Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Rebirth

New shagbark hickory, Charles River Peninsula, Needham, MA
Someone, officially or unofficially I don't know, planted a new shagbark hickory atop the hill at the Charles River Peninsula.  And the male bobolink is back. June 12 is about as late as I've had them at the CRP. Maybe there's some mystery breeding that I don't know about....
Tree swallow nest with single unhatched egg
Tree swallows are beginning to fledge. Two boxes so far. I saw one young fledging, to the distress of parent birds, causing trouble at other boxes.
And as expected, the bluebirds are nesting again, in a box they've loved in the past (that had a house sparrow in it for a while this spring). The nest is again made of pine needles, but given the weather recently, it is very damp and apparently hastily constructed. We'll have to wait and see on this one.

Finally, the blackbirds have become extremely protective as their young fledge into the meadow. The resident red-tailed hawk can get no peace. Watch as the red-winged blackbirds and a common grackle attack it. (I've included a slow-motion clip so you can see in detail the real feather-pulling damage being done).

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I really think the lingering cool of the year has extended the mgtarory phase.

The neotropical wave is largely a bunch of bug eaters. And the coolness inhibited bug proliferation.

I decided to just concentrate on making reference trail video clips so much of the season passed me by but I see some sense of it extending.

On the urban side, Herons are quite pleased with the Mystic River now that we haven't hunted them in a hundred years and they are getting pretty bold.

In your neck of the woods, may I suggest the old Medfield State Hospital grounds?

It is a sort of state park now and I made some video of the Charles River Link Trail at the boundary of Sherborn, Dover and Medfield. It includes the opposite side of Rocky Narrows.