Brewbirds

Odd nesting and cicadas

Got a hot tip on breeding Cliff Swallows in one of my blocks for the PA Breeding Bird Atlas. The swallows are nesting under a bridge over Lake Nockamixon...at least two nests so far. They've been seen here over the past two summers, but this is the first confirmed nesting. Something else is nesting under that bridge too, and it was actually a bit more of a surprise to me:

This Egyptian Goose got up under the joint work of the bridge, kicked together a few stones and laid eggs, evidently. Unfortunately, this is NOT the first confirmed nesting for the area. Another pair is probably nesting again this year at a local farm pond just a few miles away. The bridge nesting seemed pretty weird to me, but maybe this is the way these birds operate. Think i've heard that they nest in trees in Africa, but have to look into that?!?

The most interesting nature event in the area is the emergence of Brood X of the 17 Year Cicadas this month. On the south shore of Nockamixon you can't find one to save your life, but they're EVERYWHERE on the north side. Don't understand why they're not on both sides of the lake, which is manmade and didn't even exist just 3 cycles ago in 1953. The noise on the north shore is almost deafening in places. It's pretty cool, but i'm glad they don't emerge every spring. Here's one sitting on my hand:

Posted by brewbird at June 4, 2004 05:56 AM