Delaware's Yellow River - Pollen Alert

Our second day of vacation has brought us to the Atlantic Coast at Bethany Beach, Delaware. We drove over yesterday late-morning ahead of the violent weather in the Washington, D.C. area, and settled into the condo we have rented. When visiting a new region, I keep remembering

Liquidambar styraciflua trees leafing

after I have left on trips like this that I should have brought my copy of Rexford Daubenmire's book Plant Geography so I can review what the natural vegetation should be in the area. A quick Web-search last night, and reference Ecoregions of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia turned up (click here), but the richness of descriptions of the different kinds of plant assemblages are missing, as written in the Daubenmire - it was one of my favorites in graduate school among the books when studying plant ecology.

The Delaware Department of Forestry reports there are 115 species of trees that are native to the state - one of those is sweet gum. I was first aware that this is a native tree in the east when on a work detail in the spring of 1999 and I living in College Park for two months. I would run a few miles after work each day - following a trail near my apartment

Pollen count report for Delaware

that wound its way to the University of Maryland and eventually on to Artemesia Lake the other side of the Metro Orange Line track. As the trees began to leaf out, I was surprised that sweet gum was one of the hardwoods - the few fruit that remained on the trees over the winter were another sign. My folks had three ornamental sweet gum trees in our front yard - I had no idea then that they were a native tree. Through in the rest of tree species assembled, and it is impressive how thick the woods seem to be in spring as everything begins to leaf, particularly compared to the bareness of winter (see earlier post). Also, the woods are alive with bird songs and calls. Already I have spotted Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Tufted Titmouse, House Wren, Barn Swallow, and a pair of some sort of yellow-colored Tanager or Warbler flying by - along with great numbers of American Robin, Common Grackle, and a few Mallard Ducks and Mute Swans on a pond. (1)

Streams of pollen in rain runoff

Another tell-tale sign of sweet gum (along with other flowering trees) are the copious amounts of pollen that are shed in spring. I have been coughing and sneezing for weeks, and there has been no let-up since we arrived - I needed to keep popping the throat lozenges. Cars that have been left out in the parking areas here are covered with pollen. A slide at a children's play area yesterday evening was covered with pollen. As we ran for cover as rain began to pour while taking a walk, pollen ran thick in the run-off and in puddles. As it turns out, sweet gum pollen is reported to be one of the greatest contributors to the total pollen load as of a few days ago.

This morning the temperatures are much cooler and the humidity seems to be gone - compared to yesterday. With the thunder storms that passed through yesterday, perhaps the pollen has been washed out of the air and the reports will be lower. It is seems to be a fine morning for spotting more birds among the hardwood trees.
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(1) Later today, more birds noted: Canada Goose (Atlantic race), Great Blue Heron, Laughing Gull, Black Vulture, Brown Pelican, Double-Crested Cormorant, Willet, Gray Catbird, Mourning Dove, and Brown Thrasher. As an added bonus, while at Bethany Beach and looking just beyond the breakers, there was a pod of what were likely five or more Bottlenose Dolphins swam by heading north. Also, a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter painted drab green and without markings flew south along the breaker line, and then returned north as short while later - a soldier sat on the back ramp of the aircraft, his or her legs dangling over the end.

Darting Phantoms - Dark-Eyed Junco

Perched Dark-eyed Junco

A couple of weeks ago, it was Tufted Timouse that dominated the yard - this week it's Dark-eyed Junco. They are very timid - taking flight quickly if I do not open the sliding glass door ever so carefully. When they do, there is a flash of white that shows from behind with a flight pattern that bobs up and down as they make their exit. The juncos stay close to the ground, picking at the seeds that fall from the feeder, but they seem to continually dart in and out when they come
to feed. They are bullied slightly by the White Throated Sparrow who have also made a recent appearance, and stay clear of the mourning dove as they walk about looking for seeds on the ground as well.

White markings on tail

Unlike the White-breasted Nuthatch, they don't fly up off the ground to perch and find a place to crack open the seeds. I have been trying to catch a picture of the juncos in flight, and today caught just a part of one heading toward the cedars across the backyard fence - apprapo for the photo quest. Even though the juncos have stayed around the yard all winter, their number at a time - at least six - have increased, as well as their singing (1). We are familiar with these little critters because their close cousin the Oregon Junco was a frequent visitor to the bird feeder in the front yard patio area of our home in Corvallis. As a side note, when perched, the little head with a small face and what seems a disproportionately sized body (see the photograph in the upper left corner) gives the bird somewhat the appearance of what could be a character in the Jeff MacNelly political satire cartoon strip Shoe.
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(1) The birdjam Website is easier to access bird songs on than the Cornell Ornithology Laboratory site. birdjam has a limited number of song entries.

Quiet Saturday Morning - Old Men and Birds

Larry the Handyman

I keep telling myself I need to hang around out in front of our house to see how different the birds are there than in the backyard - I confirmed today that would be a wise birding strategy. The gutter along the highest part of our roof was nearly blown away by the high winds a week ago Friday, and the handyman was by today to fix it. We have had a hard time finding someone to do jobs like this for us, but our neighbor had a flier that was left on his mailbox some time back - I wrote down the number and gave Larry a call and a try. He checked out the damage last week, and said he would come by and fix it today - for $150. I decided a long time ago there are limits to my handiness, and that the skilled workman is well worth her/his wages - I have given up trying to do "quick" jobs myself that end up costing more than hiring them out. (1) While Larry went up and down a very tall ladder and we chatted, I brought out the binoculars and camera and noted what birds were making their way among the trees and neighbors' houses from a vantage point where I rarely take the time to watch. Along with friendly chatter:  learning that we both moved to the area in January 2006 and agreeing that trim paint on house exteriors and complimentary colors in large interior rooms always look better than a single colors; I took a quick inventory of the birds in the front yard area.

There was an impressive number of Tufted Titmouse out there - I hadn't seen as many of these here at a time. When in the backyard, these birds dart in for a quick stab at seeds in the feeder, and then are

One pair of Tufted Titmouse

off to a limb or the top of the fence to eat their catch. After a few rounds of this, they are off to where-ever they spend the rest of their time - the front yard I have discovered. There were seven or more at a time hopping among the leafless branches and serenading up a storm. In the distance roosted in a tree that is just starting to break buds, were many Common Grackles. The grackles came and went in large flocks - there are peeps of chickens, a charm of gold finches, an exaltation of larks, an unkindness of ravens (that is also how they refer to the Baltimore 

A cackle of Common Grackles

defense), and a sord of mallard, but at first I couldn't find a collective noun for grackles. A little more searching and on a New Zealand birding site was listed a "cackle" of grackles - I guess a cackle is a good description for their speech and how they sound together (listen here). Also, soaring with the wind above and beyond the tree tops was an occasional Herring Gull or Black Vulture, and once even a Bald Eagle that happened to cruise by when I was looking up. The winds were blowing with some sincerity today, so there was no way to tell if the drifting birds called out or not.

I need to spend more time out front to take in the bird sightings, and to get a feel for the sites where they hang out in the wider-open spaces 

Bald Eagle soaring overhead

than in our backyard surrounded in trees. It was also great that Larry came in on his price quote - no surprises, and enjoyable conversation to go along with the service. While he worked, his white mane that spilled out from under his cap resembled that of the eagle coasting by over our heads. I am pretty sure both will be back some time in the future, each doing what he does best.
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(1) Many years ago in Corvallis, we had a slow leak in a copper water pipe under the house. The leak was because the pipe had been placed on top of a galvanized nail and electrolysis had worn through the copper. After calling a plumbing shop for an estimate, I decided to take the advice of a friend to do it myself. After buying the needed tools, plugging the pipe ends with bread, and repeated soldering tries, bruised knuckles, and primal grunts from the service passage beneath the house while Jan hid our small children in an interior windowless bathroom, while I decided it was best to call the plumber on Monday - the total cost, less than what I paid for the tools I had to buy to do this "easy" do-it-yourself job.

Newest Addition - Carolina Wren

We put up a suet bird feeder last year, but it didn't seem to get that much attention. I tried again this this autumn - putting in a block that contained insect parts. The owner of the Wild Bird Center shop where we go to here in Annapolis recommended it since the weather was still warm and the suet still stood a chance of melting. I used fruit-based suet cakes before, but didn't seem to get much success - I had hoped
these would attract Baltimore orioles. Earlier in the week, I noticed a downy woodpecker frequenting the feeder a couple of times. Yesterday evening I saw a wren make a quick stop, but couldn't tell which species. This morning, for sure it was a Carolina wren - distinguished by the white eyebrow stripe and the short tail. These markings are different from the Bewick's wren that also has the eyebrow stripe, but a longer tail with white striping. The Bewick's wren is a threatened species - see information here, so is not seen very frequently. The National Geographic bird site gives a nice description of the Carolina wren here. For suet recipes, go to the Website here. Also, I have been noticing a lot of activity by tufted titmouse at the seed feeder this week as well, along with the house finch and sparrows.