Of Nests, Frass, and Climbing Groundhogs

Nesting and fledging continues around campus, with the early season breeders already feeding young while the mid-season nesters are still working on construction. A pair of Cedar Waxwings was recently observed building their nest out of oak catkins (the oaks' "flowers") in a Plane Tree between Hallowell and BP:



Both of the pair work constantly to gather the materials and weave them into the walls of the nest, finally settling in and "shimmying" to shape the cup before heading out for another batch of catkins.

Down at the boathouse, two pairs of Barn Swallows have finished their mud nests after the first attempts failed. The dry weather may have prevented the mud mixture from adhering well to the concrete, but the second round of nests appear to be sticking well.

The wide gape of this perched swallow demonstrates how well-suited it is to snatch (and, ahem, swallow) flying insects on the wing.  In this case, though, the bird was just yawning.

In other news, the trees in Estabrook are being hit hard by several species of insects this spring, primarily the introduced, invasive Winter Moth, whose small, green caterpillars have effectively defoliated acres of the woodland.  After a late hatching due to the prolonged winter, the caterpillars emerged several weeks ago with a vengeance.

Usually, trees can recover from defoliation, sprouting a new set of leaves after caterpillar populations drop off in June and July.  The long term effects of defoliation are unclear, but if this becomes an annual event, it could result in increased tree mortality.  In the meantime, there are some side benefits for other species; birds now have a bumper crop of inchworms to feed their young, the plants of the forest floor have ample sunlight penetrating through the thinned leaves, and the organic material synthesized by the trees and passed through the digestive tracts of the caterpillars is falling down from the canopy and fertilizing the forest soil.  That's right, it's raining caterpillar poo.  The technical term for it is "frass," and if you stand quietly in the forest, you can hear it striking the leaves around you.  It builds up in other places besides the soil, of course, as seen here on the East Fields bridge:

And finally, if you're still reading, you may be interested to know, as I discovered on a recent jog through Estabrook, that Groundhogs (aka Woodchucks or Whistlepigs) can, in a pinch, climb trees.  After emitting an explosive, piercing alarm call, this one dashed out from under me and skittered up a nearby tree, stopping about 20 feet up the trunk, where it clung to a thick Poison Ivy vine and stared at me.  I was thrown for a loop at first, because not only are Groundhogs seldom found far from open fields (this was pretty deep in the woods), I had not known them to climb anything higher than a stump or a stone wall.  But here is photographic evidence, snapped with my phone:

While the Groundhog was a mammalian highlight of that day, I also kept track of which birds I heard on my run through Estabrook: 46 species, a new "running list" record.  Here's the list, in case you're interested:

Estabrook Woods, Middlesex, Massachusetts, US
May 28, 2015 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
7.0 mile(s)
Comments:    Jogging, birding by ear, pausing occasionally.  Circuit through northern Estabrook, starting from MX school, through Carlisle portion, down Two-rod Rd., across to old Estabrook Rd. <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.8
46 species

Cooper's Hawk  1
Red-shouldered Hawk  1
Broad-winged Hawk  1
Mourning Dove  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  4
Hairy Woodpecker  3
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  1
Pileated Woodpecker  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee  5
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Red-eyed Vireo  12
Blue Jay  3
Black-capped Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  4
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Brown Creeper  2
House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2
Veery  3
Hermit Thrush  1
Wood Thrush  5
American Robin  3
Gray Catbird  5
Ovenbird  10
Northern Waterthrush  3
Common Yellowthroat  5
American Redstart  1
Yellow Warbler  1
Pine Warbler  3
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
Canada Warbler  2
Chipping Sparrow  3
Song Sparrow  2
Swamp Sparrow  1
Scarlet Tanager  4
Northern Cardinal  3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  2
Indigo Bunting  2
Red-winged Blackbird  1
Common Grackle  2
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Baltimore Oriole  3
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  2

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the wilds of Middlesex!

Plants!

Leaf-out is upon us.  After such a long delay (compared with recent years), the leaves on the Norway Maples seemed to explode out of their buds last week, and now many of the native species have almost fully leafed out, too.  When the birding gets slow, we botanize, so here are a few of the species found on a weekend ramble around the west edge of Estabrook.

Poison Ivy can be readily identified by it's reddish stem/petiole and three-leafed structure, but at this time of year, the glossy sheen and amount of green can vary significantly.  The newest foliage can be almost all purplish red...

...while older plants take on a more uniform greenish hue:

The species grows both as a free-standing plant or bush and as a high-climbing vine.  If you see a trunk that looks like this, don't hug it!  That's a Poison Ivy vine climbing into the canopy.

Some other interesting trees that you might come across on the trails are Hophornbeam, whose flaky bark is accentuated by this photo:

Striped Maple, whose bark is green and (wouldn't you know) striped:

and American Chestnut, a species that was once the dominant large tree in eastern forests of North America but now only exists as small sprouts from the rootstock, dying after only about five years of growth.  An introduced blight from Asia decimated the trees above ground in the early 20th century, but the roots still survive, sending up shoots that eventually will succumb as well.  This photo shows a typical chestnut specimen in Estabrook.  The leaves are fairly easily identified by their elongated shape and deeply toothed edges.

Lastly, it is blooming time for some of our more spectacular wildflowers, including the Pink Lady's Slipper, an orchid highly prized for its large single bloom.  Keep your eyes peeled, and you just might see one, but please leave it there for a friend to find!

Birds, Birds, and More Birds

Nesting and egg-laying are in full swing around campus.  Barn Swallows have constructed their cup of mud and pine needles under the Locke boathouse deck:

Red- Bellied Woodpeckers have taken up residence in a Red Maple snag at the east end of Bateman's:

Baltimore Orioles have strung up an intricately woven, sack-like nest above the road leading up to the tennis courts (just across the bridge).

Mid- May is the peak of songbird migration as well, so while our resident birds are settling in, dozens more species are moving through, leading to a peak in overall bird species diversity on campus.  In just one hour on Sunday morning, over 50 species were found on the survey, most of which were heard only!

Middlesex School, Middlesex, US-MA
May 17, 2015 6:09 AM - 7:09 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments:    Sunday survey.  Main drive, dock, and east fields.  Orchard Oriole new for MX campus list. <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.8
51 species

Canada Goose  4
Wood Duck  3
Great Blue Heron  1
Virginia Rail  1
Mourning Dove  3
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  2
Chimney Swift  6
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  3
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Eastern Kingbird  2
Warbling Vireo  4
Red-eyed Vireo  5
Blue Jay  6
American Crow  1
Tree Swallow  2
Barn Swallow  4
Black-capped Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  3
Brown Creeper  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Wood Thrush  4
American Robin  11
Gray Catbird  5
European Starling  3
Cedar Waxwing  4
Ovenbird  3
Common Yellowthroat  4
American Redstart  2
Northern Parula  2
Yellow Warbler  3
Pine Warbler  4
Canada Warbler  2
Chipping Sparrow  8
Song Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1
Scarlet Tanager  2
Northern Cardinal  3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  4
Indigo Bunting  1
Red-winged Blackbird  12
Common Grackle  16
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Orchard Oriole  1    RARE.  New species for MX.  Young male singing from maples at pond edge near dock.
Baltimore Oriole  6
House Finch  4
American Goldfinch  6
House Sparrow  3

Mammal Cam

The trail cameras captured a few mammals this week in the woods between the turf and the pond.  I suspected there might be some activity around a large White Pine that sits on the edge of a skunk cabbage swamp, so one camera was aimed at its base.  Unfortunately, the exposure settings were not quite right, and a branch waving just in front of the lens triggered about 400 extra exposures capturing nothing at all.  A few rough gems still emerged, though, as I sifted through the pile of images.  Nothing stunning or rare; just everyday life in Estabrook.