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May 31, 2007 - Those wild and wacky birdsThe Suffolk Times • May 31, 2007 • 9A Those wild and wacky birds It's 6 a.m. — I'm taking my little tape recorder with me as I walk from the house out to the chicken coop, where I'll feed the chickens and let them out. My, how they like to get out and scratch in the woods. There they will find all kinds of goodies, including ticks. That's one good rea- son we have chickens around — and then there's nothing better than farm fresh eggs. I only wish my tape recorder could give you the vocal rendition of what's going on outside. My, how the FOCUS birds do sing O N in the spring- time) There's a NATURE titmouse that's trying to outdo by Paul everyone else. Stoutenburgh A grackle drops down on the lawn. It's a big black bird with a long tail that's noted for stealing other birds' eggs and even their young. It lighted on the lawn and I didn't pay much attention to it as it went walking along pok- ing here and there, probably getting those small green inchworms that are hatching out now. All of a sudden, in flies this huge black crow. He chased that grackle right out of the area! The only reason I could think of for the aggressive ac- tion was that the crows have a nest in the very top of a nearby hickory tree. Knowing the reputation the grack- les have, the crows were taking no chances. Well, the chickens are out and they are thankful for that; they sort of walk off in a group with the rooster leading. Now I'm walking up to the glider swing — remember them? It's a wooden affair that has two seats that face each other. Once settled in, you push with your feet. It's an old - fashioned thing that has been around for years. I come out here and sit and just enjoy the motion and quiet. Where I am sitting I can look into the garden, which we've decided to start up again. Where we live, it's im- possible to grow anything unless you fence it in to keep the deer out. Last year the deer devastated everything. Now, with my eight - foot -high wire fence, the garden once more might have a chance. To start, we put in some lettuce plants and they really look good. In back of the garden is a deserted orchard. I didn't put a fence around it as the deer have eaten everything that's green. Beyond the defunct or- chard is a grape arbor, which I should prune and keep in shape. Here it's not the deer, it's the pesky blackbirds. I watch the grapes ripen and then, just as I'm about to reap my harvest, the birds come and take them all. It's still nest- building time. We have a blue jay making a nest in a clam rake that I had hung on the side of the garage. You wouldn't know they are around. Though they are usually noisy birds, they don't make a sound when they are nesting. Carolina wrens love to build in hanging baskets or in window boxes, and if you leave the garage door open, they'll build their bulky leaf j' nest there, too. She builds it with a long, narrow entrance so she can easily sneak in and out without be- ing seen. She's building one now in one of our window boxes. Rather than being quiet, these busy little wrens will scold you with a continual chatter. This is hard to believe but while writing this column we had to go out for a bit, and as we stepped outside the door, we saw a cowbird. I've read about it, talked about it with other birders, and even found evidence of the dastardly deed attributed to the cowbird. As we waited while she ner- vously moved about, we knew some- thing was about to happen. Then, as if she couldn't wait another minute, she flew straight down into the Carolina wren's nest in the flower box to lay her egg in with the wren's eggs. She stayed there for a short time, then emerged and flew off. How did this cowbird know where that nest was hidden amongst the flowers? The cowbird never builds its own nest but deposits a single egg in an- other bird's nest. Usually the egg matures before the other eggs in the nest. Therefore the cowbird young is fed first, giving it a head start over the others. Seeing it is strong, it begs for food and gets it and grows bigger and stronger, so much so that it will often push the other, weaker baby birds out of the nest. The female cowbird is about the size of a sparrow and looks somewhat like a female house sparrow. It gets its name cowbird from the habit of following grazing cattle around. The head motion stirs up insects of all sorts. No sooner does the insect try to fly away, it is snatched up by the cowbird. There goes my cell phone ... it was Alex and he was all excited about hundreds of shorebirds he had just seen down by the creek near hint. He seemed to know his birds pretty well, for he rattled off turnstones, dunlins, Suffolk Tlmea photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh Above: Each year a Carolina wren builds its big leafy nest in our flower box. The bird on the post is a cowbird and is just about ready to lay its egg in the nest of the Carolina wren (indicated by arrow). Read the story and you'll hear one of nature's unbelievable tales. Left: Look closely Into this finch's nest and you will see three finch eggs and one dif- ferent from all the rest. That different egg was laid by a cowbird. Now all the raising of the cowbird will be taken over by the finch. Photo by Paul Stoufenburgh and a dozen or so peeps by name. We headed over. The road we were on was only a short distance from the beach where the birds were feeding. In some spots turnstones had dug out small holes in the sand in pursuit of the elusive horseshoe crab eggs that had been recently buried by the fe- males. Should these feeding areas and resting places disappear along the way, perhaps thousands of shorebirds would perish. Here we see the impor- tance of habitat. We were told that willets were spot- ted farther into the marsh. I've won- dered how long it would take them to start using our creeks and upland for nesting, since they are already well es- tablished along the south shore. Wil- lets are a large brownish shorebird with a long bill. When they fly, promi- nent white markings can be seen on their wings. Keep your eyes open where you live for shorebirds feeding on the horseshoe crab eggs along the water's edge. • The Suffolk Times • May 31, 2007 hose wild bi*rd llaa:nd wackv v. It s o a.m. — i'm taking my little tape recorder with me as I walk from the house out to the chicken coop, where I'll feed the chickens and let them out. My, how they like to get out and scratch in the woods. There they will find all kinds of goodies, including ticks. That's one good rea- son we have chickens around — and then there's nothing better than farm fresh eggs. I only wish my tape recorder could give you the vocal rendition of what's going on outside. My, how the FOCUS birds do sing ON in the spring- time! There's a NATURE titmouse that's trying to outdo by Paul everyone else. Stoutenburgh A grackle drops down on the lawn. It's a big black bird with a long tail that's note( for stealing other birds' eggs and even their young. It lighted on the lawn and I didn't pay much attention to it as it went walking along pok- ing here and there, probably getting those small green inchworms that are hatching out now. All of a sudden, in flies this huge black crow. He chased that grackle right out of the area! The only reason I could think of for the aggressive ac- tion was that the crows have a nest in the very top of a nearby hickory tree. Knowing the reputation the grack- les have, the crows were taking no chances. Well, the chickens are out and they are thankful for that; they sort of walk off in a group with the rooster leading. Now I'm walking up to the glider swing — remember them? It's a wooden affair that has two seats that face each other. Once settled in, N1 Suffolk Times photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh Above: Each year a Carolina wren builds its big leafy nest in our flower box. The bird on the post is a cowbird and is just about ready to lay its egg in the nest of the Carolina wren (indicated by arrow). Read the story and you'll hear one of nature's unbelievable tales. you push with your feet. It's an old - fashioned thing that has been around for years. I come out here and sit and just enjoy the motion and quiet. Where I am sitting I can look into the garden, which we've decided to start up again. Where we live, it's im- possible to grow anything unless you fence it in to keep the deer out. Last year the deer devastated everything. Now, with my eight- foot -high wire fence, the garden once more might have a chance. To start, we put in some lettuce plants and they really look good. In back of the garden is a deserted orchard. T didn't put a fence around it as the deer have eaten everything that's green. Beyond the defunct or- chard is a grape arbor, which I should prune and keep in shape. Here it's nol the deer, it's the pesky blackbirds. I watch the grapes ripen and then, just as I'm about to reap my harvest, the birds come and take them all. It's still nest- building time. We have a blue jay making a nest in a clam rake that I had hung on the side of the garage. You wouldn't know they are around. Though they are usually noisy birds, they don't make a sound when they are nesting. Carolina wrens love to build in hanging baskets or in window boxes, and if you leave the garage door open, they'll build their bulky leaf nest there, too. She builds it with a long, narrow entrance so she can easily sneak in and out without be- ing seen. She's building one now in one of our window boxes. Rather than being quiet, these busy little wrens will scold you with a continual chatter. This is hard to believe but while writing this column we had to go out for a bit, and as we stepped outside the door, we saw a cowbird. I've read about it, talked about it with other birders, and even found evidence of the dastardly deed attributed to the cowbird. As we waited while she ner- vously moved about, we knew some- thing was about to happen. Then, as if she couldn't wait another minute, she flew straight down into the Carolina wren's nest in the flower box to lay her egg in with the wren's eggs. She stayed there for a short time, then emerged and flew off. How did this cowbird know where that nest was hidden amongst the flowers? The cowbird never builds its own nest but deposits a single egg in an- other bird's nest. Usually the egg matures before the other eggs in the nest. Therefore the cowbird young is fed first, giving it a head start over the others. Seeing it is strong, it begs for food and gets it and grows bigger and stronger, so much so that it will often push the other, weaker baby birds out of the nest. Left: Look closely into this finch's nest and you will see three finch eggs and one dif- ferent from all the rest. That different egg was laid by a cowbird. Now all the raising of the cowbird will be taken over by the finch. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh 1ne temale cowDira is aDoui ine size of a sparrow and looks somewhat like a female house sparrow. It gets its name cowbird from the habit of following grazing cattle around. The head motion stirs up insects of all sorts. No sooner does the insect try to fly away, it is snatched up by the There goes my cell phone ... it was Alex and he was all excited about hundreds of shorebirds he had just seen down by the creek near him. He seemed to know his birds pretty well, for he rattled off turnstones, dunlins, and a dozen or so peeps by name. We headed over. The road we were on was only a short distance from the beach where the birds were feeding. In some spots turnstones had dug out small holes in the sand in pursuit of the elusive horseshoe crab eggs that ad been recently buried by the fe- ales. Should these feeding areas and esting places disappear along the ay, perhaps thousands of shorebirds would perish. Here we see the impor- ance of habitat. We were told that willets were spot- ted farther into the marsh. I've won- dered how long it would take them to tart using our creeks and upland for nesting, since they are already well es- tablished along the south shore. Wil- lets are a large brownish shorebird with a long bill. When they fly, promi- nent white markings can be seen on their wings. Keep your eyes open where you live for shorebirds feeding on the horseshoe crab eggs along the water's edee.