Common Birds 62 - Nuthatch

Monday, February 5

A slow day, but for days, slow is not so bad. 

Friday, I was sitting by the river, hoping three buffleheads would forget I exist and come close. Buffleheads are small diving ducks who come down from central Canada to winter here on the coast. I usually see them as little flotillas on the waterfront in Newburyport, so seeing these three at work was a treat. The male was darkly iridescent with a big white helmet of feathers, and the two females were an almost-black brown with white spots on either side of their heads. They’re cuties and I was determined to a good picture of them. Then, I noticed some movement across the river and realized I’d been hearing crows cawing constantly while my attention was on the buffleheads. A bulky bald eagle was pushed out of a tree by a mix of American crows and fish crows, and it swept over the water to the south side of the river about a hundred feet to my right. The looming arrival of an eagle scared five or six mallards who wheezed and honked and fled up river, passing in front of me. The commotion of the mallards then drove the buffleheads to flap and run across the water until they got airborne, and the three of them disappeared, heading towards the I-93 bridge. So a win for the crows, and a loss for Austin, but it was satisfying to see a chain reaction that wasn’t started by fear of me.

But today is slow. The sun brings me warmth, and the wind off of the river whisks it away. The woods are almost silent but for the calls and songs of two nuthatches. I stand and wait until I see them, then head towards the base of the tree they’re inspecting. I love when they spiral out to the end of a branch, stand at the very tip, and peer at the end, just to make sure they didn’t miss a single thing. 

After checking every flake of bark, the pair move on, Mr and Mrs Nuthatch, living life together: a good day.