Having missed my morning walk yesterday, I opted for an afternoon stroll despite the heat and humidity. I chose the MKT trail, a shaded old rail bed that follows a series of creeks in Greater Columbia. Though I rarely hike on hot summer afternoons, there were advantages; in particular, the sensible crowds were absent and I only encountered the occasional biker and lunatic jogger.
The woodland birds, protected from the intense sun by the forest canopy, were surprisingly active and a few skinks dashed across the trail as I approached. Also, the afternoon lighting increased visibility in the creek waters and I stopped on the bridges to watch the fish, crawdads, water striders and whirligig beetles. But the highlight was my encounter with a male summer tanager, a bird that I have not come across in recent years; I might have mistaken him for a northern cardinal if he had not broken into his distinctive rant as I neared his perch. Indeed, male summer tanagers are highly territorial and this one scolded me with his "pity-tuck" calls until I moved on; he was still on the overhanging limb when I returned and he resumed the tirade.
Summer tanagers prefer open deciduous forest and breed across the southeastern U.S. (from southern Iowa, the Ohio Valley and mid Atlantic States, southward); they also nest in riparian woodlands of the Desert Southwest, wintering in Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Feeding on both insects and berries, these tanagers have a preference for bees and wasps, which they snare in flight and then beat against a limb before consuming (hence the nickname bee-bird). A loose nest of dried vegetation is placed on a horizontal fork by the female and 3-5 eggs are generally produced. As I found out yesterday, the excitable male often guards the site.
