Early June

Cliff swallow - Silver Mine - 6/1/26

I began the month of June with a quick trip out to Silver Mine to see if I could locate where the Cliff swallows were making their nests. I had seen them making a “bee-line” from the muddy seep described in a previous posting to the nearby little bridge from the parking lot to the boat launch, but I had yet to see then actually making the nest under said bridge. Finally, I was able to photograph a pair which had decided to construct their new “domicile” close the the overpass’s edge, so I could get down on my hands and knees to get a low enough angle to capture an image of one of the pair. It’s an excellent spot from them as it is protected from human intervention as well as predation from other reptiles and mammals.

I did check on the Barn swallow nests that we had located earlier, and while there was at least one adult on each nest, I did not see any sign of chicks yet. We’ll keep tabs on these sites into June.

I stopped along the parking lot edge where I’ve had success in finding some spring/summer migrants and residents and was pleased to find yet another flycatcher to add to growing list. This was the Eastern phoebe.

Eastern phoebe - Silver Mine - 6/1/26

The Eastern Phoebe is a small, stocky flycatcher commonly found across eastern North America, recognized by its drab gray-brown upperparts and pale underparts with a faint wash of yellow. The phoebe can be quickly identified by its distinct habit of pumping its tail while perched. Often inhabiting open wood edges, gardens, and near water, it forages from low perches, hawking insects in short sorties and sometimes gleaning them from foliage. Unlike many songbirds, it frequently returns to the same perch between flights which gives us photographers a great advantage in trying to capture a nice image. Thankfully, this bird chose an interesting broken off limb as its perch. Its song is a sharp, two-part "fee-bee" or a repetitive "phoebe" call that gives the species its name.

When I returned home, I made sure that I set up my “new” (as of Christmas) trail camera in the back yard to see what wildlife was coming to visit during the night. I know there are foxes in the area but admittedly have only seen them on two occasions in our yard. I’m hoping for images of these canines as well as opossums, skunk, or even a black bear which we’ve have had visit our property in the past. As a side note, during the summer months I take my bird feeders inside night to dissuade the bears from visiting and destroying our feeding station. So, probably no bear images…..but who knows.

As it turns out, the first several nights of June have in fact produced evidence of a Red fox in our neighborhood. Apparently he has a certain route he visits each evening because he has shown up only once each night as if he’s just passing through and checking under the feeders for any left overs. It’s great to see these little guys out and about. Check out the video of our guest below.