April 11, 2002 - The way to a hen's heart...The Suffolk Times • April 11, 2002
The way to
a hen's heart...
Geese nest early and therefore their nest must be well Insulated. Theefemale takes down from
her body, which makes the perfect Insulator. Once all the young are hatched, they follow the
adults to the nearest water. The young are In constant danger of snapping turtles from below
and raucous gulls from above who swoop down and snatch them up out of the water.
HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING the
robins on your lawn during their annu.
al squabbling over territory where
food is the driving force for all wildlife
and eventually the mating process and
nesting take place? It's important that
a territory be established so others
don't come in and pilfer the pantry
you plan to share with your partner.
This could be taking place on your
lawn or a vacant lot or in my back pas-
Focus I see the
mourning doves
ON have already
NATURE paired up. You
by Paul can tell this by
StOUtenbu h Watching the
male follow the
female every-
where she goes. As a matter of fact,
he seems to be quite a pest as she tries
to get away from him but no, he's
right there in hot pursuit. They are
one of our early nesters ana in some
cases, they have already staked out
their favorite evergreen, where they
will build their flimsy stick nest.
I saw another sign on the mating
game when I was watching a pair of
starlings at my suet feeder. It's one of
those metal enclosures that is nailed
to a tree about 30 feet from our
house. I saw the male take bits of suet
and pass it to the patient lady standing
nearby. This offering of food for later
delights is quite common in the bird
world. We often see our cardinals
making this same offering of food to
win over the female. Often this is
accompanied by a fluttering of wings,
something like you'd see when baby
birds beg for food.
This bringing of food to the female
is probably best seen in our common
and least terns that will be returning
to our area soon. They bring small fist
such as spearing to the waiting female
on the beach. It is something like
bringing a box of chocolates to your
best girl.
Another example of trying to win
over the female is seen in my chick-
ens. The rooster will go along until he
finds some good lit-
tle tidbit, then in
soft little sounds he
calls his lady friend
and shows her what
he has found. She
immediately runs
over and picks it up.
Another way of get -
ting on the right side
of the lady fair.
Of course, there
are those that pair
for life, so well doc-
umented in our
ospreys and swans.
Swans stay together
throughout the year,
while the osprey
only stay together
until their -young
have fledged; then
they go their sepa-
rate ways. All winter
they fish the waters
of the southern U.S.
or the Caribbean or
even remote parts of
South America, then
in the spring they
return and meet to
start anew. Pretty
remarkable, I'd say.
we see tnis pairing
off in mallards and black ducks in our
local waters throughout the winter.
Now, more than ever, they fly togeth-
er; eat together, and yes, probably
sleep together. There's always that
younger male who wants to move in
and challenge the drake for his mate,
resulting in much chasing about. The
end result is that the younger one is
usually driven off and the pair goes on
their way. Almost any time of day, I
can go down to our little pond and
find a pair of mallards nibbling away
at the side of the bank for unseen
goodies.
Geese have already started building
their nests and they, too, pair for life. I
can remember one of the most beauti-
ful nests I ever say while photograph-
ing on Gardiners Island back in the
'70s. The followmisis taken from my
journal: "May 6,1973 —It is Sunday
morning and I'm in a blind south of
Tobaccolot. Hopefully I'll get a pic-
ture of a Canada goose that's nested
in a most fantastic spot. She's chosen a
cathedral of emerging fiddler heads of
the cinnamon fern at the edge of the
pond. Truly a most perfect spot. Now
let's hope she comes back. 9:25 a.m.
"I can hear the adults talking 200
feet away —I can't see them but I
know they must be checking over my
blind [an enclosure used for pho-
tographing wildlife] and making all
kinds of judgments. Coming into the
area, which by the way is just dream-
like, I spotted indigesbunting. My,
how its blue color vibrates.
Then, to top it off, a goldfinch flitted
by to add its own special flair. All
around the pond are old pepperidge
trees. Some, the more privileged have
their own special osprey nest. The
sounds I hear are all of the wild.
Always present are the gulls in the
background. Then as we disturb the
area, the ospreys put in their com-
plaint with their high- pitched call. Way
off up in back, the crows remind you
that they, too, have a place in the sun.
"Just above the high water mark,
along the edge of the pond in the
thickets, song sparrows talk to one
another while a woodpecker rattles
his death drum to some juicy wood
borer deep inside an old rotten limb.
As I write time moves on, I'm becom.
ing concerned about the geese not
returning to their nest. Is it the wind
flapping my blind? Or is it their
supersensitivity to my blind added to
the landscape that keeps them away?
I don't like to keep them from the
nest for any great length of time even
if the air temperature is up. What to
do?
"I hear the raspy call of a pheasant.
Is it just a call to others to keep out of
my territory? Now a pair of swans fly
by. Sounds like someone shaking an
old rug in rhythm. Now it's the red-
wing who challenges a newcomer to
the marsh and his crescendo drives the
intruder away. (Needless to say I took
the blind down and let the geese come
back to their nest. No pictures today.)
"When the young geese hatch, they
are beautiful little brown and yellow
fluffs of life. As soon as all are out of
their shells, they leave the nest and
head for the water. Sorry to say, any
gosling that strays from the protection
of its parents becomes a victim of
gulls who will swoop down and snatct
it right out of the water. This is panic
ularly true of the big black - backed
gull, who'll rob anybody's nest for a
meal."
I thought it appropriate to include
this old passage from my journal
because it typifies spring with all its