We all know that time afield is a joy, and a fine way to relax amid busy lives. The way things are going globally, I am inclined to spend even more time away from social media and the evening news! Yet the natural world can deliver any number of surprises, keeping us on our toes.
In mid-March, I drove to our cabin for my annual bout of apple tree pruning. With more than 100 trees, it is challenging to keep the apples healthy, encouraging them to produce valuable mast without excessive growth of branches. After three poor years caused by drought and blight, 2023 was a decent year for apples and I am hoping for a better 2024. After a pleasant trip across four states, I arrived to find the mountaintop sheathed in a blizzard.
The next three days were lousy with snow, wind and freezing rain, plus I succumbed to a head cold, shutting down all plans of outdoor work. Feeding the wood stove, I made the best of things by writing a couple chapters for my next book, a project that has been neglected in favor of travel and outdoor projects. At last, the sun emerged and the birds could finally access my feeders. I knew things were improving when a beautiful pair of hooded mergansers landed on the pond, evaluating the place as a nesting site.
After several days of recovery, I felt up to another late winter project: cleaning nest boxes. With 25 boxes for various species around the property, my practice is to clean them in preparation for new occupants in the spring. Most species will not remove prior nesting materials from a box, so you improve your chances for nesting success by doing some housekeeping. With a ladder, putty knife, and a spray bottle of water with mild dish soap and bleach, you can put things in shape with modest effort. Doing this in winter lowers the chances of disturbing nesting birds or being attacked by angry hornets.
It is unwise to stand directly in front of a nest box when opening the door, especially when perched 12 feet up a ladder. A gray squirrel might come rocketing out of the opening, and I have had a couple close calls in the past. Taking a position to the side, I tap on the box with my putty knife to see if anyone is home. My first visit was a wood duck box, with no one home. But when I opened the door, I was disheartened to find an abandoned nest from the previous year. It was lovely, made from my wood shavings with soft, downy feathers from the hen’s breast, and 11 intact eggs.
Never having seen a woodie around the box, I have no idea why the hen abandoned the nest before her eggs hatched. Ducks are reluctant to leave once eggs or hatchlings are in the nest, but sometimes the birds fall prey to predators. It would have been a treat to see even a handful of tiny chicks on one of our ponds. Maybe she will return for this nesting season.
An eastern bluebird box gave off a strong odor before I opened the door, a sure sign that field mice had spent the winter as unwelcome guests. They seem quite comfortable wintering in their own latrine, but it makes a mess of a cedar box. Now you understand my use of soap and bleach! The next box was intended for screech owls or kestrels, so imagine my surprise when out popped three southern flying squirrels. A fourth squirrel was reluctant to leave, tolerating several photos before he soared to another tree.
The shock of the day occurred at my final stop. In the past, a family of kestrels provided a thrill by using this box. This time, my putty knife taps resulted in an eastern screech owl zipping out of the box, with a quick swoop as if to attack her tormenter. Quickly realizing her mistake, the owl turned and flew into the forest. It was too early for her to have nestlings, since they tend to hatch in late April. I quickly removed my ladder and snuck away from the site in hopes that the owl would return to her nest.
The lesson is to approach any day in the field with a sense of adventure and expect to be surprised. And for goodness’ sake, please hang on to that ladder!
