Maintenance Responsibilities

My involvement in the design and construction of artificial nesting cavities, or "subsidized bird housing", as Lee Slattum calls it, has evidently obligated me to some on-going maintenance responsibilities. I naively thought that once my work on the construction was completed, my job was done.  But there appears to be continuing issues of "implied warranties" or possibly "renter’s rights", that seem to cloud the issue. I am shown here yesterday replacing the front of a "housing unit", the result of storm damage or raccoon vandalism.  Bottom line; It looks like I will be staying on in some kind of a maintenance position here at the Salem Audubon Nature Reserve.

Persistence Pays Off

This morning persistence paid off, I got a photo of a Black-capped Chickadee checking out one of our nesting sites at the SalemAudubon Nature Reserve.  This was my sixth trip back since seeing the activity on Saturday, and I wanted photographic evidence.

 
The whole design of making an artificial cavity for a nesting site was something I came up with in the middle of the night.  Lots of ideas of mine don’t turn out so good when looked at in the light of day. They seem perfect as I roll and toss in a state of semi-consciousness all night long, but when examined closely the next morning after I’m wide awake, I often wonder, “what made me think that was a good idea”.  So understandably I have been a little anxious to see if this is one that turns out.

 

Now it’s a waiting game to see if the site passed inspection or they choose another one, then more waiting to see if the chickadees actually construct a nest in this cavity or another. And even more important and requiring even more waiting, that they are successful in raising some chicks. I think there is going to be a lot more patience and persistence involved in this project.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Saturday while showing some friends around the Salem Audubon Nature Reserve, we noticed some Black-capped Chickadees paying attention to two different artificial nesting cavities that volunteers have erected. This really got me excited, and I have been back every day, sometimes twice a day, hoping to be able to see and photograph some activity at any of the sites. I was back again this morning and did not see any activity at any of our constructed sites, but I did spot this White-breasted Nuthatch checking out a natural cavity.  Actually from the photo it looks like he spotted me, watching him. I continue to be fascinated with how much can be learned just by simple observation, and in this case it was not what I was expecting, but it was something new. We have six logs in place with artificial cavities, and three more logs to erect. You can bet I will be keeping close tabs on all of them with my fingers crossed. 

California Gulls

Gulls, or “sea gulls” to the uninformed, are something you expect to see when you go to the beach.  They are always prolific along the sandy shore of our coast line, but not so common inland.  So, I was a little surprised to see a flock of 35 yesterday during a walk through Salem’s Waterfront Park floating on the flooded Willamette River. That’s one of things I enjoy about birding so much, every day seems to bring about something unexpected. If you look closely at this pair you will notice the black and red spots on the bill which is the diagnostic clue to determining that they are California Gulls. 

Brown Creeper

Lee Slatum and my wife Jeanette have talked me into posting this photo.  I’m not especially proud of it, but then there is the fact that Brown Creepers are just plain hard to photograph. They are busy, busy, birds, up and down and around a tree, never still, constantly looking for bugs.  And their coloring camouflages them so well against the bark it makes them very hard to see let alone focus a camera.  This one shows up a little better because of the green moss. He is at a rather odd angle, but notice his stiff tail feathers that he uses to support his body as well as his legs. I had gone early yesterday to the Salem Audubon Nature Reserve in West Salem where I volunteer, to be able to spend some time looking for birds before starting to work. The sighting of this Brown Creeper was what I term the “gift of the day”.  

Non-native Species

If you know anything about Eurasian Collared-doves as shown above, you may wonder what I find photo worthy about this bird. They are a non­­-native species that has spread across the United States in the last thirty years at an alarming rate.  But what caught my attention was that this was the first time I have actually seen this bird in Salemtowne since moving here over three months ago.  We have been enjoying watching the native Mourning Doves daily at our feeder and were somewhat surprised when a pair of Eurasian Collared-doves swept in and took control of the feeder area.  This reminded me of what took place at our home in Elkton several years ago.  The more Eurasian Collared-doves we saw the fewer native Mourning Doves we saw, until we rarely saw any Mourning Doves.  And here is another interesting example. While birding at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, we saw a group of 22 Eurasian Collared-doves at Pintail Marsh. I’ve usually only seen them in urban areas, so was surprised to see this large number in a rather natural area. The Eurasian Collared-dove, as well as the Eastern Fox Squirrel that I have posted about the last two days, are both non-native species that are spreading rapidly, and in my opinion are crowding out native species.

Size Does Matter

When it comes to identifying tree squirrels, size does matter.  This is another photo I took of the Eastern Fox Squirrel yesterday.  In this photo he is stretched out along the top of the chain-link fence. I later measured the squares in the fence and they are three inches across. Counting the squares of the squirrel’s length I can safely say he is over seven links long, so 3x7=21 inches. This narrows down the choices.  The closest squirrel in color is the Douglas Squirrel which is definitely smaller. Squirrels are measured from head to tip of tail.  Douglas Squirrels range from 11-14 inches.  Eastern Fox Squirrels measure from 18-28 inches, making them the largest tree squirrel in North America.