Complimentary Blueberry Juice

Lots going on and it’s a very busy time of year for us, in addition to seeding we have tens of thousands of transplants to go out. It’s a big three- week push and it gets our whole season underway. If that wasn’t enough for us we also have two major infrastructure projects on the go, which will also be (mostly) completed in the same three-week time frame.

What does that have to do with Tree Swallows?

Weeeeell

The big spring push is all about planning, and part of that this year was also putting up nest boxes. Granted, this isn’t the biggest of tasks but it was one I was really looking forward to.

I have loved Tree Swallows and more generally flycatchers (which for our farm includes Barn Swallows and Eastern Kingbirds) for quite awhile. They are very recognizable from their flight patterns and acrobatics, and all of them are stunningly beautiful. I have always wanted to build nest boxes and put them all over the place just to attract more. With an over-abundance of insects on our biodiverse no-till plot, it all seemed like a win-win-win. So last winter, after years of just thinking about it, I built a bunch of nest boxes.

Unlike seeding schedules and infrastructure projects, the timing to put up these nest boxes involved a little more attention to nature. Being insectivores, these birds don’t overwinter here…putting up bird boxes as soon as the snow melts will result in nesting sparrows (which is fine, not hating on the humble sparrow!) Which means I had to play a waiting game, and pay attention to what birds were arriving when.

This was enjoyable in a way I don’t think I’ve really experienced before, as I was hyper-focused on noticing which birds were arriving. Juncos, Ducks and Red Winged Blackbirds, Rails. A few days ago I saw a pair of Barn Swallows and I knew the time was near.

Today, I saw my Tree Swallows.

And up went the boxes!

It was both really enjoyable to pay closer attention to the migrating birds as nature wakes up for spring, and seeing all the nest boxes around the field is really cool. I’m hoping they all get filled with my target bird and I can enjoy the sight of them flying around as I’m working and harvesting.

I also hope they find the Cabbage Butterfly to be a real delicacy.

Farming with nature has a lot of benefits, but the best kind in my opinion, is that you get to enjoy all these amazing creatures that surround you, be it birds or amphibians or insects or mushrooms. Being surrounded by abundant life has an amazing psychological effect, as everywhere you look, if you care to look, there is something to notice. Knowing that it was your agricultural choices that allowed all of this life to thrive makes one feel really good about said choices.

Humans as ecosystem engineers have the ability to create space for abundant life and allow them to thrive, to no detriment of our lives or businesses.

With any luck we’ll see some Tree Swallow babies, and with a little more luck, I’ll get some nice photographs.

Back to transplanting.

Stay curious!

Graham

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