squirrel darting around in the dead leaves and grass of one of the prairies.  Oh! And I got a picture of a tree swallow in flight!  I don’t know if you know what a tree swallow is, but they’re these little birds that dart around in the sky as fast as lightning.  It’s hard enough just to track it with your camera, but it’s even harder to actually capture them with a camera.  I did it though!  Been trying to capture one of those birds mid flight for 4 years.  I also stopped to take some photos of the blooming daffodils. 

So anyway, another thing of note is when I saw all of the after church people going for walks at the arboretum.  A family of 4 was walking, and they had a daughter that looked about 8 years old, with a DSLR, in a cute little summer dress, taking pictures of daffodils.  She was so serious about it, I wanted to snap a few pictures but didn’t want to scare her parents.  They were yelling for her to hurry up, and I wanted to yell back at them that they can’t hurry an artist.  LOL! 

There are only a few pictures that I chose to keep from the days photos, but you can view them at the link below.  Make sure to check out the image labeled “Hidden Within”. 

http://nightowlphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/7887058_Bebzj#511369989_hUgUX

At over 4,000 feet elevation, Willow-Witt Ranch sits on a spring-watered plateau between Grizzly Peak (5900 feet) and the crest of the Cascades.    It’s reached via Dead Indian Road southeast of Ashland, then north on Shale City Road, then east on a long private drive.  Each winter the ranch is cut off from motor vehicles and snowshoes become the only way out, or in.  The ranch is off the grid, and produces organic goats’ milk, cheese.  Also both goat and pork sausage as well as eggs.

Dan and I were there to check out the early spring birds.  Already the Tree Swallows were picking out summer nest boxes:

And whirling about the ranch in a constant vibration of activitiy. 

The Steller’s Jays were busy, nosey and noisey.  But they were also very careful not to stay anywhere we might capture their image.  Steller’s evidently believe any photograph will steal the soul of a jay.

This posing Purple Finch had no such qualms.

A Downy hiding in the brush.

The most abundant bird in March: Junco.

I will definitely want to be there later this spring when the Wilson’s Snipe begin to mate and make the owl-like sound with their winnowing wings.  For now they are newly returned from lower elevations.  And they are very camera-shy.

A newborn kid, less than an hour old.  French Alpine goats are the breed of choice at Willow-Witt. They provide companionship, milk, cheese and sausage.  Also they serve as pack animals. And they’re intelligent conversationalists.  As smart as Ravens but less problematic in polite company.

Our amiable escort, one of the ranch’s Great Pyrenees dogs.  Huge and huggable.  The farm is far from any highway, at night there are only clouds and stars in the sky, no glow from city lights.  By day the sounds are pigs, goats and Red-winged Blackbirds.  At night in spring you’d hear the gurgling of mountain snowmelt  making its way to the Pacific Ocean…and treefrogs celebrating the melting of the snow…and perhaps the call of  a Great Gray Owl.  And in this meadow you can stay in a walled tent on warm summer nights.

For information on farm-stays, cheese, sausage or the environmental programs at Willow-Witt, click here.

Location:     Willow-Witt Ranch
Observation date:     3/27/09
Notes: still snow in drifts though some ground is exposed, temp was about fifty degrees
Number of species:     17

Mallard     3
Northern Harrier     1
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Wilson’s Snipe     5
Downy Woodpecker     2
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)     3
Steller’s Jay     15
Tree Swallow     10
Red-breasted Nuthatch     1
American Robin     25
Yellow-rumped Warbler     2
Song Sparrow     2
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)     12
Red-winged Blackbird     18
Brewer’s Blackbird     5
Purple Finch     6
Pine Siskin     8

Bridget and I started our walk this morning at the Ashland Dog Park.  Heavy clouds  obscured the Siskiyous to our west and the Cascades to the east.  Along the lowest reach of Ashland Creek the sky was a gray ceiling not far overhead.  When we reached the arched bridge across Bear Creek, the morning sun found a crevice between two dense clouds.  And several birds suddenly found voice.

House Finches had come out of their winter skulk, climbing as high as the trees would allow.  Their warbling song, with a raspy note or two, pured forth. 

This pair of social climbers reached the uppermost, outermost bit of this pine.  Just a short time ago this House Finch was clinging to the shadows down beneath the berry brambles.

The sunshine chorus was rich and varied:  a lone Black Phoebe (that’s largely redundant) chipping in the bare cottonwoods, Lesser Goldfinches and Purple Finches singing, an unseen Wrentit bouncing his rubber ball down the stairs, a Spotted Towhee not merely wheezing his call notes but actually singing a sweet song that is a brief version of the Song Sparrow. Other voices included  Flicker, Red-winged Blackbirds both he and she, Bewick’s Wrens singing as they scurried along the edge of the path, Mourning Doves cooing their innermost urges.

An American Robin on the bank of Ashland Creek, for a drink of ice cold water come down from Mount Ashland’s snowy slopes.

The spring migration north brings some birds in groups as they soar down the north slope of the Sikiyou Pass which separates California from Oregon.  This morning it was a gaggle of Turkey Vultures in a single pulse.  And it was swirling gangs of Tree and Violet-green Swallows,  some headed all the way to Alaska.  The Yellow-rumped Warblers I’ve seen the past few days are migrating as well, I suspect.

Two migrating Tree Swallows taking a breather.  At one moment several of the swallows were zig-zaggin back and forth against the snow-white background of Grizzly Peak, nearly 6,000 feet high.

 LOOK AT THAT

The Ashland Creek beavers have been busy…as beavers as wont to be.  The tree on the left was still standing last time I took a picture of this scene. On March 16th I posted a similar picture, and  both trees were still standing.

Speaking of trees, the most colorful object along Ashland Creek is a species of willow I have yet to indentify.  None of the sources I’ve consulted refer to the brightly colored twigs of the bushy willow species:

Location:     Bear Creek Greenway–Ashland
Observation date:     3/24/09
Number of species:     30

Canada Goose     6
Wood Duck     75
Mallard     8
Turkey Vulture     60
Rock Pigeon     20
Mourning Dove     7
Anna’s Hummingbird     1
Downy Woodpecker     2
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)     1
Black Phoebe     2
Western Scrub-Jay     3
American Crow     5
Tree Swallow     50
Violet-green Swallow     2
Black-capped Chickadee     1
White-breasted Nuthatch     1
Bewick’s Wren     5
American Robin     5
Wrentit     1
European Starling     25
Yellow-rumped Warbler     3
Spotted Towhee     8
Song Sparrow     2
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)     3
Red-winged Blackbird     36
Brewer’s Blackbird     22
Purple Finch     3
House Finch     16
Lesser Goldfinch     9

House Sparrow   5