CMO very birdy today

It was a surprise to see both the male and female Lucifer Hummingbirds this morning for the first time this year. I had expected the male to arrive first. The only Black-chinned Hummingbirds here are the males.

There are the usual large number of sparrows for this time of year. Among them I located a Field Sparrow, several Brewer's, Lincoln's, Black-chinned, and some I'm not sure what they are.

I love Green-tailed Towhees and since they'll be leaving soon I thought I better take a photo of one.

I saw the badger that was seen by the Dortch's a couple of days ago (see Mar 10th post). I assume the Elf Owls have arrived even though I haven't seen or heard them yet. They don't call every night and I haven't looked for them in the evening. It's getting exciting around here.

Spring is springing

The phainopeplas were nowhere to be seen but the electric company is very visible, still doing their thing. My mantra has become "this too shall pass."

A few new birds have shown up, such as this first-of-season Scott's Oriole.

The Sage Thrasher is still around, which was a lifer for David and Carrie Dortch, who visited yesterday. They got this photo of a badger near one of my water features.

A Black-chinned Sparrow has been around all winter. This photo, taken at quite a distance,  is just a documentary shot.

I heard a male Black-chinned hummingbird. Yes, indeed, spring is springing.

Phainopeplas

male Phainopepla

The electric company is still working on my place. I had so hoped they'd be done by now. Shortly after daybreak today, SUNDAY, no less, they were loudly putting up a new bigger pole beside my guesthouse where a few weeks ago they had replaced the previous pole. I guess the previous replacement pole wasn't tall enough. This too shall pass. Or so I keep telling myself.

 At least by working long hours 7 days a week they should be through quicker, which will benefit the Elf Owls. My reasoning is that they'll have all the old poles down so the owls won't try to nest in them. Woodpeckers won't have time to excavate new holes, but not to worry, I have my place fully out-fitted with nesting options. Just hung two more last week.

Great weather today

Driving down from Alpine I saw a fire on Cienega Mountain (south of Cathedral Mountain).

The electric company is still working in my area. I'll be so glad when they're through and no equipment going up and down the road, and some quiet.... The new heavier cable sure stands out in the early morning light.

Sage Thrasher

There is at least one Sage Thrasher, maybe more, present at CMO. I got lucky and got a better shot of it than I got previously (see Jan 19 post).

A dirty job but...

...somebody had to do it. The pond in the courtyard was really overdue for the removal of vegetation that didn't belong there... like grass, oleanders (two coming up in the center of the grass), and a total compaction of water lily roots and underwater trunks.  Here's the before photo.

I set my camera timer midway through the removal process and got back into the smelly muck. It was necessary to saw the under-muck roots and trunks into manageable chunks in order for me to lift them out of the pond.

The "after" photo below. I left one clump of lilies but in the future I'm not going to let the pond go so long without attention. Note: No frogs or fish were hurt during the performance of this job.

K-k-kold Kestrel

I'm in Alpine today. Planning on going back to my oasis Friday or Saturday, by which time it should be warmer. Chill factor tonight is supposed to be -5°. I'm so sick of the cold.

Yesterday I finished putting up all my rescued nest holes. Someone asked me how many I put up and I couldn't answer that. Adding it up later, the count is 9, but two of those don't have woodpecker holes in yet. That may seem like I'm expecting a lot of owls, plus there are some secondary poles still up with holes in them. But between the Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Ash-throated Flycatchers, and Elf Owls, there never seem to be enough to go around. It isn't unusual to see the owls actually sharing a nest hole with the woodpeckers or flycatchers when options are limited. I've no idea what the outcome of that is. As far as I know, no studies have been done on it, but I've seen it happen. The height and orientation of the holes will probably suit different species and individuals differently, thus another reason for lots of options. Here is some interesting info I found on the net:

Elf Owl breeding territories are very small compared to other small owls. They confine themselves to an area between only 65 and 230 feet from the nest. Also their breeding densities are very high for owls, as many as 11 pairs per square mile.

In a few short weeks the male Elf Owls will arrive and reconnoiter the nesting options. When the females arrive a week later, the proud males show their selections to their potential partners. She will make the final decision on which place is chosen. Since I don't know all her criteria, I want to be as prepared as possible.When my birds are happy, I'm happy!

Falling not an option

I was determined to hang the new nest box, and I wanted it as high as I could get it. So I took a 8' step ladder, tied it to the cut off utility pole, climbed to the top of the ladder, and reached as high as I could. After drilling a hole through the pole way above my head, I inserted a long all-thread bolt through the hole. Next I carefully inched the 30 lb, more or less, nest box up the ladder. Standing atop the ladder I ever so carefully hoisted the box onto my shoulder. This operation took 2 hands so I had to balance, although I leaned against the cutoff pole for support. I kept lecturing myself, that falling was not an option. Just in case though, I had placed my satellite phone and a jug of water at the bottom of the ladder. My arms pained and ached and the box just pushed the bolt out the other side, so I climbed back down and went for vise-grips. That did the trick and I was able to mount the box onto the bolt. I was actually shaking when I was finished. After a short rest I climbed back up and wired a branch to the box. When birds nest in it, I'd like to photograph them perched on that branch. On this photo you can see my dike trail behind the pole and the electric line at its new location.

You'll be glad to know that the rest of the pole tops (with woodpecker cavities in them) I'm going to strap to the pole bottoms in their full length so this precarious situation won't arise again. I'd estimate this nest box is 13-14' above ground, which is an ideal height for Elf Owls.

Elf Owl nest cavities

Since the electric company changed out all the poles, I'm really worried about the cavity nesters, especially Elf Owls. I fear there won't be enough when the ELOWs arrive in a few short weeks. And I feel horrible that we installed an old cut-off pole in a retainer wall without taking the time and trouble to cut off the section containing a nest cavity. My husband didn't really grasp the importance and I let it go when I should have demanded we stop the project and salvage the nest. But it's done, so to make up for it we spent most of the morning building a replacement nest box. We took a section of new pole (discarded by the power co.), split it, hollowed a nest in it, then glued and bolted it back together. Ready to install on one of the old poles they obligingly cut off and left for me.

I'm sure this nest box will get used this year. I'm eager to see which species gets it. Years ago I mounted a salvaged nest hole on a pipe and it's been used every year since by Elf Owls. My prediction is that Ash-throated Flycatchers will be the first to claim this one. I'll let you know.

And lest you think I'm exaggerating about the habitat destruction, here's a photo I took yesterday of the power line right-of-way. So sad.

State of the electric poles

I'm in the process of relocating the top parts of the cut off poles. Here is one I planted at the corner of the parking lot, which we "resurfaced" with the sand and gravel we removed from the settling pond (see post of Jan 24). View looking NNE.

View looking west below.

New power lines heading toward Lajitas and other places. Previously bordering my oasis on the south side, they're now at least a block further to the south. 

I'm very concerned that Elf Owls and Ash-throated Flycatchers will arrive in a few weeks and won't have enough nesting places. Eventually Ladder-backed Woodpeckers will make holes in the new poles, but meanwhile.....  I guess I better prevail upon my husband to help me make a bunch of nestboxes to attach to the cut-off poles (bottom halves) so there'll be options for the above mentioned species. Right now the only holes are in the cut-off tops that I replant. And off my property there won't be any. Hopefully, the woodpeckers will get busy asap. Right now I haven't seen any of them excavating holes. I've only got the one pole planted, and a hole dug for another. I better get busy.

The new poles the power company is using throughout the Big Bend area are treated to be impervious to woodpeckers. That will help prevent power outages, but not good for Elf Owls in need of nests. The electric company claims that woodpecker holes weaken the poles, causing them to break during violent storms.