Cattail Memories
On May 3, I was monitoring my twenty nestboxes in Smith Park’s drainage ditch along Troy Road, and as I descended into the ditch in front of Box-12, a Red-winged Blackbird flew straight up from its nest located less than several feet away from the nestbox. At first, I did not see the nest, but once I did, I did not try to touch it, or move closer to it, since leaving one’s scent would make it easier for a furry predator to do its thing.
I knew that red-wings used the cattails for nesting but other thoughts started after I finished checking the nestbox to find a Tree Swallow’s nest in progress. I now live in a very busy county as far as housing development is concerned, but I am a World War II baby born in 1944, and as I grew up cattails were part of many farm ponds that made the tall plants common. Most farm ponds were ringed with zones of cattails and wherever there were shallow waters, cattails, water lilies and other water plants absorbed nutrients that flowed into the ponds, limiting the growth of algae.
Cattails do not grow in deep water, and so cattails told us where the deeper waters were that would be good for swimming, usually near the pond’s dam. One pond in my youth was used for swimming. And, when pond owners allowed, frog hunting and fishing were great pastimes. The cattails and other pond vegetation provided shelter for many forms of life and large fish were able to develop as smaller life forms found shelter while some became food for larger creatures, etc.
Being raised by communities that experienced the Great Depression and World War II, I, and other young people were encouraged to hunt, fish, hunt frogs, garden and enjoy other activities that taught us how to live off the land.
Modern times in Delaware County are bringing on many ponds that don’t resemble those of my youth. Most of the new ponds are retention ponds that have no cattails; only mowed grass grows to the water’s edge. When I fail to see cattails or other vegetation growing up above the water, then I know the water is deep, and I simply call such ponds death traps. When I purchased my Chevy Spark automobile in 2016, I spent eight hundred more dollars for an auto that did not have electronic locks, so if I ever find myself in a retention pond death trap after hitting a deer, I will be better able to escape my sinking car. Car owners with electronic locks, simply go down with their ship.
Also, if a young child escapes supervision, and decides to explore a retention pond, the event might have fatal consequences. If cattails are part of a pond environment, a young wader has something to cling to if they slip. (Occasionally, I also grab cattails for stability.)
One more negative thought. Many of the modern ponds have water fountains that spray to help with oxygen concentration and algae control. Where is the electricity coming from? Is there a solar panel nearby? I hope so. If not, more carbon dioxide is entering the atmosphere to help warm us up. If a wind turbine generator supplies the electricity, well, my nickname for those is “a bat blender.” Well, enough said.
As for the red-wings that got me thinking about cattails, they raised a family of four and the fancy birds are a common sight in Smith Park.
Let’s help the creatures that we share our earth with. Conserve on.
Delaware County Osprey
As of mid-June, with the aid of my spotting scope, I had tried to count Osprey young on seven platforms and succeeded in all but two families. At the Delaware Lake platform near the lake’s southern intersection with Rt. 229, I counted three young.
At the northern edge of Alum Creek Lake along Hogback Road near Kilbourne, three nestlings were very vigorous on the most northern platform, AC-1. AC-2 also has three youngsters.
At the beginning of the Osprey nesting season, both AC-3 and AC-4 were occupied by geese. By April 28, the geese had hatched their eggs and their goslings had dropped from the two Osprey platforms to the lake below to start their journey to adulthood. A pair of Osprey quickly claimed AC-4 with eggs while AC-3 remained just a nice place for fish hawks to rest. I believe that hatching has taken place on AC-4, but it usually takes several weeks after hatching before nestling heads appear above the nest rim. (June 26 update: AC-4 has failed. The platform was empty today.)
At Hoover Reservoir near the boardwalk at Galena, I counted three nestlings on Platform H-2 but I had a hard time seeing what was going on H-1 which stands in front of an island south of the boardwalk. I may have seen two nestlings on H-1, but I am not sure. I was watching from the graveled foot trail that runs parallel to the lake’s eastern shore since the City of Columbus had locked and fenced off the boardwalk and its parking lot.
While I wear my face mask due to concerns about the pandemic, two things about the boardwalk policy concern me. First, fishermen on the boardwalk usually have their backs to the walking public since they are concentrating on watching their fish lines and bobbers for fish bites. I would not be worried about virus exposure from folks trying to enjoy a good fishing trip. Secondly, sometime after June 8, large trees fell across the graveled trail along the east side of the lake. Once the lake rises, it will be almost impossible to walk the trail for good fishing, or in my case, good viewing of the Osprey platforms. Will someone, or some agency, clear the path? The fallen trees are huge, more than several feet wide. [Editor’s note: as of July 19, the downed trees blocking the trail have been removed.]
If you need an adventure, give our Osprey a try. Of course, many fish hawks have claimed cell towers for nesting and I worry about the radiation messing up their instincts and health in general.
One positive point, kayaks have become super common at Alum Creek and everyone seems to be obeying the signs around the platforms that notify visitors to stay outside the signs. So far, our nesting Osprey seem to accept the floating visitors and are not disturbed by them. I have not heard one chirp of worry from any fish hawks as floaters maintained their safe and legal distances.
American Kestrels
Dick Phillips and I have banded 57 kestrels from 14 nestboxes to complete the falcons’ first nesting. We will check all 18 boxes sometime around July 4 to make sure we don’t miss a second nesting. Their latest first egg date is May 24 and usually one or two boxes contain second families. I will submit a complete report once the season ends.
Carolina Wrens
Carolina Wrens nested three times and were successful twice. The wrens nested in one of two Bob Orthwein Carolina Wren boxes on my back porch. They produced five eggs that developed to fledge. At Delaware State Park, two nest attempts with eggs in bluebird nestboxes ended with one nest successfully fledging five from five eggs. The other nest of five eggs was usurped by House Wrens.
A Carolina Wren nest is mostly moss with some leaves and grass. In a bluebird box, they weave a nest that has a horizontal tunnel that leads to the nest cup where the eggs are hatched and nestlings are fed. If you are a competing bird looking down into the box from the entrance hole, you just see a layer of moss below.
The Carolina Wren’s nesting season is not over. During past decades, I recorded the latest first egg date as July 18. After an early spring nest with a first egg laid in late March or early April, they avoid my back porch for later second nests because of high summer temperatures that build up in our world.
Carolina Chickadees – A Disappointing Season
Carolinas attempted six nests, but only two produced fledglings. One nest behind my home in Delaware raised six from six eggs. Another Delaware nest at the student observatory on the Ohio Wesleyan campus raised two from two eggs that were laid after four earlier eggs disappeared from the same nest.
Three chickadee nestlings at Austin Manor died after a failed fostering of two orphan nestlings from the Ohio Wildlife Center. Sticks covered the remains of three nestlings from the combined family of five, pointing toward House Wrens as the possible cause.
In one chickadee nest inside the woodland at the John Young Park south of Delaware, four hatched from six eggs and all grew to fledge.
At the Olentangy Environmental Control Center across the Olentangy River from Highbanks Metro Park, seven chickadee eggs fell victim to House Wrens.
So, from total of 28 eggs, 15 (53.6%) hatched, and 12 (42.9%) fledged for a very poor season.
Alum Creek Prothonotary Warbler Project
Forty-five nestboxes and nestjars make up the project and I last visited on June 24 to find that 21 of the prothonotaries had fledged from five nests. Two PROW nests were usurped by House Wrens. Fourteen Tree swallow nests were still active after 16 fledged from four nests, and the little trouble making wrens had raised 31 in six nests and had eggs or young in six additional home sites.
On one of my monitoring visits in my canoe, at two different locations, two female warblers approached their nestjars as I was recording data, and both wore leg bands. Unfortunately, I have decided to back off from banding my warbler nestlings in order to cut down on the number of visits where loading and unloading my canoe and other manual challenges are facts of life.
One other family of five nestling prothonotaries resides in the Green Tree Marsh along the original Leonardsburg Road on the Delaware Wildlife Area. The marsh is a prime habitat that copies what beavers produced before the European fur market arrived hundreds of years ago.
Eastern Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and House Wrens
I will report on these three species after they complete their nesting seasons. For now, they are living up to, or dying up to, the fact that the insect populations have declined at much as seventy percent according to what is being published. Those of us that monitor nesting birds know something is wrong and the answers are best explained by entomologists, those that monitor insects. At the end of the season, I will do the math to do an accurate report of what is happening in our threatened world. The number one promise resulting from climate change is erratic weather. Well, enough said for the moment.
Cliff Swallows at Delaware State Park
The only restroom at DSP’s beach stands at its south end and it is an old wooden home to 70 Cliff Swallow nests that are gourd-shaped structures made of mud and glue-like saliva. The small vases are pasted where the walls meet the roof. Forty nests are on the south side and thirty are on the north face.
Check them out, and I saw a family using cell phones to capture the unique images of birds that help our species enjoy the beach by eating irritating flying insects.
Conserve on!