Work Out - Bird residents are back

By Nancy Leasman of Long Prairie

Our bird residents are back. They’re not just back, in a general way, but have taken up their usual residences. Now that I think about it, are they the same birds, descendants of previous tenants, or members of the same species choosing the existing territories?

The eastern phoebe family nests under the exterior stairs leading to the loft above Ron’s woodshop. They frequently perch on the sections of birch logs, a former mushroom growing project, stacked under the stairs. It’s their territory and they occupy it year after year.

The gray catbird family lives east of the house. They “meow” from the landscape shrubs and the taller black walnuts and oak nearby. While meowing is classic, they’re extraordinary mimics and string together intricate notes and songs of other birds.

The wren in residence. Contributed photo by Nancy Leasman

The house wren has reclaimed the wren house hanging from the eave on the west end of the porch. A remnant of the old bittersweet vine that once climbed the porch rail hangs above the wren house and provides not only an ideal perching place but also plant fibers the birds strip off and carry into the house.

Several years ago, I took the house down, cleaned it out and washed it thoroughly. I repainted it and hung it back up. The wrens were not impressed. Even less so, when I suspended a hanging planter with blooming fuchsia beneath their house. That changed the angle of the house and apparently the combination of fresh paint and a cattywampus tilt was too much. No wrens came near it for several years.

Now that the paint is faded, the hanging plant is gone, the wrens are back.

The bluebirds are back in the year-old birdhouse posted near the grape vines. Last year they competed with tree swallows. The swallows ultimately claimed a neighboring house on the garden post and left the grapevine home to the bluebirds. I haven’t seen any tree swallows yet this year nor have I seen bluebirds claiming that apparently vacated residence.

The grosbeaks and orioles came back to the feeder a week later than those that returned to my friend Kathy’s feeding station. She lives about 10 miles east of me and must be on an earlier migration stop.

The hummingbirds came a week after the grosbeaks and orioles. A pair of indigo buntings visited briefly and moved on. Kathy says her scarlet tanagers are staying. I haven’t seen any, yet.

The redstarts, vireos, and warblers are around but since they seldom visit the feeders, we hear them more than see them. Regular diners at the feeder include finches, blue jays, cardinals, woodpeckers, sparrows, chickadees and nuthatches.

A pheasant pair paraded through the yard this morning. Crows regularly march around both the back and the front yards. Ravens mix in there, too, and at a glance it’s hard to tell the difference. Turkeys bob and trot through occasionally. Mallards and wood ducks splash in the pond.

While I haven’t actually counted, my tentative tally is only a small percentage of the official spring bird count. My friend Susan, an experienced seasonal bird counter, said birders recorded 120 species in the area’s May bird count. She said that number is about the usual result and includes birds large and small, shore birds, raptors, pigeons and passerines.