fledglings

I have been under the impression for some time now that I own this place but the crows have a different opinion. As I walk the trails around the place I am pursued by loud, angry corvids who dispute me every step of the way and in the loudest, angriest possible manner. I know that the real reason for all this brouhaha is that there are two or three broods of crow fledglings out there and that the adults are calling attention to themselves only to distract me, to let all crows in the vicinity know that a dangerous predator is lumbering through, and of course to warn their young to take care. Not that the young birds seem very concerned. They hang out in twos and threes high up in the Pitch Pines but quite in the open. How long will all this go on? Probably until the young crows start to disperse.

The crows are not the only birds to have hatched out their broods. A troupe of Black-capped Chickadees almost certainly represents a new family. The Chickadees are also noisy but their buzz-buzz-a-buzz is a minor matter compared to the raucous sound of a murder of crows. However these Chickadees are certainly feisty enough. Three of them separated themselves from the group and two of these were suddenly caught up in a series of whirlwind aerial tangles while the other watched. What was that all about? Two males fighting over a female? Or perhaps just sibling rivalry?

Their relatives, the Tufted Titmice, have been very vocal right through June but I haven't seen any evidence yet of a titmice brood. The Purple Martins, after several times of disturbing quiet, have started to move around again and I can hear their cheery chirping as they hunt insects high over the marsh and, somewhat unusually, I've seen some of them landing on the tops of trees. I had strongly suspected that the Martins may have lost young in the nest colony during the days of heavy rain earlier in the month but now I think that some of the birds I am seeing -- whitish underneath and smudgy on the upper breast and chin -- are newly fledged young ones!

Eric Salzman