In the continued spirit of looking back over early summer, today’s blurb will be about and yet another example of a time when the cranberry growers altering of the land led to new sightings.
I think I have spoken before about the need for every bog to have a sand supply nearby to add new layers to the bog over the winter and this bog is no different. Around the west side of the bog there is a mini sand mountain range, probably the remnants of his excavating the bog in the beginning. Mostly, it is covered over with sumac, dewberry and blackberry vines. This summer, when he was installing a new pumping system, he excavated an entire road out of the backside of these mounds, making a great trail to walk through that brought you a little closer to the tangle of brier and pines that rim the actual pond. A great place to more surreptitiously watch the comings and goings of the birds who favor the edge, Goldfinch
and House Finch in the pines, Kingbirds and Phoebes on the exposed branches, Blue jays, Catbirds,
Green Herons etc. and this year, a daily encounter with the rattling call of the Belted Kingfisher.
Ah, but this year, rather than the lone Kingfisher I usually see, there were two. Chasing each other about, making a racket as they did so, and when I got a closer look, indeed, this was a pair of Kingfishers. In Belted Kingfishers the name must derive from the fact that the male has a blue gray “belt” across his breast and the female has a second rusty colored band beneath that. So, voila, we had a pair.
Now Kingfishers are loners, and quick to rattle and chase anyone away from their territory, including you, so the sight of two that were tolerating each other, more or less, led me to hope it would be a nesting pair.
And yeah, for the cut the grower had made in the sand hills, provided the perfect home buying situation for these two.
Next time I walked, there it was, the hole that leads to their nesting tunnel looking like a textbook Kingfisher home, with an entrance about 4” across that would lead to a tunnel that could go anywhere from 3-7’ back into the cliff. At the end of the tunnel is the nesting chamber, which is just plain sand. One of the ways you know this is a Kingfisher nest and not that of some larger mammal is that it is on a pretty vertical cliff and the only tracks you would see are two lines at the entrance made by their feet as they drag the dirt backwards.
Pretty amazing when you think of it, they excavate this with just their beaks, which are really sturdy looking, and their feet. One can understand why sand is the preferred medium, no little depth charges available for blasting through rock. And the nest is generally pretty close to their fishing grounds, so you know with this great set up, they had to be applauding the grower too.
So now, each day I would head back that way, often hearing the rattle call when my dog got there ahead of me, tipping them off, so I never did see either of them entering the nest and of course unless you have some hidden camera, all that goes on inside is out of sight.
And man, they would be cute to see, for according to the articles about them, the young chicks are born completely naked,
not that unusual, but what is different is that when the feathers begin to grow they remain in the shaft for up to two weeks making them look like miniature porcupines! Ouch, hard to imagine nestling down to brood that crowd! Then at about 18 days all the feathers “boing” out of their shafts in a 24 hour period! Then they assume the little fluff-ball look of other young birds.
And, although this may be more info than you want, the wee babes rather than having fecal sacs, where the mom can just remove the whole package from the nest, just fire at will into the sand of the wall around them, and then instinctively peck away at the wall so that the sand sprinkles down covering any untidy remains. Amazing isn’t it! And, because I believe in a God who thinks of everything, these young birds are equipped with a blunt, hardened tip to their bill for the first half of the nesting life so that this pecking doesn’t wear down their growing bill that will be so important to them later for catching fish. Again, I stand amazed.
Even though I never saw them enter or exit the nest, I did see that the pond was crowding up with noisy Kingfishers. Last time I walked there, a week or so ago, there were only three, but now that they are properly fledged they will head out to defend their own smaller territories, rattling down on anyone or anything that has the audacity to get too close. This pond isn’t very large so I wouldn’t be surprised if when I return from my daughters it could be back to just one Kingfisher on patrol.
Once again, I am indebted to this kind grower who lets me walk his bog as though it were my own. I can’t tell you how much I will miss this when I move. Shockingly someone has decided to move into our house in a matter of weeks and my daily bog walk will end, but you and I shall continue to walk new areas, seeing new things and it will be all right. Repeat after me Pat, through watery eyes, it will be all right. Besides we still have backed up sightings to relate, one of which will always seem a direct gift from my Maker to me, but more about that next time. Until then, may each day you have, have a touch of Glory in it. I guarantee it will, if you just look with eyes to see it. Pat
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