Friday, May 22, 2009

Duckling mystery

We continue to see our Wood Duck couple each morning but we have yet to see any little ones in the pond or elsewhere. Not wanting to disturb the happy family, we have been reticent to peek in the nest box; but since our little brood is way past due, we decided to row out to check it out. What we found is puzzling. Inside the nest box is all the nesting material (lots of fluffy wood chips and duck down), many broken egg shells...and several newly-laid eggs! While we're glad to see that our couple is going for a second round, we don't know the fate of the first brood. Either the ducklings fledged and have been well-hidden in the woods, or duckling predation is very high around here. We know that owls, hawks, foxes and mink prey on Wood Duck ducklings and we have plenty of those (heck, they've gotta eat, too!). Large mouth bass will also gobble them up, but I really don't think our bass are that large-mouthed.

So, we're going to keep a close eye on this second batch and hope for a more typical outcome this time around. At any rate, I take comfort in knowing that Nature's plan is always the right plan. As long as we don't try to "fix" anything, everything will happen exactly as it's meant to.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Wild mustangs of the not-so-wild west

I've been invited to tag along with a professional photographer to one of the most remote and breathtaking places in the U.S. to become intimate with a special group of wild horses. In late June, I'll be heading to the Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming for a two week trek to seek out and photograph a few bands of wild horses, featured in a handful of Nature documentaries and the subject of ongoing controversy.

The horses reside in a protected area known as the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, which spans the Montana/Wyoming border. The area is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This federal agency is responsible for determining the "appropriate management level" of horses and burros on public land. As you might expect, there is a longstanding debate over what constitutes an "appropriate" population of wild horses. Ranchers, who profit by allowing their livestock to graze on public lands, lobby for fewer wild horses. Animal rights activists and horse enthusiasts lobby to leave the horses alone, allowing nature to keep their population in check. The BLM is caught in the middle, trying to keep everyone happy but never really able to satisfy anyone.

It is believed these horses, known as mustangs, are of Spanish ancestry, introduced to the Pryor Mountains about 200 years ago. They are a smaller horse (about 14 hands), sturdy and well-suited to living in rugged terrain. They form herds, or bands. Each band is comprised of a lead stallion and about 5 or 6 mares and youngsters. Band dynamics change constantly, and younger bachelor stallions regularly vie for control over a group of mares. There are about 130 horses living in the Range, with about 20-30 foals born each year.

We'll be camping out for most of the two-week adventure, up at first light (the best light for taking pictures) and sleeping in a tent or - even better - under the stars. I've heard there's a backpacker's cabin (of sorts) that we might have to hang out in if the weather is bad. I've also heard that it's impossible to get any sleep there with the mice and squirrels (and worse?) running over you throughout the night. Sleeping conditions notwithstanding, I'm really looking forward to getting out into the wilderness, with the horses and the wildflowers and the solitude.

The photograph isn't mine. It is by Deb Little, the talented photographer who I have the privilege of accompanying on this trip.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

This place is for the birds

Not a second goes by that there isn't something wonderful and enlightening occurring right outside my door (or window). I am constantly amazed at how attentive bird parents are to their young, often forgoing their own comfort and safety for that of their offspring. We humans would be well served to take a few lessons from our feathered counterparts.

Last week, during a perfect spring day, we had the privilege of watching a pair of eastern bluebirds deliver a smorgasbord of insects to their hungry hatchlings. The mated pair took turns throughout the day collecting bugs and depositing them inside the nest box. Never more than 5 minutes would pass before one of the pair would be there with a delivery.

The wood ducks are still incubating. It should be any day now! We see the male paddling around the nest box each morning, warding off potential intruders, while the female goes out for breakfast.

There are adorable (but poopy) eastern phoebes making every attempt to affix their muddy nests to every available orifice on the house. So far we have kept them at bay, removing their nests several times a day. But they are efficient builders and undeterred by our constant interference with their progress. Yesterday, with a mouthful of moss, one phoebe waited patiently six feet away while I pried his handiwork from the eaves over our covered patio.

We had a mated pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks fly headlong into one of our windows, both dying instantly. We get a lot of bird strikes, and in most cases, the little fellows shake it off and fly away. Tragically, this was not the case for this pair of gorgeous and somewhat uncommon birds and we are genuinely mourning the loss. To think that this couple made the long trip from Mexico or Central America to raise their family at our home in Ohio, only to be killed by the presence of our man-made structure, makes us extremely sad.

I am pleased to report that I got a glimpse of our red-headed woodpeckers yesterday. I assume that they have set up house (again) in the trees surrounding our meadow, and I am very excited to have them back this year.

Robins, like many birds, are diligent nest builders and we have been watching one bring twigs and mud and moss to construct a sturdy little structure in a hemlock outside our bedroom window. As her nest has taken shape, I have noticed a horizontal black stripe forming across the front of her rusty breast. I read that the females, as part of their nest building process, use their breasts to tamp down the mud around the inside of the nest, forming the cup in which she lays her eggs. Hence, the muddy band I see across her front. There is also a robin nesting in the rafters of our woodshed. Her eggs have hatched now and she spends her entire day collecting worms and insects to fill those 4 or 5 gaping mouths. She looks a little worse for wear. Her feathers are rumpled and it's obvious that with all those hungry mouths to feed, she has no time to groom herself.

That's all to report for now. So much activity, so little time to take it all in!