A person engaged in keeping an accurate almanac never has a dull moment. There are so many “firsts” to keep track of, like the first sighting of phoebes for the year, or the first blooming of a particular flower. There are just as many “lasts” to keep track of as well. When was the last time I saw a white-throated sparrow, or a mourning cloak butterfly?
Basically, every day is filled with data that can be recorded.
I have fallen deep down the almanac rabbit hole and to tell you the truth, I love it. The only key to keeping one’s sanity is to remember that you simply can’t record everything. There are only a few species of mammals in our area, and a similar number of reptiles and amphibians to contend with, but when one turns one’s attention to the plants and insects of our region — well that is the path toward insanity.
The pages of my red journal are already full of information when I open up to one new day or another. This has all been “pre-loaded” by me during the winter months when there isn’t that much to do outside and every year the amount of information on each page gets more and more comprehensive. Ten years of high and low temperatures are at the bottom of each page and then special events are added in as well. Eventually, there will be no room to write new data, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Several years ago I decided to incorporate “benchmarks” here and there that would allow me to compare one year to the next. The high and low temperatures are a good example of this, but I also decided to monitor the status of the different nest boxes that I have strategically placed in the “managed” lawn areas around my house. In this way, I thought I could have something interesting to contemplate in the future and the wonderful thing about the future is that it eventually becomes the present.
So, here we are at last. The future has arrived and we can take a look at how one year might differ from another. All of the nest boxes that I have built are the same, standard design for bluebirds and tree swallows. To the west of my house is Box 21, and this year it is occupied by the pair of tree swallows that were harvesting the hay out of my lawn. I was able to take advantage of an overcast morning and get some close-ups of the male and the female. The difference in their plumage was very easy to see that day. The more subdued colors of the female compared to the dazzling, iridescent glow of the male’s blue body feathers.
Box 22 is down the hill to the south and it is also occupied by swallows. They are ferocious defenders of their box and they will dive at me and come so close that I can feel the air move as they zip past my head. These two boxes were occupied by house wrens last year, but the weather last spring was very strange and the house wrens arrived early enough to lay claim to the boxes before the swallows took up residence. This year, the swallows arrived first and claimed the two most desirable locations for themselves. It all comes down to timing.
Box 23 is a little closer to my house is vacant this year. In the past, it was used by bluebirds, swallows and wrens, but for some reason it went unclaimed this year.
Box 24 provides the funniest story of the year. Needing some repairs, I decided to pull the entire setup out of the ground and bring it back to my workshop for some TLC. I was distracted by something that day, so I leaned the box on its post against the side of my garage. The next time I went over to the box, a house wren flew out of it. Who knew the housing market was that hot? I left the box leaning there and the wrens are in it to win it. At some point, I will have wren chicks curiously poking their heads out to look at the world and they will see me looking right back at them.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 23 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service and the Massachusetts State Parks and currently teaches high school biology and physics. Visit www.speakingofnature.com for more information, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.