Birders' Nest

Started by Mozart, July 19, 2009, 09:34:22 PM

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Stürmisch Bewegt

Some of my neighbors are bragging about having seen a spate of rose-breasted grosbeaks.  I'm jealous, to be sure, but my wife and I spotted a coupla house sparrows mating in our strawberry and vanilla French hydrangeas this morning. "Are they having sex?," she asked.  Yup, that's what it is alright.  It's over quick and there wasn't time to get my camera.  But you do get to see their trysting place (not in bloom yet, of course).

Leben heißt nicht zu warten, bis der Sturm vorbeizieht, sondern lernen, im Regen zu tanzen.

mabuse

We could almost smell their scent ...  ;D

...

Rose-breasted grosbeaks look great, indeed  :)




Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: mabuse on May 05, 2021, 04:00:42 PM
We could almost smell their scent ...  ;D

...

Rose-breasted grosbeaks look great, indeed  :)

Beautiful!  Amazing how different the female looks from the male.
Pohjolas Daughter

Stürmisch Bewegt

Quote from: mabuse on May 05, 2021, 04:00:42 PM
We could almost smell their scent ...  ;D

...

Rose-breasted grosbeaks look great, indeed  :)


Thanks to you, mabuse, I get to see two of them after all  :laugh:
Leben heißt nicht zu warten, bis der Sturm vorbeizieht, sondern lernen, im Regen zu tanzen.

mabuse

Across the Atlantic, the Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks reminds me of the Great Spotted Woodpecker to which I am very attached :

About ten years ago a male had dug his nest into a dead tree at the bottom of my garden.
It took him 2 or 3 weeks and to see him doing it was amazing... It was a real artist at work.

(Some people tell me to clean up that rotten old tree... I never will ! )

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: mabuse on May 06, 2021, 09:17:40 AM
Across the Atlantic, the Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks reminds me of the Great Spotted Woodpecker to which I am very attached :

About ten years ago a male had dug his nest into a dead tree at the bottom of my garden.
It took him 2 or 3 weeks and to see him doing it was amazing... It was a real artist at work.

(Some people tell me to clean up that rotten old tree... I never will ! )
A very pretty bird!  I love woodpeckers too.  :)  The only thing that could be of possible concern to me (if I were you):  is there a goodly chance of the tree falling down and doing damage to a neighbor's house or mine?  Or possibly fall into the road and hitting a car, etc.?

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

mabuse

Of course, that would be a problem in this case.
Fortunately, the tree (a cherry tree) was not that big... And it is falling apart little by little over time.

And after the woodpecker left, other small birds also enjoyed the place  :)

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: mabuse on May 06, 2021, 10:40:56 AM
Of course, that would be a problem in this case.
Fortunately, the tree (a cherry tree) was not that big... And it is falling apart little by little over time.

And after the woodpecker left, other small birds also enjoyed the place  :)
Glad that everybody is enjoying it! :-)  By the way, I like your avatar; who created it?

The person who funded the webcams at SU spoke to a bird expert about the third and unhatched hawk egg.  Looking at the stats, they've concluded that the egg is unviable and won't hatch.  There are, so far anyway, two healthy-looking chicks in the nest for mom and dad to look after though.  :)  Meanwhile Big Red and Arthur are happily looking after their own brood.  Nest area is a bit gruesome looking with the bodies of all kinds of animals strewn in a circle around the nest!  Every so often they do a bit of nest-cleaning (removing some of the bits).  The life of a raptor.   :-X

Locally, two days ago I did manage to catch a quick glimpse of one of my RTHs and heard another one chwirking away to his/her partner.  Glad to know that they are o.k.  Have yet to hear any of the babies.  Fingers crossed for them.

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

mabuse

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on May 08, 2021, 12:05:30 PM
By the way, I like your avatar; who created it?

These are two "Shadoks" on my avatar  :)
"Les Shadoks" was an animated series broadcast on television in France from the 60s and which has remained quite noturious.
It was told of the very crazy adventures of these particularly silly birds ...
I found an episode on YT with English subtitles that maybe can give an idea of what it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y91GPXsVD3c

...


On the allaboutbirds.org website, I much appreciate to watch the Northern Royal Albatross from New Zealand :
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/royal-albatross/
The panorama is magnificent !

mabuse

These days, the two baby eagle owls are quite irresistible...  :-*
https://www.birdfood.co.uk/webcams/eagle-owl-webcam

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: mabuse on May 11, 2021, 07:53:35 AM
These days, the two baby eagle owls are quite irresistible...  :-*
https://www.birdfood.co.uk/webcams/eagle-owl-webcam

Drat!  Where did they go?  Are they just out of view or did they fledge and aren't coming back?

And yes, the cam view in New Zealand is beautiful!  Would love to visit it someday.
Pohjolas Daughter

mabuse

The two darlings are back!
Maybe they were hidden ...
Or maybe they went to the vet to be checked and banded.
...

The baby albatross doesn't seem bothered by big storms at all   :o
Seeing him, I feel very comfortable at home well sheltered.

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: mabuse on May 13, 2021, 10:27:47 AM
The two darlings are back!
Maybe they were hidden ...
Or maybe they went to the vet to be checked and banded.
...

The baby albatross doesn't seem bothered by big storms at all   :o
Seeing him, I feel very comfortable at home well sheltered.
Oh, yeah!  They're back!  :)  In terms of banding, at least in the US, birds aren't banded unless they are part of a study.  For example the red-tailed hawk chicks of BR and Arthur will not be banded.  For what its worth, also BR is the only one banded; her new mate Arthur isn't.

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Pohjolas Daughter

Pohjolas Daughter

mabuse


Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: mabuse on May 15, 2021, 12:06:17 PM
8)


So, "Duck" isn't the first duck to have ever surfed before?  :)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

mabuse


Pohjolas Daughter

Checked in on some of the birds on that Dutch site that you introduced me to Mabuse.  Was able to see the arrival of either mom or dad peregrine falcon (which stayed with the two chicks for a short amount of time), the great titmouse and a couple of the owls.  One thing that I wish that that website would do would be to provide some more info about the birds and the nests....like how long they've had the nests there, info about the inhabitants, etc.

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

mabuse

Indeed, it is disappointing.
On the French website, there is yet a small presentation of each bird which is well done:
https://www.fr.vivara.be/webcams-en-direct
Past years, there was also regular news that was given on Facebook to tell what was happening in each nest... But there is hardly anything this year.

...

The other day, I saw a rabbit who was strolling beside the little albatross ... A strange encounter!

Pohjolas Daughter

Just found out about this.  Hundreds of birds have died in DC area including West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia.  Apparently the condition has been reported as far west as Ohio too (but is currently concentrated in the DC area).

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-ailment-blinding-and-killing-birds-washington-dc-area-180978002/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20210616-daily-responsive&spMailingID=45156678&spUserID=NzQwNDU1NTI4MDIS1&spJobID=2024365233&spReportId=MjAyNDM2NTIzMwS2

Other bird species have since been effected by it too:  https://www.npr.org/local/305/2021/06/16/1007154493/blue-jays-grackles-other-birds-dying-from-mysterious-ailment?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=npr&utm_medium=social

They don't know what is causing it but are currently suggesting for people who live in the effected areas to take down and disinfect their bird feeders and bird baths and not to put them up (as food is currently plentiful) again.

PD
Pohjolas Daughter