On my hike yesterday in Butler County I walked through gamelands near Slippery Rock Creek.

Years ago the area had deep coal mines, then strip mines, but the coal companies never had to clean up or pay for the mess they made.  There are tailings piles everywhere and severe acid mine drainage, a big problem that’s hard to fix.  The water seeping from underground is bright orange and sometimes has an oily sheen.

At the lake I found mud flats that could have attracted shorebirds but the water and land are bright orange.  Nonetheless two juvenile birds — a killdeer and a spotted sandpiper — were working the mudflats looking for food.

I felt bad to see them there.  Was the water going to hurt them?  And what could they possibly be eating?

A flock of cedar waxwings gave me a hint on the shorebirds’ food source.

At this time of year waxwings supplement their all-fruit diet with insects they catch on the wing.  The flock was flitting low over the orange water and hawking insects out of the air.  I couldn’t see the insects but swarms were courting above the water, unaware that it was not a suitable place to lay their eggs.  The swarms made a bonanza for the waxwings and explained what the killdeer and sandpiper may have been eating.

Thanks to the waxwings for showing the way, I didn’t feel so bad for the shorebirds.

(photo by Steve Gosser)

p.s. I love how waxwings feed berries to each other during courtship.  Steve Gosser snapped this photo at just the right moment.