From the Contact Station (sort of): August 2020

Summer Families

We are still missing all of you from the contact station on the River ‘S.’ I struggle a bit with this column because so many of the ideas come from the questions and exciting stories from the visitors each month. Lacking that, I have to find my own inspiration. July and August usually feel like slow months; but in reality, they are not. The birds often go quiet for a while to keep predators from finding their eggs or hatchlings and the grasses get very tall, blocking views.

Although somewhat adverse to crack of dawn birding and wildlife viewing, I have made several recent visits to the Refuge just after the gate opens. There is a real pleasure in seeing the sun creep over the ridge onto the Refuge and to find so many birds, deer, and rabbits on the road.

A week ago, there were many fledglings calling “feed me” to the parent birds. It was delightful to watch a Yellow-headed Blackbird fly back and forth between the road edge to a spot in the reeds where it was undoubtedly feeding hatchings some tasty insects. The adult was very intent on its mission and paid little attention to me. Meanwhile, dozens of the Red-winged Blackbirds carpeted the road as they picked here and there.

Turning at the hunt gate, I was amazed by the number of Black-headed Grosbeaks. I am always struggling to find the singing male in the top of some heavily leafed tree each spring. This time the young were squawking from the road and from the top of our signs while the frantic parents were flitting back and forth from blackberry bushes to give over a morsel of insect or seed to them.  They begin to move off the nest (fledge) between days 10 and 14 days post-hatching, moving along branches close by. About 15 days after fledging, chicks begin to fly, both parents and chicks abruptly become more vocal. Parents returning with food to the vicinity of the young chirping or singing, and immediately young fly to the parent and beg to be fed. Eventually, chicks begin following the parent, begging for food incessantly. Both males and females feed fledglings, but males depart first. I can understand why, given all the chattering while begging I saw within the last couple weeks.  The young will be the last to leave.

Did I mention rabbits? On one of my trips around, I counted seven Bush Rabbits in all. I am lucky if I see one on the road on a busy Sunday afternoon. My usual best spotting of rabbits is along the Kiwa trail, but I have never seen so many in one visit. The Columbia White-tailed Deer are looking particularly fine right now. This young male was sporting a nice rack.

Next on my morning tour was American Coot and Pied-billed Grebe. They are exceptionally reliable after #11. I love the chicks with their patterned heads. The coot parent was feeding its chick plant material, while the grebe parent was offering something a little meatier.

Pied-billed Grebe chicks start begging for food within an hour of hatching and will continue until independent, which can be 28 to 68 days later. Adult Pied-billed Grebes deliver prey small enough to be swallowed whole by the chick. If it is too big, they shake their heads to tear up the prey. In the first photo below, the parent has handed over a whole frog. In photo 2, the chick tried to tear apart the frog with a head shake. This activity went on for quite a while as the chick dropped the prey and the adult retrieved it underwater and started again. In the last photo, one of the smaller siblings is watching the action while the parent seems to be thinking, “Will they ever learn?” OK, maybe not. Any group of grebe chicks you might see can have fledglings of different sizes as the eggs are laid and can hatch over as much as 10 days. They are a fun group to watch at this stage in development.

  

It is nice to have the fields mowed again. That activity happens after the refuge staff can be assured the animals having young no longer in need of the protection of the long grass and the young can managed for themselves. With hay bales out on the fields, the raptors have a fine perch to hunt from.  On my latest trip around the auto tour, I watched four American Kestrels flying between bales, sometimes catching small insects, and sometimes just joining each other. It was probably a family with two newly fledged and flying young.

I highly recommend an early, warm morning for a loop on the auto tour. There’s no traffic and, if you have patience, there is much to see and enjoy.

Article & Photos by Susan Setterberg, Contact Station Volunteer