UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Please Excuse Our Mess

An adult cliff swallow eagerly picks up freshly exposed mud as construction material to add to a nearby nesting colony

Recently, Julie (one of our seasonal interns) made the suggestion that it would be neat to capture the very active nest building behavior of a colony of cliff swallows that is currently taking advantage of our pumping on the Rest Pond. Fresh mud is apparently a big draw because a few nights ago I witnessed a few dozen birds in nearly constant motion, roundtripping between the edge of the receding water and the underside of our Route 2 connection to the estuary. (Amazingly, a constant pulse of cars and trucks thundering overhead do not seem to be a deterrent!)

Despite the fact that this went on for literally more than an hour (or at least the part I watched), it was surprisingly difficult to get individual birds in front of the camera, much less find focus. These acrobatic fliers were even targeting specific areas along the waterline, but as soon as they'd settle to the ground, their heads would quickly plunge into the soft muck, and then they would be back on the wing.

This species is the most colonial swallow in the world and that's saying something for a group known to like company. Nesting settlements can number into the thousands out west, but eastern colonies tend to be considerably smaller. If I had to guess, I would say there were 30-50 birds heavy into nest building under the bridge. But again, this is a hard count to make because these things are in near-constant motion!

Rarely were there more than a couple birds touching the ground at the same time, but over a one-hour stretch the miniature excavation effort was more or less constant

At one point, I did manage to focus on an individual with binoculars enough times to see that I could estimate that each individual beakful of mud looked to be about the size of a pencil eraser. This is meaningful when you consider that the average nest takes about 1,000 such pellets to construct. Males and females work together. They have been observed flying literally miles to find mud of the proper consistency. In our case, the colony is just a hundred yards or so from the source, but that still means a lot of individual wing beats to build a single nest.

A Week of Early Summer Photos

Julie captured this really nice image of the main East Marsh; if the gods (and our equipment) stay on our side, we will draw most of this water off over the next couple weeks to expose 100+ acres to what we anticipate will be an explosion of vegetative growth

Weeks literally feel like they are going by like days lately. I guess that means it's summer! I'm going to play a little catch up and share some of my favorite photos since Memorial Day weekend. As day light continues to lengthen, opportunities to get things accomplished outside increase, but it also gets harder and harder to stay disciplined about downloading what’s on the SD card!

Again, here are some highlights:

I often wonder how people would react to seeing mallards if they were rare (instead of the most common duck in North America);
taken in isolation, they truly are beautiful birds -- yet another instance of "common" too often leading to taken for granted

Frogs are starting to become more visible;
Julie snapped this nice photo of a well-camouflaged leopard 

And where there are frogs there are typically snakes;
this common watersnake gave me a great opportunity for closeups

At 30" or so and right at my feet, I have to admit this one got my attention

This docile DeKay's brown snake maxes out at 12-15" and
is more interested in earthworms than frogs

I am routinely finding them now as I clear downed logs
or move anything that has been sitting on the ground for an extended time

Like the mallard, this red-winged blackbird is extremely common . . . and extremely striking at close range

We continue to be overrun with yellow warblers, and this individual really put on a show for the camera

Just because it's invasive (monk thistle) doesn't mean it can't be beautiful;
I didn't even notice the ants until the image was "developed"

Opportunistic egrets always seem to find food in fluctuating water

Click to enlarge to see some of the ~150 that have been frequenting 40 acres of shallowly flooded millet residue

This male oriole has set-up shop in the largest cottonwood next to the bunkhouse; his vibrant colors
make it hard for me to put the camera down every time that I have to leave

A Growing Number of Youth Fishermen

Eagles have more or less been a constant fixture on the new West dike since we have begun drawing water down
off the 40-acre Rest Pond

I feel like the proverbial "broken record," but water levels drive activity on the marsh. That has become a recurring theme not only in my day-to-day reality, but has been a constant for the broad diversity of wildlife that utilizes the property. Our Rest Pond (last year's millet) is now drawn down to the point that the remaining basin fluctuates between maybe 5 acres of skim water after a decent rain to maybe 3 acres after a few hours of pumping (15-30 minutes at a time).

Every time we run the pump, what was relatively calm surface water begins to boil with nervous fish. Isolated splashes gradually progress to exposed backs and frantic runs for deeper water. Deep is a relative term. The remaining basin is no more than 12-18" deep at its deepest, but most of the area now holds 6" of water or less. Still, it is likely serving as refuge for hundreds, if not thousands, of carp along with a modest diversity of other species (e.g. bowfin, bullheads, bluegills, largemouth bass, and lots and lots of topminnows).

I spent probably an hour one evening late last week watching juvenile eagles hover in a stiff southwest wind just over the water's surface. Occasionally, one would awkwardly land and stumble over a carp's back. The muscular fish would often deter anything beyond an exploratory prod with the talons and swim off to live another day (or at least another few minutes). The most determined eagles would eventually sink their claws -- and then beaks -- into the cornered fish.

I was amazed at how often the most determined birds did the catching only to get flushed off their kill by another eagle. Juveniles relented to each other, but most often, I was watching the young struggle to get a catch, only to get pushed away by a larger, bolder adult.

I'm taking these photos/video from nearly 1,000 feet away, so the resolution isn't great. But they start to give a feel for the daily ritual. It has become common to see up to a dozen (or more) eagles on the dike at any given time. They seem to enjoy balancing their days between sunning, squawking, fishing, and just stretching their wings.

It has become increasingly difficult not to take these incredible birds for granted. It seems strange to use the word, but they are most certainly "common." I don't have a good feel for how many are actively using the marsh right now, but it has to be dozens. I'd love to gain a better understanding for where they were all hatched and what their daily/seasonal ranges are apt to be.

Pretty impressive silhouette -- off to another fishing hole

Here's a true "moment in the marsh" that might give you the best feel for what I witnessed the other night (complete with 35+mph sustained winds -- sorry for the shaky video; but not bad at 800+ feet away, using a monopod!) . . .