Love is in the air!

Yesterday, in between two storm fronts that rolled over the lake, I got out kayaking to listen to the birds at the ecotone of the Winooski river by Derway park. It was about 55-60˚F, and overcast at first then very sunny. The wind was calm along the river but breezy on the lake.

In the flooded marsh of Derway, I saw a male Hooded Merganser preforming his courtship dance to a female sitting on a log. He bobbed his head backwards, tucking it to his back in quick motions. He swam around her continuing this behavior despite my presence. After some time flew off and so did she, potentially he had convinced her to follow him? Additionally, my kayak birding partner pointed out a cavity in a tree where he saw an unidentified bird disappear. Nearby was a House Sparrow calling out so potentially it was another sparrow that had disappeared. All along the floodplain were snags with fantastic cavities in them, some new and some old. The larger ones would provide an excellent place for wood ducks to nest if they are near the water but not right on the water. Falling apart bird boxes were also nailed to the trees but had no signs of recent bird activity. Other old woven nests higher up might be good for birds like phoebes, grackles, or cardinals. In the marchers where the red-winged blackbirds were singing would be an excellent place for a female to hid her nest. Her nest would be woven of grasses and reeds and held to gather with bits of mud. The reeds could be easily collected form dead matter from the year before and the mud could be gathered from the riverbank.

As we drove back to campus we saw a European Starling gathering up a beak-full of grasses and flew off to the eves of a building possibly to build a nest. This bird could easily gather it’s materials in any urban area and as seen by their presence near campus buildings, they live well on man-made structures. This is quite different from the red-winged blackbird that very specifically requires a thick marshy area. The Northern Cardinal I saw was perched high up in bushes near the boat launch with it’s crown raised, singing loudly. While I did not see a female around, it is very likely that this bird was protecting his territory with his song. I suspect this area is quite good as it is near a protected delta with plenty of wild foods and not far from houses that have sufficient shrubs and bird feeders.

When we returned to the parking lot I sat for a few minutes listening to the birdsongs. It was more challenging now with the commotion from the cars pulling in. When I was at Derway the red-winged blackbirds were loud and clear but were equally competing for the grackles for airspace. Now the chickadees, cardinals, song sparrows, robins, and other songbirds sound more jumbled.

Posted on April 30, 2018 03:56 AM by jnorris2