FOAM
No. 119
Considering the weather of the past two years I never thought I would find myself welcoming rain but that is exactly what I did as I was writing this article this morning. By all accounts this rain was appreciated by both town and farm folk alike. Another personal benefit to me was that being confined to the indoors gave me the time to deal with an ever growing stack of paperwork including this article.
This past week a variety of birds, especially Robins and House Sparrows, have hatched young and are presently feeding them. The interesting thing is that the young remain very quiet until the parents come in with food and then the "baby chirping" kicks in. Nests that were previously hidden and unnoticed are now out there for everybody to see exposing the young to potential predators. However, this problem exists for a brief time only as the young fledge quickly and serious predation is not a big problem.
While birds like Robins and House Sparrows have already raised a brood and are getting ready to raise a second and even a third later on, birds like Goldfinches have just started nesting. It is interesting to note that birds that raise multiple broods usually are either permanent residents or birds that arrive early in the spring and leave late in the fall. Birds, like Purple Martins and Yellow Warblers, that raise only one brood arrive later in the spring and leave earlier in the fall.
This past week or so we have seen a number of Tree Swallows flitting about in our backyard and in neighbouring yards checking out suitable nesting sites. Being cavity nesters they readily accept bird houses of just about any kind and anywhere. Our yard has several bird houses including one unoccupied one which the swallows did check out but nothing definite so far. My wife related a humorous incident that she witnessed on one of her early morning walks. A Tree Swallow was trying to land on the "O" on the stop sign by the school. Apparently, it thought the "O" might be an opening into a suitable nesting site! This is rather late for them to be still looking for sites and not already raising young and perhaps the lack of cavities has made the birds somewhat desperate and frantic.
The male Tree Swallows are pure white underneath and steely blue on top from the forehead to the tail tip. When perched they give the appearance of being dressed in formal wear for a very important social function. The females are much the same with the black being more subdued. In a nutshell, the males show more contrast . Once seen they really cannot be mistaken for any other bird.
This week's photos of a male (back facing) and female (front facing) were taken several years ago when the pair nested in a birdhouse in our backyard. The birds were very confiding allowing us to approach them within a metre or two before flying off a short distance and then landing again. They are very pleasant to have around and I hope a pair decides to nest in our yard this year.
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