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Scarlet tanager nest



During our Wildathon count in our neighborhood, Chris
and I were lucky enough to see the male and female
scarlet tanager building a nest in a pine branch way
up high(same place they have built three years
running).
Today we watched helplessly as a squirrel ate the eggs
in the nest, and the male and female fluttered about.
I have to admit, I wanted a beebee gun. I barked like
a dog, hooted like a barred owl, and felt totally
helpless. Chris threw rocks, but it was way too high
up.
Since the trees have been cut down by the 15-501, I
have noticed more squirrels in my yard. I feed the
squirrels corn and peanuts, so I feel somehow
responsible. We have fragmented this woods by building
our home. We have felt so blessed to have all the
neotropical migrants nesting here. But we have a
neighbor with 17 outdoor cats. She rescues them with a
loving heart, but...
It is a mini-microcosm of human's intrusion into the
natural world. We are a part of this world, butwhen I
hear the song and the "Chick-burr" of the tanager
every spring, my heart soars and my spirit lifts.
To watch that squirrel do his deed was incredibly
painful. 
I wonder if the nest has ever been successful.
Do the same birds come back each year, all the way
from South America, and not raise any young?
How about the hooded warblers and parulas and
Louisiana waterthrushes, wood thrushes, ovenbirds,
vireos of our yard? 
The cowbird I heard this AM is but one problem of our
fragmented woods.
I will mourn the loss because I know of this one.
And learn that there are no easy solutions.
And that this is a part of it all.
Kate


=====
Kate Finlayson
N. Chatham Co.,N.C.
katefin@yahoo.com

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