NEWS FROM THE HOME FRONT (6/26/03)

Spring got off to a rather topsy-turvy start — not just for us but for the birds, as well. The usual vanguards of migration like palm, pine and yellow-rumped warblers were mixed in with those that usually bring up the rear of the northward-bound nesters, the blackpolls, mourning warblers and olive-sided flycatchers, while a yellow-billed cuckoo was struck by a car on the mainland weeks ahead of when it should have been this far north.

On our own small piece of the Cape, our nesting screech owls fledged their young over a two-night period, June 9 and 10. We really miss seeing the red-phased mom peering out from her nest box as she had done for more than a month. In fact, we were suffering from empty-nest syndrome until we realized that we had a pair of flickers nesting in another box on the other side of our yard! Of course, the owl family is still hanging out in our area as the scolding and razzing of vigilant chickadees, titmice, robins, catbirds and others testifies, but they remain hidden to our eyes.

Both a black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoo that were following the proper time table were calling in our yard mid-June. Their nesting success will depend on whether there is a plentiful supply of tent caterpillars this year or not. They’re about the only birds that can digest those hairy, prickly caterpillars. While we are NIMBYs about the caterpillars, we hope that somewhere they are abundant.

Elsewhere in our area, a Yarmouthport reader who lives adjacent to a golf course asked why were tree swallows bothering their bluebird house and why aren’t the bluebirds choosing to nest in the box? I’ll start by talking about bluebirds. They seem to be extremely finicky about where they’ll nest. All the housing features they require may be right in front of them — a properly-designed box, short grass in the nest area and open space for dining — but still they don’t nest. Tree swallows, on the other hand, are amenable to almost any cavity, including metal/plastic paper delivery tubes. They are native to our area and make great tenants. If you study them, you will also see that they are almost as beautiful as bluebirds.

A Centerville reader tells a very interesting story. It started about a month ago when she heard scratching sounds from the chimney that leads to her old Franklin stove. Her cats were well aware of the sounds, too, and were getting more and more excited over the next two days, especially when the scratching changed to newspaper being disturbed, meaning the mysterious visitor had reached the fire box. When our intrepid reader opened the door to the stove, she saw “a lump —not too big — pressed tightly to the stove.” Closing the door, she collected her largest pail, opened her outside door, went back to the stove, quickly removed the door, held the pail over the opening and pulled out the egg box and her visitor immediately flew into the pail. As soon as he felt fresh air, he took off, soaring over the shed in the back yard. Can you guess what bird it was? An adult screech owl!

Now, some news from the past, the spring of 1916 to be exact. March 10 at the Harwich Grange, No. 349, was “Bird Night.” Attendees listened to bird songs on Victrola records (wouldn’t I love to know what songs and who had made them?); learned about bird study in our agricultural school; heard talks about migration, our native species and encouraging birds around our homes. Another member read Tennyson’s “The Throstle.” (I had to look that up; it was a name for Europe’s song thrush.)

Meanwhile at the Brewster Grange, No. 272, on March 17, a member gave a program that included seven short articles about birds and the great good they do the farmers by eating destructive insects.

Right now, we are at the time where baby birds are everywhere, and all too often some of them find themselves in precarious situations. I am frequently asked whether handling a baby bird will keep the mother from feeding it. Take this email from an Iowa reader as an example: “Today, my curiosity got me into trouble. I looked into a low bird nest and startled a baby bird. He jumped out and hopped away. He is pretty much fully feathered but he couldn't fly. I waited and the parents didn't do anything with him so I carefully picked him up and put him back in his nest in which there were other babies also. The mother will still care for them even though I touched him, won't she? I am really worried that I did the wrong thing but I have animals and I didn't want them to get the baby.”

Actually, she did the absolutely correct thing. Putting the young bird back in the nest is the number one prescription. If you cannot do that, put the baby bird into a small basket and place it as near to the nest or the area where you found the bird as you can and high enough that children and roaming cats cannot reach it. The parents will continue to care for their young until it’s able to leave the nest. What you don’t want to do is make an effort to care for it yourself. You can never supply its needs the way a parent can.

GRAPHIC: Screech Owl, photo courtesy of Joyce Leary, Yarmouth