Author Archives: beveritt

This is MY Turf

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Brown-headed NuthatchMating season means it’s time to stake out your territory.

This morning I was standing under the large Japanese Maple in our front yard waiting to take a photo of the Eastern Bluebirds who are moving into a bird house close by.  I was standing right next to the trunk hoping to be indistinguishable from the tree.

Brown-headed NuthatchTwo Brown-headed Nuthatches landed in the tree and began being very vocal and hopping around a lot.  They were less than  six feet away from me at times and completely oblivious to my presence.  All of a sudden there was much commotion and I lost them both.

Then there was a racket and much squabbling, and when I looked down the two were on the ground very close to me grappling with each other.  You could speculate that they were mating, but most likely it was a fight over territory.  It’s hard to tell male from female Brown-headed Nuthatches based on appearance, so this provided no clues.  Take a look at these photos and see what you think.

Looking back on it, I think all of the movement in the tree was posturing.  The fact that they were unaffected by my presence suggests that they had much more important issues to deal with.

Slow, Turtles

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Turtle Crossing

Reminder to slow down and watch for turtles crossing the street

Not Slow Turtles.  But slow down all you hares, there may be a turtle crossing the road.  Most likely in this area it’s an Eastern Box Turtle.

This is the season when they start to come out and explore and look for a mate.  They will move back and forth between areas in the neighborhood where there is water, and sometimes that means crossing the street.

We have this sign on a power pole across from us and another further down facing the other way.  People do notice, but when you’re in a hurry, it’s easy to forget.

Turtle

Boxer the turtle in our pond

Meet Boxer (clever name huh?).  He shows up every year to hang out in our pond.  Turtles are territorial and every year we hear what sounds like knocking at the front door.  It’s Boxer challenging his competition, which is really just his reflection in the brass kick plate.

Did you know that box turtles can live for up to 40 years? Hatchlings are very secretive and you might not ever see one until they are two years old.

We’re pulling for Boxer to keep winning the race.