Barn Swallow Feeding Chicks

Lock and Dam No 1 (Ford Dam)

This summer I spent quite a bit of time at the Lock and Dam No. 1 which is located between St Paul and Minneapolis. Lock and Dam No 1 is the second lock located on the Mississippi River, the only one further upstream is the Lower St Anthony Falls Lock and Dam. It crosses the Mississippi just north of where it meets the Minnesota River. It is often referred to as the Ford Dam because of the adjacent Ford Plant.

The lock and damn was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers and went into operation in 1917. It was rebuilt in 1929 and expanded from one lock to two in 1932. Although they are not as large as some of the other locks down stream the two locks at the Ford Damn are large enough, 56 feet wide by 400 feet long to handle any river traffic that needs to get by, most of which are personal watercraft.

Between 1978 and 1983 major major renovations were made to the lock and dam. Most of the manual and hydraulic components were replaced with more modern components with computer controls. An observation area was added to allow visitors to view the operations of the lock during the warmer months of the year.
The dam is a buttress style dam made out of reinforced concrete. On the St Paul Side of the river stands a hydroelectric power station. The power station and dam were once owned by Ford and they were used to power the neighboring plant. With car companies running into financial problems Ford sold the dam and power station to Brookfield Power Co in 2007.

The reason that I first visited the dam was to photograph the banding of the peregrine falcon chicks that had hatched in the nest box that was attached to the dam walls on the Minneapolis side. The banding was done by the Midwest Peregrine Foundation, who are responsible for bringing the peregrine falcon species back from extinction in the Midwestern United States and southern Canada. Because the Midwest Peregrine Foundation has ties to The Raptor Center I found out about the banding and was able to get a front row seat.

After the peregrine chicks were banded I continued to visit the dam to check in and document their progress. Feeding three growing peregrines, one male and two females, can be a tough job, fortunately there was ample prey around the dam and the adults were very adapt at their hunting techniques. Once the chicks were old enough to thermal regulate their own body temperature the female joined the male in hunting which certainly made life easier.

Eventually it came time for the young to leave the nest. There were several ledges below the nest box that ran most of the length of the lock and served as a great place for the young to learn to fly. On these ledges they were protected from people and predators, except possibly other raptors, and their long lengths made them great runways for the chicks to practice their take offs and landings. I saw two of the young take what I believe was their first real flight.

Eventually the peregrines moved on. Even though they were probably still in the area it was no longer any easy way to find them or to take pics. There were other birds that were still hanging around though. For birds like double-crested cormorants, great egret and great blue heron the area around the damn is excellent habitat with plenty of fish to eat. Occasionally an eagle or osprey would stop by to do some fishing only to get chased away by angry peregrines.

Even with hungry peregrines in the area you can still find smaller birds raising their young. Perhaps the swallows that erected their nest beneath the stairs of the observation area were just too small to be worth the chase for the peregrines. Especially when their are numerous pigeons in the area which are not quite as quick or agile as the swallows and have a lot more meat on their bones.

I also managed to find dragonflies at the dam also. Cobra clubtails are usually found around large swift rivers and streams. The overflow water that pours over the dam makes the current a little faster in this area. Plus areas that are inhabited by humans often attract bugs, like flies, mosquitoes and bees which are prey to many dragonflies.

Birding Wood Lake Nature Center

After spring migration most of the good birding here where I live, consists of photographing the remaining bird while they nest or raise their young. While there is certainly not the variety that we get during the spring migration, this time allows us birders to take a closer glimpse at some of the more intimate behavior of our feathered friends. In mid July I spent some time at Wood Lake Nature Center watching the birds and their behavior.
There is always a good population of swallows at Wood Lake during the summer. This population consists of both tree and barn swallows. The tree swallows often take up residence in the bluebird boxes which are located on the prairie on the western portion of the park. The barn swallows like to build nests under the eaves of the visitors center, located at the east side of the park. The barn swallow nest, as shown above, is made of mud pellets, which are collected in the birds beak, and lined with grass. Barn swallows will nest in colonies, with each pair defending a space around its nest, if there is sufficient nesting space.
By July the wood duck males had already lost most of their breeding plumage. These ducks typically pair off while still on their winter range, in January, and return as a pair to the breeding range. The male will stay with the female through the breeding season but then find a new mate the next year. In the southern part of their range wood ducks will frequently produce two broods per season. Wood ducks are cavity nesters and will nest in large holes in trees, frequently made by piliated woodpeckers, although any cavity that is large enough will do. Since there is often a lack of natural cavities, wood ducks will often use man made nesting boxes, like the ones that are placed all around Wood Lake.
The female will line the cavity, or nesting box with down from her own body to make a soft feather bead for the clutch of typically 6 to 15 eggs, although if wood ducks nest to close together they will often deposit eggs into the nest of a neighboring female. These "dump nests" as they are called can contain up to 40 eggs. After they hatch the young chicks must jump from the nest and follow mom, who does not help them, down to the water.
Another type of duck that sometimes use the nesting boxes are hooded mergansers. The hoodies nest very much the same way that the wood ducks do, in a cavity that is lined with downy feathers from the female. The hoody babies are learning how to dive for their food, fish, bugs and crustaceans. They can adjust the refractiveness of their eyes allowing them to have better underwater vision. They also have an almost clear nictitating membrane, second eye lid that birds and some animals posses, which helps protect their eyes while they are under water. The wood ducks just have to learn to dabble across the surface poking their bills under the water in search of seeds, vegetation, bugs and other invertebrates.

Old Cedar Bridge Barn Swallows

At the end of the boardwalk, near the viewing platform, at Old Cedar I found that the immature barn swallows were still around. The last time that I had visited there had been one down at the base of some of the marsh weeds where a tiny little island had formed for it to stand on.

This time I found that there was one on the edge of the boardwalk
and another perched down on a broken plant waiting for a food delivery, not sure if Dominoes delivers to the marsh.
The one on the boardwalk decided that the broken plant would be a better to perch, if it wanted to eat. The one who was already there seemed less then enthused about having company.
The new bird on the block was not sure what was up with the first one, except that it had a big mouth.

When he found out that having a big mouth meant getting food then it was time for monkey see monkey do, or in this case swallow see swallow do. Must be careful this is a family safe blog.

"My turn, my turn".

"Hey I was here first".

"Pig"!

Wow a whole new meaning for mouth to mouth. Sorry not very educational but hopefully it was entertaining.

I have also been playing with putting this into a slideshow. I think that I have it all worked out now.

Barn Swallows at Old Cedar Bridge

Well yesterday was my birthday and it was kind of a let down compared to last year. Since the 12th landed on a Tuesday this year I ended up working both jobs yesterday so I did not really get to go out and do anything fun. In comparison my birthday last year fell on a Sunday so Michelle and I went birding out and Crex Meadows and then rescued an injured bald eagle that we found there. For my new friends who may not have been reading the blog back then you can find the details of that story HERE. While I was going through my back log of photos trying to get ready for today's post I though that these picks would have been more appropriate for yesterday, baby swallows on my birthday, but I don't have a Delorean with a flux capacitor so I guess that you will have to enjoy the pics today.
This Spring and early Summer there were a number of barn swallows nesting under the boardwalk that leads to the Minnesota River overlook near the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge.
The habitat is pretty swampy with a lot of bugs to help support a growing barn swallow family.
The boardwalk protects the nests from the elements as well as nosey human with long lenses.

When I visited in late June I found that one of the nestling had become brave enough to venture from the nest and was now on the ground near the side of the boardwalk.
The little guy, or girl who knows, was standing on the root system of some swamp plant that was sticking out above the water level.
It was fun to watch as the chick would open his mouth, peep, and beg, every time one of the adults would fly by.
It was old enough to fly on its own but still relied on its parents to bring it food.
And the adults were very good at hunting down insect to bring to the hungry little chick. I watched for over an hour, it was very fascinating. It was so fascinating that I returned to photograph them again a week later but I will save that for another post. It is dangerous to post to many babies in one post it might make my readers go into cute overload.

Swallows at Wood Lake Nature Center

There always seems to be a healthy population of swallows at Wood Lake Nature Center during the warmer months of the year.
Barn swallows, like the one pictured above, can often be seen circling around the visitors center. They build their nests in the eaves and other nooks and crannies of the building.
Tree swallows, like this one, are more often found on the other end of the park. They prefer to nest in the bluebird boxes which are placed in the open fields on the west side of the park.
Both types of swallows will often perch on the cables, which serve as a railing for the boardwalk which runs across the lake in the middle of the park. From their perch, over the water, they can easily take off and catch flying insects as they pass by, which is their main source of food.