Saturday we had two Red-breasted Sapsuckers drumming at our home on
Fawn Lake in Mason County. I first noticed one drumming on a
chickadee nest box. Apparently that wasn't loud enough, so it flew
up to the roof and drummed for the next 15 minutes on an old
television antenna. The second sapsucker was drumming in response on
an aluminum gutter on the house, and later on a metal railing (it
makes you wonder what they did before humans provided them with the
miracle of metal!). According to our copy of Terres' Encyclopedia of
North American Birds, with Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, both species
drum, so I'm guessing it was a male and female in courtship or pair
bonding, though it could have been two males in territorial
displays. Which reminds me: when is someone going to update that
great Terres book?

This morning, I keep getting distracted from my photography computer
work by activity inside a Wood Duck nest box. We have a nestcam set
up within the box, and have been monitoring activity over the past
few days. Starlings have repeatedly attempted to establish a nest
inside the box, and have brought in "armloads" of twigs and feathers,
which I have dutifully removed at the end of each day. We have also
had a Wood Duck laying eggs in the box, and this morning she arrived
at dawn and stayed for about half an hour while her mate stood guard
on the water below. She has between two and four eggs at this point,
and may have laid one of them last night. The Wood Duck repeatedly
opened its bill and appeared to hiss when a Starling appeared at the
nest box opening. After she left, the Starlings again began bringing
in nesting materials. Then the Wood Duck returned, and used its feet
to neatly shove all the Starling twigs to the margins of the box,
exposing again the aspen chips that I had placed in the box. She
exposed the eggs to check on them (I could see two eggs whenever she
exposed them, but her body may have hidden up to two more). Then she
neatly covered the eggs with aspen chips and left the box.

Later, I looked up from my computer to see two Starlings in the box
in a strange position. I assumed they were copulating, but it went
on for a long time. After they broke off the engagement (love or
war, I wasn't sure), they began vigorously attacking each other with
feet and bills in what looked like a vicious fight, so I think my
first assumption might have been wrong, and this was really two birds
fighting over the box. I videotaped the interaction, so I'll take
another look later.

Meanwhile, the nest box several feet away had 15 Hooded Merganser or
Wood Duck eggs when I checked it last night. The bird had just
started to pluck feathers to cover the eggs, so I think continuous
incubation should start in a day or so.

Lee Rentz
Shelton, WA
http://leerentz.wordpress.com (nature and travel blog, not lately
about birds)