Archive for July 11th, 2006
Swallows to delay Fox River bridge
Duluth News Tribune, MN - Jun 8, 2006
Associated Press
NEENAH, Wis. - A bridge project in Neenah has gone to the birds.
The Oak Street bridge will take at least an extra two months to complete because of the arrival of hundreds of nesting cliff and barn swallows.
The birds aren’t expected to change the route of the Fox Cities Marathon on Sept. 24, but they’ve certainly ruffled feathers of city officials because the birds are federally protected.
The swallows have built mud nests on the temporary support structure on the underside of the new $5.6 million bridge.
“The falsework will stay there until the swallow nesting period is completed,” said Bill Bertrand, project manager for the state Department of Transportation’s regional office in Green Bay.
The birds are expected to continue nesting through August 20. It means that motorists will have to continue using another detour to get across the Fox River.
Bertrand said the bridge contractor can continue to work above the bridge deck, but he said it will have another two months of work after the falsework is removed.
The bridge was expected to open at the end of July, several months ahead of schedule.
“Everything had been so favorable that we thought we would have an early opening, and then this comes along,” Neenah Mayor George Scherck said.
Cliff and barn swallows like to nest on manmade structures like bridges, and aren’t part of a larger conspiracy, as Scherck joked.
“Even the birds are against us here,” Scherck said. “If it wasn’t so sad, you would probably laugh.”
July 11th, 2006
Appleton Post Crescent, USA - Jun 8, 2006
Neenah’s Oak Street project extended for two months
By Duke Behnke
Post-Crescent staff writer
NEENAH — The arrival of hundreds of nesting cliff and barn swallows has pushed back the projected completion of the Oak Street bridge more than two months to mid-October.
The delay has ruffled the feathers of city officials and motorists but is not expected to change the route of the Fox Cities Marathon on Sept. 24.
The swallows have built mud nests on the temporary support structure on the underside of the new $5.6 million bridge, and because the swallows are federally protected migratory birds, the nests cannot be disturbed.
“The falsework will stay there until the swallow nesting period is completed,” said Bill Bertrand, project manager for the state Department of Transportation’s regional office in Green Bay.
The nesting period for the swallows runs from May 15 to Aug. 20.
The delay, first reported Wednesday morning at www.postcrescent.com, will mean a longer disruption for downtown motorists, who encounter heavy congestion during
the morning and afternoon rush hours.
Since the Oak Street bridge closed for reconstruction in August, all traffic over the Fox River has been detoured over the N. Commercial Street bridge.
“It hasn’t been horrible, but I am looking forward to the bridge opening,” Doty Island resident Pat Galloway said.
Tim Hamblin, Neenah’s public works director, said that for the marathon, the east half of N. Commercial would be cordoned off for runners, and the west half would handle one lane of southbound traffic and one lane of northbound traffic.
Bertrand said the bridge contractor, Lunda Construction Co. of Black River Falls, can continue to work above the bridge deck, but he said it will have another two months of work after the falsework is removed.
Just last month Neenah officials were forecasting a bridge opening at the end of July, several months ahead of schedule.
“Everything had been so favorable that we thought we would have an early opening, and then this comes along,” Mayor George Scherck said. “It’s very disappointing.”
The delay caused by the swallows is just the latest roadblock the city has encountered.
Last month federal highway officials refused to let Neenah bypass regulations tied to federal grant money for the construction of an overpass on W. Cecil Street, thereby delaying that project until 2007.
“Even the birds are against us here,” Scherck said. “If it wasn’t so sad, you would probably laugh.”
Cliff and barns swallows like to nest on manmade structures like bridges. They had nested on the Oak Street bridge in the past, but the corners of the falsework made the bridge particularly attractive this year.
“There are hundreds of them,” Hamblin said of the swallows. “They are under the whole bridge. I would bet there is a nest every five feet.”
Duke Behnke can be reached at 920-729-6622, ext. 32, or by e-mail at dbehnke@postcrescent.com.
July 11th, 2006
Staunton News Leader, VA - Jun 7, 2006
YuLee Larner
Columnist
Nest building by birds is just one of the small wonders of this world, with each species choosing certain materials and designs, different from all others.
The method of construction, using only their bill and feet, is enough to boggle our minds.
The killdeer simply scrapes a shallow saucer on the ground, usually in a graveled area, so the eggs are difficult to see.
Some birds build their nests high in treetops, others build nests that float on the water and many species nest in hollow trees.
Pendulous nests, woven by orioles, hang from tips of tree branches.
Mourning doves’ nests are so flimsy that eggs or young may fall through the holes in the bottom.
Hummingbird nests are about the size of a marshmallow, made of soft materials, held together with spider webs covered on the outside with lichens, and placed on top of a tree branch. Bald eagles may build a nest up to 20 feet deep and 10 feet across.
Several species build in bluebird boxes: Bluebirds use fine grass or pine needles; chickadees choose green moss; titmice use soft white materials; house wrens fill the box with twigs; and tree swallow nests are identified by several feathers arched over the top. In our area they use chicken or turkey feathers, while in coastal areas, they use white gull feathers.
From the Audubon Society “Encyclopedia of North American Birds,” by John K. Terres, here is a bit of bird-nest trivia.
A barn swallow may make as many as 1,200 trips carrying mud to build one nest.
At least 30 species, usually those that nest in cavities, include a piece of cast-off snakeskin, but will substitute cellophane or onion skin.
Some birds use manmade material, such as canyon wrens which built a nest entirely of office supplies, on the beam of an office in California. It contained paper clips, straight pins, safety pins, rubber bands, thumbtacks, rawhide shoelaces, a darning needle, paper fasteners, insulated wire, matches, toothpicks and other materials, for a total of 1,791 countable items. The nest weighed 21ÂĽ2 pounds!
Given 1,282 items to work with, including grasses, grapevine bark, candy wrappers, cigarette filters, cellophane, Kleenex, cotton, thread, and 28 feathers, could you build a bird nest? A house sparrow did in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1964! Yes, somebody counted.
July 11th, 2006