POND: Birds need our help to thrive

From Page A1 nested and laid eggs. We watched a territorial dispute between western bluebirds and tree swallows. The bluebirds built the nest and male and female kept sitting on top of the nestbox together.

When they left, tree swallows tried to fly in and leave feathers, unique to their nests.

Goslings are with parents at the Julie Partansky Wildlife Area Pond. There are a dozen juvenile wood ducks parading with mama at the John Whitcombe pond you can see by walking along the agricultural side of the Davis Ditch.

Many enjoy visiting and watching the growth of great horned owl with two owlets born in a nest along the greenbelt path at the end of Heron Place. The owlets have fledged and are often sitting in a tree on the west side of the path before the tunnel that goes under Anderson Road. They are practicing flying now so won’t be there much longer. They are better at flying than they are at landing. Mostly mom but also dad can be seen in the area. During the day, they sit, seldom moving, so they are challenging to spot with their camouflaged feathering.

We have a new tool called Bird Haiku that records the calls and songs of birds in our back yard.

Yesterday we had 20 species. The most frequent species were house finch, black phoebe, American crow, California towhee, bushtit, lesser goldfinch, California scrub-jay and Western tanager.

Bird collisions with buildings, houses and windows are most likely to happen during spring and fall migration times. You can help birds avoid collisions. If a bird hits your window, take care of at least that one window. You can do it in a number of ways. Close blinds and curtains, install an external screen, put up antistrike window decals to alert birds. The decals are self-adhesive and easy to set up and remove. They can be applied inside or out to keep birds from striking the glass.

A reminder, birds are in decline all around the world so let’s do whatever we can to help them. Keep cats indoors. Cats kill more birds than window collisions. Plant some birdfriendly native plants in your yard. They flock to a shallow plant saucer of water for drinking and bathing.

This is a good time of the year to enjoy our expert-led bird strolls and learn a few new birds. Saturday, June 3, at 8 a.m. at the North Davis Ponds, 3500 Anderson Road parking lot is the meeting place. Wednesday, June 7, at 8 a.m. is a stroll at West Pond. Meet at Isle Royale and Bryce Lane.

— Jean Jackman is a Davis resident. Her columns appear monthly. Got a story, question, correction? Contact: JeanJackman@gmail.com.