I needn’t have worried about missing the return of the Eastern Phoebe. Eleven days later, and it seems like March is still making up for February. No phoebes are in evidence as I trudge down to the pond on a Sunday afternoon.
The sky is inscrutable: a band of American Crows heading noisily toward Tyrone is the only thing enlivening the relentless grayish-white quiet. A slight breeze from the east brings the stench of the nearby sewage treatment plant down into the bottomland tangles.
On the river, three Mallards, a duck and two drakes, swim quickly downstream. I make mental bets on what might be at the pond 12 days since I’ve last been there. “Guessing 2 cago 6 mall could be crowded could be nada” I type in my notes.
Baldpate
Seven Mallards, as it turns out, but no Canada Geese in evidence, at least at first. There is a skim of ice across the middle of the slough, but in my absence it hasn’t been cold enough to freeze up the entire surface. The nearer Mallards splash and fly to the far end, where a surprise awaits. Not only is the winter resident female American Wigeon still here, but it has been joined by a baldpate male in breeding plumage, though they stay well apart.
The snow arrives. I head to the far end, spooking the wigeons and several Mallards. Two pairs of Mallards waddle off into the weedy part rather than flying, leading me to a pair of rather camouflaged Canada Geese, hunched with heads down against the snow.
Joint
During a brief balcony sit in the late afternoon, I follow a European Starling down from the sky into the trees along the interstate ramp. As I watch, it flies directly from a branch into the space created by the joints between sections of the ramps, and disappears under the accelerating trucks. A roost, in an unthinkably loud location. I guess if there were a species capable of putting up with such a racket, though, it would be this one, the noisiest bird in town.
I think I’ve solved a little mystery about the earliest morning starlings, too. Typically, before I see them arrive from over the mountain, I see one or two appear above the highway. Those must be the local joint starlings.
I heard one at the confluence at dawn this morning! It probably came back in the last few days, but no way to tell.
First Hunt. Co Phoebes of 2023 found at two locations March 11.