Well, it’s the busiest time of the year again! March was a little disappointing, but historically that’s meant a big April so let’s all hope for the best on this liveblog!
American kestrel
Direct sighting of a couple in a tree down by the edge of Oreweald Park. Quiet and wary but well-fed. Good for them!
American robin
So many of them out and about I lost count just on the way down to the lakefront; the flooding’s been lousy for worms but good for them.
Black-capped chickadee
Only saw twelve but heard a lot more, especially in the thickets by cooling tower three. If these are returning nesters rather than naïve newcomers, we could be looking at a significant shift in the local toxicology! Still, best not count our chickadees before they’ve hatched!
Blue Jay
Found a loose feather on the old trail by the exclusion fence, caught on the barbed wire. Hope they’re doing okay – we need more corvids! Not sure why they’re still so standoffish, if they’re smart enough to be wary, they should be smart enough to read the papers. It’s safer than it’s been in years!
Canada goose
Sixteen nesting on the old breakwater down by the outflow. Poor things.
Common raven
Old Toby still perched above the head manager’s office, clean as clockwork. Asked him my name and he said ‘Doom.’ Never change, Old Toby!
Great RE:gret
Performed my annual check-in on our nesting pair and can report that they are still resetting every sixteen minutes forty-nine seconds seventy-eight milliseconds on the dot, pushing back any hypothesized ‘half-life’ for the site 53-D chronodegeneration another century. A warm round of applause for Jackie and Dion – spending fifty years fetching sticks for a nest that will never be completed is a powerful metaphor for parenthood!
Herring gall
Saw four down by the old park boat launch, but there are definitely more around somewhere, because the ooze patches on the concrete have six distinct shades! We could be looking at a case of fresh mitosis here, and the new galls are hiding somewhere out of sight until they decide on how many limbs they want.
Mallard
Three off the overgrown beach, enjoying all the high water from the late melt. More to come, hopefully – the duckling survival rate has really gone up since the gnarlpike went extinct three summers back (RIP Lousie McKenny, Dougie Jimson, Stewart Brinkles, and ‘Wedge’ O’Connor).
Megadee
‘Granny Greycap’ is back! After going MIA for almost a decade, the great lady of North-Oreweald has returned to her sentinel post atop the easternmost pylon – and lest anyone doubt her identity, she still bears control rod #59 clutched in the remains of her left talon! All hail the return of the Sceptre’d Queen – but please, disable your flashes when recording her (newcomers: look up the ‘daylight bombings of ’98’).
Militant nuthatch
As I peered cautiously over the ragged and rust-corroded lip of what had once been the central radar dome and beheld the gnarled and twisted form of that infamous spruce, my heart crawled up my throat by inches: the palisade had been breached, but from WITHIN – no squirrel’s work this. They had survived, and now they have made their opening play. The war will resume. Beware!
Mourning dove
Found three torn open in a little circle with their hearts missing – yikes! Pretty sure it’s not golden gorefinches (contents of the stomachs weren’t eaten, no sign of egg-shrapnel in chest cavities from the ejection of larval hatchlings) or bakerbirds (no evidence of ‘oven’ construction), but drawing a blank otherwise and gladly seeking input. Maybe a third case of dove psychomorphism?
Northern cardinal
No sign of the couple I saw in March up in the New Grove. The whole tree’s missing so it’s possible either the ground’s gotten unstable there or the quadrasloth is coming out of hibernation. Going to have to apply for permission to view the seismograph again to solve this one!
Prophetic loon
Heard a splash but no direct sighting. The scrawling on the beach looks like the Second Magus’s footwriting though – she’s a southpaw. If anyone wants to take a crack at decoding it, better you than me is all I’ll say! I don’t believe in that sort of thing (no offense).
Red-everything’d hawk
At least one has moved in judging by the state of the band stand’s rooftop and the pines on the hill. I know they’re not big fans of humans, but still, nobody put anything outside they don’t want dyed – no sense ‘painting the town red’!
Red-winged blackbird
Filling the trees by the old boardwalk and whistling their hearts out, bless them.
Sandputter
One’s already set up the green and the rough by the sandbox at the worker’s daycare, but only nine holes are planted so far, and just three (!) have actual fissile material in them. Quick construction and poor planning suggest a young male. You’ll get there buddy!
Tubist swan
No sighting but the filings in my teeth buzzed at just that right ultra-low frequency, you know? That and the sonically-liquified golden doodle I found are evidence enough for me! Best steer clear of the southern edge of the Point if you’re walking a dog or not in rigorous physical condition and wearing at least twenty+ kilos of extra flesh!
Venus flycatcher
Checked inside the old ‘hot labs’ and yep, ‘big snappy’ is still growing strong as ever! Their roots are well-nourished, their newest clutch of eggs (at least twelve!) is glossy, and the sap drooling out of their beaks to attract prey smells as sweet as maple syrup! They tried to bite my index finger off when I checked their reflexes, bless them.
Xenoraptor colossus aka ‘Barbara’s Dreadnought’
Almost fell into the nest while skirting around the exposed foundations of the central mess hall and by the curvature of the eggshell, violet edging of the featherings, and dismembered cow skeletons I am certain beyond a doubt it is BACK! No sign of the parents but it looks like there’s at least two hatchlings and they’re what you’ve really got to watf ghiuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuydsoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa