Scarlet Tanagers May Be Nesting?
Yesterday evening, just after sundown, I listened for several minutes to the “chik-brrrr!” calls of a Scarlet Tanager in the woods behind our house. The sound felt electric, and I could almost feel a shivering buzz going up my neck as the calls moved through the deep green of the woods along the creek, from west to east. We’ve been hearing the Scarlet Tanager’s song almost every day since early May, and I think there almost certainly is a pair nesting here, though they are deep in the woods and not often seen in the open. They are said to have a preference for oaks, and I wonder if they might be nesting in the tall old white oak that dominates the section of the woods behind our house, on the northern side of Call’s Creek. One evening last week, the male flew over me, from the edge of the woods. I caught just a glimpse of crimson, with the band of black on the tail. They are so elusive, and stay so hidden among the green leaves of the hardwoods, that their presence might pass unnoticed, except for their distinctive song and calls, and the occasional glimpse of their burning red plumage.
I certainly see a lot more Tanagers than I hear.-I’m sure they probably are nesting by this time.