Hi Tweets

Up in north-central BC a few years ago, Ken Summers and I saw some major
interaction between a pair of Northern Rough-winged Swallows (NRWS)--which,
incidentally, were scarce for that area--and a female Belted Kingfisher
(BEKI), mid-May, when spring really came to the area (though winter never
really left, we thought grumpily on our way out to the study sites, scraping
frost off the windshield each morning around the summer solstice and looking
at fresh snow on the mountaintops). Mid- to late May is when migrants just
*pile* in, there.

The swallows had arrived first and were prospecting a burrow (an old
kingfisher nest?) in the clay bank of the Manson River. A week later, the
BEKI arrived and, after some ruckus, booted them out. The male kingfisher
arrived a few days later and wedded bliss reigned. Not blissful quiet: these
were kingfishers, after all, so it sounded like $1.49 Day at the local rivet
factory.

I thought it interesting that, in an area in which they clearly were
pioneers, the swallows migrated in first. I'd wonder if in areas where both
species are common breeding species and might be competitors for nest
tunnels whether they'd be competitive on being first back, too.

Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada
mprice at mindlink.net