NEST BOXES

The nest boxes (originally for bluebirds) that we put up March of 2009 are finally getting some action!  Several weeks ago, I watched as a pair of Tree Swallows flew, circled, hovered and landed on each of them several different times, sticking their iridescent green heads in but never going fully inside.  I decided that maybe the openings weren't big enough, so my very patient husband "gerry-rigged" a way to drill them a bit bigger.  

Last week, I noticed the middle (smiley-face) one had grass hanging out and when I opened it...a mossy nest...and eggs!  But several days later it was not a Tree Swallow, but a Carolina Chickadee, coming and going from the box.  That's ok...I'll take it!

Today, the Tree Swallows were back checking out the sunflower box and the one with the quilt design.  Since they were doing the same head-in-but-not-body move as before, I opened both of them and knocked down the wasp nests inside, in case that was a factor in them choosing one of my boxes over a tree cavity somewhere that I can't see.  Time will tell.

The Eastern Bluebirds have successfully raised their first of probably two broods in the box on the phone pole in the backyard.  I hear their little, high-pitched tweets every time one of the parents brings in a mouthful of caterpillar or grasshopper.  Mmmmm...YUM! 

Updates to follow...

Cindy

FECUNDITY!

No, it is not an expletive.  It's a term for the amount of LIFE that is being multiplied in the prairie, pond and woods here at Prairie Pond Woods!  After taking a walk on the Refresher Course this afternoon, I was struck by the increase of certain plants, and the number of native trees and wildflowers that actually survived the winter after being transplanted last fall. 

Most of the time, as you may have gathered from previous rants, I bemoan the fecundity of invasive species I do battle with every season. But today I was joyful and grateful...and didn't give much attention at all to the crown vetch and honeysuckle popping up and winding over things.  No, today I noticed with childlike glee a new patch of Bellwort in the woods, and how far several colonies of Mayapples are spreading. Also this year I counted 12 Jack-in-the-pulpits along the spring creek, about 4 times as many as the first year I went looking.  

One of the questions people often ask me when they come for a retreat is, "What are all those little orange flags?"  Because I can never remember what I plant from year to year, I have to mark them. 

As I strolled along the creek bed, which is mostly dry due to the lack of spring rains, I saw both transplanted flagged Bluebells and Jacob's ladder blooming away!  The flags I thought might be Redbud trees I'd already decided to just pluck up and take back, but lo and behold, there they were!  Four out of seven made it...OK, so they were only about 8 inches tall and had most of their tops chewed off by browsing deer, but they actually leafed out!  Fecundity!

Now the pond has its own story.  Four years ago, on tax day, when we took possession of the place, the pond had only one live species in it...a whirling beetle...and thousands of them!  No plants, so amphibians, no ducks or geese would even make a stopover. Because of the shale and limestone bedrock, our poor pond was quite acidic...a pH of 3.8.  Then in November we dumped in a truck-load of lime and five months later things started happening!  That spring, I saw heron tracks.  Next, toad eggs.  One interesting April, an orgy of leopard frogs at the far end.  We eventually named it the Lazarus pond for obvious reasons. 

Recently while standing by the edge looking for new shoots of aquatic plants, we saw something moving toward us, looking quite curious.  I grabbed my camera and kept taking shots as it crept closer and closer.  Finally we saw that it was a bulllfrog in metamorphosis between tadpole and adult.  Today, a male Wood Duck also walked at the pond's edge.  Then around dusk three of them flew over the house, sending their high-pitched calls into the sky.  Fecundity! 

EARTH DAY SABBATICAL...and beyond!

I've decided (again) to practice a bit of what I preach and take a 3-week sabbatical at Prairie Pond Woods starting on Earth Day.  Spring is the season I love the most...it used to be the Fall...but then I learned about all the LIFE that passes through overhead or comes back again after a long dormancy.  Once I started identifying and learning the names of migrating birds, wildflowers and other emerging creatures, as well as their specific habitats and behaviors, I was hooked.  Ignorance is definitely not bliss in nature.  Education only enhances the appreciation and understanding for what has been created as a gift to us all.  I plan to learn as many new things as possible while I'm there.

I have several other goals for this sabbatical (just how goal-oriented should one be during a sabbatical?).  One is to continue more diligently the breeding bird survey for my 10-square mile transect in Adams County.  Another is to post daily nature-journal entries on the blog...so brace yourselves for a lot of  notifications.  Another is to finish a short story submission for a writing contest due mid-May.  Plus, I plan to finish reading one 3D book (A Thousand Splendid Suns) and one CD book (The English Major). 

My last goal is less artsy-fartsy, less interesting and less fun...eat right and exercise at least 5 times per week (not just my rambling-discovery-walk kind of exercise...but the kind where I'm pleading for oxygen).  "They" say that to develop a good habit, it takes 3 weeks of repetition.  I'm putting "their" theory to the test during this down time...when I have no other commitments, no distractions, no stress, no TV and no bad food in the house to go along with it.  Do I dare take and post a "before" and "after" picture?  We'll see. 

I'll be back,

Cindy

This Week Last Year at PPW

I keep a Phenology Journal (or try to) where I write down weather conditions, species sightings, bloom times, etc. on the property.  It is both fun and frustrating.  Fun, because it keeps me in tune, aware and expectant of new discoveries.  Frustrating, because there is so much going on at this time of year, I actually forget to document it all!  

As an example, here are a few 2009 excerpts from when I was down there around the same time last year.  You may have to think about some of my abbreviations!

Thursday, March 26-Rained most of the day (1-2") Sun kept peeking out after 4pm. Waxwings on persimmon, 25 goldfnch w them-then flew to eat maple buds.  F Rose-brsted grosbeak at feeder.  Goldn-crwnd kinglet, yel-rump, yel-bel sapsker.  Juncos still here.  High 62
 

 

Friday, March 27 - Chipping sparrows seen for the first time.  Blue violets out.  Daffodils are mostly bloomed.  Saw geese in pond this pm.  Japanese beetles still thick at kitchen 

window!

Saturday, March 28 - Heard woodcock and barred owl around 6:45 pm.  Barred owl is like clockwork. Woodcock again at 8:30 - 27 "peents" before whirling.  

Sunday, March 29 - Red-spotted Salamander in pond found by B. McLaren!  Blue Violets.  Spring Azure butterfly.  Cold and Windy

THE BLUEBIRDS ARE BACK

So far, 3 out of the 4 years we've owned Prairie Pond Woods, a pair of eastern bluebirds have nested on our property.  The last two years they raised their brood in the old, weathered box on the telephone pole out back, and the other year in the old, weathered box on the telephone pole out front.  Both boxes were already there when we bought the place.

Evidently they don't prefer the fancy- shmancy boxes we and some friends of Prairie Pond Woods decorated so they could have very fashionable living spaces.  Oh well, I'm just grateful they are back and visitors can enjoy watching them build their nest, as well as CONTINUALLY feed their offspring. 

We truly do owe a debt of gratitude to the many songbirds that migrate up to the US to spend the spring and summers here.  Last year, I watched both male and female bluebirds spend from 7 am until about 7 pm doing nothing but feeding their babies caterpillars, spiders and any other bug they could capture.  

I'm talking one parent about every 3-5 minutes bringing back bugs that would otherwise have made it into your house, garden or outdoor table setting!  We would live surrounded by a sea of bugs (also known as a pestilence) if not for the Divinely appointed diligence of our feathered friends each season.