Nestbox news: Day 4
A happy Father’s Day to all dads and father figures out there, including my own, a happy Juneteenth to everybody, and some nestbox news. The babies are now 4 days old. The weather has cooled down to lovely temperatures, the parents are finding lots of food in our garden, and things look great. I will keep the Wren guard up until day 7, just to be on the safe side. I am so happy this works.
Life has been busy
and the yard has been a bit quiet because it is nesting season. But here are a couple of the current regulars. The Orioles have started to come back more, even the Orchard Oriole! Some baby Doves are around, Gracks, Grosbeaks, Blue Jays and Robins. The garden is growing, and so are the babies. Happy Sunday!
Nestbox news: We have a hatchling!
Today was my calculated hatch day for Gayle and Mr. Business' brood 2, but the she was off the nest a lot due to extremely hot and humid weather, so I wasn't sure. But two hours ago, the first baby hatched. Welcome, little one, I hope your siblings follow. 💙
The House Wren also made it through the day with her three eggs. She got some extra shade by a William & Cate wedding day umbrella I got in London when they got married.
The backyard is starting to fill
with more baby birds each day, it is the best time of the year. They are following the parents, learning how to find food, get clean and feel safe. Here are members of the thrush family, a young American Robin and two Eastern Bluebirds, all checking out the grape jelly. Funnily enough, the Bluebirds resemble the European Robin, while the American Robin looks a lot like a European Blackbird. Come good into the week!
European Starlings are considered invasive
in the US, meaning that they are not a native bird over here. They were supposedly brought to America through a man named Eugene Schieffelin who released a bunch of them in Central Park in 1890 as part of a personal project to bring all birds that have been mentioned in Shakespeare to the New World. Starlings have experienced a success story in the US, much to the detriment of some native species that were not prepared for them. As an invasive species, they are not protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty, so people are allowed to take active measures to control them. Many American bird enthusiasts are not a huge fan of them. However, they are part of the bird world here, they are fascinating in their own right, and I find it important to show them every so often too so people can recognize them and maybe become a bit more aware of their impact. (Plus, they can be entertaining and I also have followers from their native region.) There are lots of ressources about Starlings and the other main invasive bird in the US, the House Sparrow, to be found online. Here is one link with some background in regards to Schieffelin link. For an alternative view, here is another link, it is a complex topic. Without further ado, here is a young European Starling.
I loved the Grack photos so much
that I put a camera on the ground again. And this time, he was less shy. Baby birds always look so cute with their off proportions, different feathers and the vibrantly colored gape, the soft flesh around the beak base. In Grackles, it is pink, Bluebirds have an egg yolky yellow, for example. The vibrant gape is a good marker to identify a baby bird, and it also gives them their pouty appearance. There are actually several young Grackles around, in the second photo you can see that the youngster already starts to get some purple specks on the head too, so he is a bit older.
(Bonus photo of a Red-winged Blackbird is second-to-last.)
We did more gardening this weekend,
also because there isn’t a lot of bird activity going on because everybody is either incubating or taking care of very young babies. For a change, I did put a camera on the ground because I wanted to see if I could get photos of one of the adorable Grackle babies that have started to show up. And I was lucky. As you can see, they are very demanding, but Grackles are excellent parents and will dutifully feed those pink lined beaks. As always when there’s a camera on the ground, some squirrels also came by. This one had such a hilariously smug look on his face that I included him here even if he is out of focus.
In nestbox news, Gayle is incubating her five eggs and learned how to handle the Wren guard, and the Wren has surprisingly laid an egg the other day in the other box. I had kept removing sticks to keep the Wrens busy but they apparently were more determined than I anticipated. She has three eggs as of today. Interfering with an active nest of a native bird is illegal, so they can do their thing now. Hopefully, the Wren guard on the BB box will continue to work and all will be well. The Wren chose the two-holed PVC box with 6 inches in diameter. Since other birds keep exploring that box as well, I have added a hole reducer so that only Wren size can enter. Here’s to a good week!
The BB babies
are now confident enough to fly around the yard by themselves and also visit the feeders. There is at least one male (you can tell by him already having more blue feathers than the girls). Gayle has laid her fourth egg today, and so far, the Wren guard seems to work too. The next couple of weeks will be fun with loads of babies coming to the backyard.
Nestbox news: Oh yes!
Yesterday was the day, Gayle started her second brood, and added another egg this morning. As soon as the egg was laid, I put a Wren guard on the box to keep the tiny destroyers out of there. It is like a visor for the nextbox that hides the entrance hole from sight, so that the Wren does not see it and thus, will not explore it and destroy eggs or babies. Since the BB has an egg in the box, she is bonded with it and will overcome any possible fear of the guard. Only the BBs know that there is a nest there, so it gives a bit of safety. We will see how that goes. The BBs have one advantage - they have at least four of their first babies around that can possibly help to defend. The guard will stay on the box until the babies are about 5 days old. Then they are too big and heavy to be drug out by the Wren. And here is a pic of two of the first babies with Dad at the feeder!
Nestbox news: Ready for round two.
The babies have fledged on May 14, and in the last few days, the parents have started to bring them back to the yard to introduce them to the feeder and amenities. At the same time, Gayle has started to build another nest. During the time after fledging, a Bluebird box is pretty much left unattended and thus, vulnerable to other birds claiming it. A House Wren that is nesting in the area has discovered it and explored. And two nights ago, went in and started tossing the newly started BB nest. All night I was trying to think about what I could do. Then in the morning, I watched this scene going down. First thing in the morning, the Wren came back, but this time, Mr. Business saw it and took care of business. Gayle continued to build afterwards, and the Wren has not returned. As soon as she lays her first egg, I will install a Wren guard, which is basically a visor for the box that disguises the entrance hole from view. Theoretically, only the BBs know it is there. Since the Wren was already in, I have no idea if this will work, so I have to hope for the best. But the whole family is around, including three babies (that I saw so far) who stay close by the box and will hopefully defend it.
A happy sight
this morning - Gayle and Mr. Business are bringing the babies closer and I was lucky to get a little glimpse of one of them getting fed by Dad. I am not sure how many are there, sometimes not all of them make it in the wild. Gayle has ramped up her building efforts this morning too and is quickly filling the box. I am glad they hang around more now and I hope the Wren stays away. Have a great Wednesday!
Gayle and Mr. Business
have been teaching their babies how to live and survive in the world, and they have started to bring them to the backyard. I have heard them begging and saw some glimpses but they are still keeping them up in the trees. Gayle has also started to build another nest yesterday. I hope to see the babies up close soon too.
Nestbox news: They're getting so big!
I have been slacking a bit with the videos, so today there's more than one. This is from two days ago, and I thought it was funny to see Gayle sitting with the babies for a bit. They are in the tufty stage here, with feathers growing all over the place. At times it looked like mommy was plucking some of the tufts away but I am not sure if that is actually the case. Of course, once Mr. Business arrives, it's all mayhem again.
This is also from May 9. Here you can see the babies preening and stretching. They look so cool with the different colors and textures happening. The new feathers are encased in sheaths, almost like in a straw, and when the babies nibble that off, "feather dust" is in the air.
Now this is from last night. In the last two days, the babies have started wing practise. In order to be able to make the first flight, they need to be strong enough to not just drop. And this is where this larger nestbox hopefully proves its worth. With more space in the box, the babies have more space to practise. It won't be much longer now until fledging. These guys look awesome.
Nestbox news: 3 minute mayhem
Sorry, yet another Bluebird baby post. But they are very entertaining and exciting to watch right now. The babies are now 12 days old, their eyes are open, they are still napping a lot but are also more aware and awake. The feathers are really coming in now, giving them an odd apearance with fluff as well as hard sheaths. They are grooming a lot to open the sheaths. And every three minutes, an adult bird comes to feed them. I love these little grumpy faces so much.
Nestbox news: Grumpy old grandpas
The Bluebird babies are 10 days old now. They have become vocal, their eyes are open, feathers are starting to emerge. We have gone from "shrimp" stage to "grumpy old gramps" stage. Gayle and Mr. Business continue to be very attentive. Gayle is still spending the night in the box but now that the babies are getting bigger, it is not as comfy for her anymore. First video is from day 7, then day 10.
Nestbox news: What goes in must come out... and in!
The babies are five days old and have grown steadily thanks to the constant stream of food brought by mom and dad. And what goes in, must come out. When a baby is fed, it usually relives itself right after. In the beginning, the parents will eat the fecal sac, apparently it contains nutrients that the babies cannot digest yet.
Nestbox news: It was a big day yesterday,
the Bluebird babies have hatched! The first two did so yesterday, and the remaining three took a bit longer and hatched this morning. It was a bit nervous yesterday because I saw Gayle looking out the entrance hole a lot and also leaving a lot, and Mr. Business was nowhere to be seen. These birds are hardy but anything can pretty much happen to them any time. Thankfully, this morning, he finally seems to have realized that he has babies now, and him and Gayle have been feeding them diligently all day. The next couple of days will be on the cooler side, and this is when the babies are most vulnerable.
You can hear Mr. Business sing a little melody when he arrives with food. that is later going to be the parents’ call to lure the babies out of the box for fledging. I really like how much space they have in there, how they don’t have to hover over the babies but can watch them from the edge of the nest. Nobody is crammed unless they want to.
The outside looks very pretty today,
we were gifted with snow over night! I am glad I got my little Santa Stop done yesterday (check the livestream to see it), and I love that there is more activity at the feeders today too, so hopefully there will be some fun new photos later. I still wanted to continue to introduce the calendar birds for 2022. I apologize for slacking a bit with that, but it has been busy. July and August are the months that burst with bird variety and baby birds. The July bird is the vibrantly looking and beautifully singing Baltimore Oriole, and August shows an adorable young Blue Jay. Be safe out there in the snow today!
If you are interested in getting an Ostdrossel calendar, you can get them here: https://www.createphotocalendars.com/Shop/ostdrossel
Today when I went outside,
it sounded like spring, there were Robin calls, Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Cardinals and Starlings. There is a place nearby that has a mature Cedar tree, and I have checked it a couple of weeks ago to see how far the berries were, and I went there today again. The tree was basically covered in happy Robins, and it also had some Cedar Waxwings sprinkled in. I will go back to try and get some Waxwing goodness. Here is a photo of the teen Cardinal too, he posed just outside my window today, and a Whitecrowned Sparrow was at the bath!
Video: Finally!
I have been stalking this adorable little stinker for a couple of weeks now, a young Cardinal. I keep hearing it begging for food from the parents but the whole family is camera shy. This morning, however, he came for a sip at the bird bath. The beak is still brown and will only change to the characteristic red when the bird has reached one year of age. The plumage will slowly start to fill in more with color too. I love this "tie-dye" stage on them.
Apart from that, there is very little going on in the yard still. The leaves are starting to turn, the air smells like fall, and it is raining Black Walnuts. This means for me that winter prep is still ongoing. Each morning, I go out with a helmet on to collect them (they are big and fall from tall trees and I like my head). I also saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch this morning, which is wonderful news because you never know if they will return. Hopefully, it will also check out the camera feeders. Have a nice Wednesday!
