It's Always Interesting Close to Home

10 May 2020
SpruceHaven, St. Agatha, ON

     I visited SpruceHaven to do my regular weekly monitoring, seriously reduced in scope these days, and found much that was interesting.
     We have been suffering through an unusual cold snap here, and there was snow on the ground when I got up this morning. As might be expected normal activity by the Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) has been greatly curtailed, and I am wondering what these aerial insectivores are finding to eat. A few pairs seemed to be paying attention to a nest, but there was not an egg in the three nests that I examined.
     One of the items on my list to check was the Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) nest I located last week, primarily to see whether a Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) had also found the nest and deposited an egg.
     If you look carefully you can see the nest through the branches of this little evergreen.

     The incubating female had quietly slipped off the nest at my approach and even peering through the foliage I could see a cowbird egg. Imagine my shock, however, when I investigated further and discovered that all five eggs are those of a parasitic cowbird, with not even a single egg of the host Chipping Sparrow.

     The most cowbird eggs I have ever detected in a nest before was two. How this will all turn out for the Chipping Sparrows is a matter of conjecture. It will be impossible for a pair of tiny sparrows to feed five gargantuan (by comparison) Brown-headed Cowbirds, and the nest will not be able to hold them all in any event. I will be very interested to see this sequence unfold.
     One of the Green Herons (Butorides virescens) was perched just above the surface of the water, looking to make a meal of any hapless fish or frog that came within reach of its rapier-like bill.

     I am fairly sure that this male Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinensis) is defending a nest hole, and a Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) was doing all it could to dislodge him. 

     Why, I am not quite sure, because the Blue Jay is not a cavity nester. The woodpecker stood his ground, and the Blue Jay may have been a little wary of that strong, stout bill designed for chiselling into wood, and finally left the scene.

     Our Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) seem to be doing well this year, and healthy youngsters are already growing rapidly in a couple of the nest boxes.
     This female is no doubt searching for arthropods to take back to her young, but I thought the background made for a delightful shot.

     It seems to me that those of us who are excited by nature have a jump on others who find themselves constrained by the restrictions imposed by Covid-19. To step outside the door is to enter a magical world ready-made for adventure, a world filled with delight and discovery, a world I have explored my entire life, in which I yet find joy, enrichment and revelation every single time. 
     So, if you are chafing at the bit, tired of your four walls, just step outside with open eyes and an open mind. A whole new world awaits you.