I had a pretty successful trip to study the progress of the Eastern Kentucky
Brown-headed Nuthatch population on June 1. I had taken two previous trips so
far this year . One on April 7 and then again on May 7. This trip I found them
nesting in one of the same locations they nested last year despite not being
able to find them there on those two previous trips. Unfortunately the half
dead red maple they fledged young from last year had recently been cut down but
I did find the pair using a cavity in a Shortleaf Pine which I documented them
excavating out a few years ago but they didn't seem to actually use for nesting
until now. Not sure what stage they were at but they did not seem close to
fledging so they may well have had to renest due to the other tree having been
removed. I also checked out a stand of Loblolly Pines where I had seen one
working on excavating a cavity in a dead loblolly pine trunk two years ago but
nesting never seemed to happen and despite numerous searches did not find one
there again, and not on these past two recent trips either. This trip was the
charm though and there were at least two maybe more and they were likely
nesting somewhere in that pine stand or possibly fledged. At the original site
where they were first verified by Steve Stedman I found them at a hole in the
same shortleaf snag they had been nesting in for the past two or three years on
the April trip but this time and the last I could not definitely verify they
were there. I think I heard a few short calls in the distance but not a long
enough sequence to be quite sure. Also not helpful the mockingbird there has
their call in his song sequence now. The way they pop up in one place,
disappear and then return makes me think they are not as sedentary as is
thought. They had to travel quite far to this part of Eastern Kentucky in the
first place so not really that surprising though. I have some photos posted on
Facebook on my page and a number of the Facebook groups as well.
Frank Renfrow Fort Thomas, KY
