The Nature of Delaware

By Derek Stoner, Conservation Project Coordinator

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird nestling sits high in the nest, in the final day before fledgling. This is the last photograph of this bird in the nest. Image by Derek Stoner, June 18, 2011.

But the star of the show was the baby Ruby-throated Hummingbird, sitting in the nest where for the past three weeks he (or she?) has grown up on a branch of a Sycamore tree.  Our group of curious onlookers gawked at the hummingbird 20 feet above our heads.  With beak held apart, it appeared that the hummingbird was panting to keep cool in the late morning heat.   

Everyone enjoyed the thrill of seeing the “baby” in its nest, and we had to look carefully to realize that this was indeed the youngster and not one of the adults sitting on the nest.  The slightly shorter beak and speckly plumage on throat convinced us of its age– a mere 19 or 20 days!

I told our group that the hummingbird would likely fly away and leave the nest for good within a day or two.  Sure enough, this morning(June 20) when I went to check one final time, the nest was empty.  Through monitoring the nest over the course of five weeks and a total of five visits, I’d grown accustomed to excitement of seeing something alive within the nest.  I feel honored to be able to document such an interesting sequence of events in the development of a hummingbird, from egg to fledging stage.  I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did!

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By Derek Stoner, Conservation Project Coordinator

A baby Ruby-throated Hummingbird rests its beak on the edge of its nest at Coverdale Farm Preserve. Image by Derek Stoner, June 8, 2011.

After photographing the Ruby-throated Hummingbird nest two weeks ago on May 24, I returned to the location at Coverdale Farm Preserve early this morning, hoping to find the results of the female’s incubation efforts. 

Peeking inside the nest, I spied a tiny grayish lump!  The baby hummingbird raised its head and emitted a high pitched chirp as I perched above the nest and snapped photos.  Neat rows of “pin” feathers lined the bird’s back and sides.  Based upon its size and feather maturity, I guesstimate the baby to be about 9-10 days old, meaning it hatched on May 30 or 31. 

The fledgling raised its head briefly and rested its beak on the edge of the nest.  The beak is now only about 1 centimeter in length, but by the time it leaves the nest, the beak will be fully-developed at 1.5 to 2 centimeters.  Hummingbirds fledge at  18-20 days, so in the next 10 days there will be lots of growing to do for this baby hummingbird! 

The hummingbird nest is now adorned with dangling oak catkins, providing extra camouflage to hide the nest and baby. Image by Derek Stoner, June 8, 2011.

Another intriguing observation is that the nest is now adorned with several oak catkins, those long yellow-brown male flowers(up to 100,000 in a mature oak!) that produce the clouds of pollen that we are all noticing right now.  I suspect the female hummingbird wove the catkins into the side of her nest as a way of providing additional camouflage, since a few of the sycamore leaves around the nest have fallen off.  A very creative means of decoration and disguise!

What happened to the other egg?  Did it hatch?  We don’t know for sure, but luckily the one baby hummingbird is alive and doing well.  For great information on Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, I highly recommend the website of Operation Rubythroat, where I am learning more about these amazing birds as I follow the developments at this nest.

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By Derek Stoner, Conservation Project Coordinator

The month of June is here, and with it comes the peak of nesting season for many birds in our region.  The amazing cycle of bird courtship, mating, nest-building, egg laying, incubation, hatching, brood rearing, and fledging is in full swing right now.   

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird nest at Coverdale Farm Preserve, in a Sycamore tree along Burrows Run. Image by Derek Stoner, May 24, 2011.

 

In mid-May, Jim and Amy White discovered a Ruby-throated Hummingbird nest in a Sycamore tree along Burrows Run, in the middle of Coverdale Farm Preserve.   The nest is on a branch about 20 feet above the ground and well-disguised amongst the leaves and lichen clusters.  I took up the challenge of documenting this nest and I’ll leave it to your imagination as to how I obtained this photograph looking down into the nest!

A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird sits on her well-hidden nest in a Sycamore tree along Burrows Run. Image by Derek Stoner, May 24, 2011.

Our region’s smallest bird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird not surprisingly has the smallest eggs and the smallest nest.  The nest is intricately constructed of plant fibers and smartly camouflaged with lichens.  In order to strengthen the nest, the female hummingbird gathers spider silk and weaves it into the walnut-sized nest.  She then lays two eggs that weigh half a gram each.  It would take 5 hummingbird eggs to equal the weight of a dime!

Stay tuned for a series of stories about nesting birds, as we celebrate the beginning of a new generation of avian life. 

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By Joe Sebastiani, Members Program Team Leader

You know it is a slow morning of birding when one of the participants says, “At least we had a good breakfast.”  Yes, indeed.  This morning, Michele Wales and I led the Birding and Breakfast program at Coverdale Farm, she made the breakfast, and I led the bird walk. 

Program participants enjoyed a wonderful fruit and quiche breakfast, made from Coverdale Farm chicken eggs.

Our group of birders finally happy to see something up close sitting still!

Cooper's Hawks don't eat chickens, but eagerly catch smaller birds, like House Sparrows.

It was a great day to be outside to walk the farm and preserve and not be wet, wind-blown, and freezing.  We saw 29 species by the end, which isn’t too bad.  Join us on our next Birding and Breakfast program at Ashland Nature Center on February 12 in conjunction with the Great Backyard Bird Count.

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By Michele Wales, Farm Program Coordinator

 The Spanish call it Azafran, to the French it is Safran, the Japanese named it Safuran, and the Portuguese identify it as Agafrao.  No matter how it is translated, saffron is the most exotic, mysterious and possibly the oldest spice used by man.  And it is growing at the Delaware Nature Society’s Coverdale Farm!

This beautiful fall-blooming crocus, crocus sativus, has found great fame through its three pollen receptors known as the stigma.   Saffron is the “empress of spice” boasting a trinity of actions: a colorant, a flavoring agent, and an aromatic.  The color of the scarlet red stigma (or threads) mellows to a gorgeous yellow as a natural dye and in culinary preparations; the flavor of the dried threads is vibrant, earthy, and metallic; the aroma is pungent and somewhat rosy. 

A saffron flower spread open. Photo by Joe Sebastiani

Emerging from the garden soil in early-October, thin chive-like leaves, with a slight silvery streak down the center, fan out…to my ultimate delight.  From the first appearance, I count the plants daily to see how many have survived their summer hibernation.  Mid-October approaches and my heart quickens as I make my daily journey to the garden in hopes of feasting my eyes on the voluptuous purple petals and prized scarlet-red stigma.  Harvesting each morning of first bloom, I carefully pull the petals aside; follow the stigma to the pistil (which supports the stigma) and remove them at the base of the flower leaving the petals intact.  The threads are then taken to a dark, cool shelf where they are dried for approximately two days then jarred with a tight-fitting lid.  This yearly ritual takes place for about two weeks and leaves my finger slightly stained a pale yellow.  As winter arrives these lively green, silver-streaked leaves rest atop the straw, braving the chilly months.  As spring approaches and temperatures warm the leaves begin to yellow and by June the saffron bed appears vacant.  Below those prized corms rest, full of energy awaiting the cooling temperatures of October.

Michele Wales, DNS Farm Program Coordinator, poses with a blooming saffron in her garden. Photo by Joe Sebastiani

Visit Coverdale Farm during Farm Fun Days which are Wednesdays from noon to 2:30 p.m. until November 18.  If you want to see Saffron in bloom, you’ve only got a few weeks left…and the blooms last just a single day.  For information on Farm Fun Days, visit www.delawarenaturesociety.org.

A saffron flower open in it's natural state. Photo by Joe Sebastiani

 Please enjoy a very seasonal recipe from the south-west of France:

 Pumpkin with Saffron – Recipe taken from Goose Fat and Garlic by Jeanne Strang

 12 ounces of pumpkin or winter squash, peeled and deseeded

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon cornmeal

30 saffron threads, or ½ packet of powdered saffron infused in 1 tablespoon of hot milk

¼ cup of milk

Salt and pepper

 Coarsely chop the pumpkin or winter squash.  Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed casserole or pan, and let the pumpkin sweat in it until it turns translucent and soft.  Do not let the pumpkin fry; when it is soft enough; mash it with a wooden spoon in the pan until you have a coarse puree, then stir in the cornmeal and the saffron/milk infusion.  Blend in the additional milk, season with salt and pepper, and let it simmer together for 5 minutes.  You will find you have a beautiful gold-colored light puree with a delicate flavor.

Some information taken from The Essential Saffron Companion by John Humphries

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