Bill and all,
The prolonged wet season with temperatures dropping into the 40s at night seems
to be seriously depressing insect numbers. At grassland bird monitoring sites
lately, swallows of all species have been feeding very low, within a foot or so
above the grass. I don't think it's just on particular days, it's an ongoing
thing.
Yesterday I noticed some Chipping Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows were hovering
around some high wildflowers to try to pick off insects. That's got to be a
very energy-intensive method of feeding for sparrows. The Streaked Horned Larks
that I've been watching at nesting sites have been mainly nipping off grass
seed heads/flowers rather than finding bugs.
If this cool, wet weather continues as long as is predicted (two more weeks),
this could be a bad nesting season for a lot of birds. It feels like April
except the grass is a lot taller. I'm just heading out the door for another day
in the field now, and not looking forward to getting soaked again. Meanwhile,
back in the Midwest, we see people out in the streets in shorts and tank tops.
Joel
On Tue, 9 Jun 2020 Bill Tice wrote:
... in my previous post on the 60 martins at BSNWR today , the majority were
females, I doubt there were more than 10 males. Was food scarse on this rainy
day, forcing them out into the valley for such? A mystery we are hoping to
solve.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adaire area north of Corvlalis
