Birders' Nest

[owlice]

A footnote to the little egret story. One of my daughters lives not far from the marshy area where I saw the egret and the avocet, and drives past it almost every day. When I told her what I'd seen, she looked puzzled. 'I see 'em every day,' she said. 'I never mentioned it because I thought they were common!'

Well, I mean, y'know ...

Ah! That's lovely, and now you know that you can see them every day, too, if you wish... and capture them with the camera you will slip into your pocket!!

[Elgarian Redux]

Negative evidence is as important as positive evidence, right? So ... we went down to walk by the river this afternoon, armed to the teeth with my little Panasonic TZ70 camera - following the advice of @owlice to Always Be Prepared. Perhaps we'd see a kingfisher? Some exotic type of duck? Oystercatchers? All very reasonable prospects. Off we went.

The photos give an impression of our progress. The sky was full of sand martins, but they won't stop and pose, will they? There were rooks and black-headed gulls in a distant field. But nothing exciting to see, birdwise, so we sat on the bank and watched the river flow. A poor afternoon for birds, but still good for the soul.

[Elgarian Redux]

Does anyone know anything about nestboxes? Our nestbox (see photo) has attracted a pair of great tits two years in a row. There's great activity for several weeks, they fly in and out, taking food in and flying out again. Then they go, and all activity ceases. Last year there were no dead nestlings, no eggs even, in the box. We haven't looked inside yet, this year. But that means two failed nests on two successive years. Is that unusual, would you say?

[Jo498]

My late father used to build nestboxes like the one shown, there are birder/nature protection clubs in Germany who build them, hang them and at least some systematically evaluate if they are nested in and by which birds, thus contributing to stats on local birds. But I have no more specific knowledge about them, as where to put them and which kinds of birds to expect.

[Iota]

[snip] Wow, that's a long answer... sorry!!

Nonetheless a very interesting one!

[Kalevala]

Does anyone know anything about nestboxes? Our nestbox (see photo) has attracted a pair of great tits two years in a row. There's great activity for several weeks, they fly in and out, taking food in and flying out again. Then they go, and all activity ceases. Last year there were no dead nestlings, no eggs even, in the box. We haven't looked inside yet, this year. But that means two failed nests on two successive years. Is that unusual, would you say?

Sounds to me like they did make a nest and had at least one chick (flying in with food for it/them).  No idea how long it takes for the chicks to mature and fly.  Hopefully a predator didn't get in there.

K

[owlice]

Negative evidence is as important as positive evidence, right? So ... we went down to walk by the river this afternoon, armed to the teeth with my little Panasonic TZ70 camera - following the advice of @owlice to Always Be Prepared. Perhaps we'd see a kingfisher? Some exotic type of duck? Oystercatchers? All very reasonable prospects. Off we went.

The photos give an impression of our progress. The sky was full of sand martins, but they won't stop and pose, will they? There were rooks and black-headed gulls in a distant field. But nothing exciting to see, birdwise, so we sat on the bank and watched the river flow. A poor afternoon for birds, but still good for the soul.

A beautiful outing, even though devoid of near-to-you birds! And, as I listen to the rain that has been, is, and will be falling where I am, I envy you the lovely day. What glorious weather you had for your walk! And you have captured that gorgeous day, and so the memory of it, with your camera. How fortunate that you were armed with your little Panasonic!

You posit "The sky was full of sand martins, but they won't stop and pose, will they?" Well, sometimes they might. One late afternoon in May, I walked again on the boardwalks of a favorite park and for the first time, saw not only the usual multitudes of Tree Swallows soaring above, but also Barn Swallows and Bank Swallows (which is what we call what are Sand Martins to you). None of them stopped to pose; I resolved to go the next day to another location where I had, in a previous year, seen Bank Swallows perching.

And so I went, and yes, there were Bank Swallows galore, and some even perching... for a second or fraction thereof. My only photo -- only! -- of them that early evening was this one:


If I had a facepalm emoji handy, I would put it here.

The Tree Swallows were more cooperative:


And even the Barn Swallows -- for all three species were at this location, too -- occasionally plopped down, though they might not have posed when they did:


And... and!... a little Vesper Sparrow appeared as well!


And so did the usual insane number of Savannah Sparrows. So many! Also various ducks and water birds, and even a warbler. It is very rare for me to go out to look for a particular bird, because that way so often lies disappointment, and why be disappointed when there are so many other interesting and beautiful things to see?

[Elgarian Redux]

Sounds to me like they did make a nest and had at least one chick (flying in with food for it/them). 

If they had, I'd expect there to be be bits of eggshell in the nest. But there was no indication that any eggs (or egg) had ever been there. We worked out a hypothesis that the female was trying to lay, and the male kept bringing food to her. But she never managed it, and so eventually they cleared off.

Maybe?

[Elgarian Redux]

A beautiful outing, even though devoid of near-to-you birds! And, as I listen to the rain that has been, is, and will be falling where I am, I envy you the lovely day. What glorious weather you had for your walk! And you have captured that gorgeous day, and so the memory of it, with your camera. How fortunate that you were armed with your little Panasonic!

Exactly.Your recommendation could not have been more timely.

You posit "The sky was full of sand martins, but they won't stop and pose, will they?" Well, sometimes they might. One late afternoon in May, I walked again on the boardwalks of a favorite park and for the first time, saw not only the usual multitudes of Tree Swallows soaring above, but also Barn Swallows and Bank Swallows (which is what we call what are Sand Martins to you). None of them stopped to pose; I resolved to go the next day to another location where I had, in a previous year, seen Bank Swallows perching.

And so I went, and yes, there were Bank Swallows galore, and some even perching... for a second or fraction thereof. My only photo -- only! -- of them that early evening was this one:

Having just spent an afternoon watching sand martins/bank swallows pretending to be never-stopping jet aircraft, I can only boggle at this image.

The Tree Swallows were more cooperative:

My goodness. What a fantastic capture of character.

And even the Barn Swallows -- for all three species were at this location, too -- occasionally plopped down, though they might not have posed when they did:


And... and!... a little Vesper Sparrow appeared as well!


And so did the usual insane number of Savannah Sparrows. So many! Also various ducks and water birds, and even a warbler. It is very rare for me to go out to look for a particular bird, because that way so often lies disappointment, and why be disappointed when there are so many other interesting and beautiful things to see?

You have more interesting sparrows than we have. House sparrow, and tree sparrow (if you're lucky), pretty much sums it up. The prevalence of dunnocks (even though not sparrows) does add a bit of variety to the collections of 'little brown birds' we get though.

[owlice]

You have more interesting sparrows than we have. House sparrow, and tree sparrow (if you're lucky), pretty much sums it up. The prevalence of dunnocks (even though not sparrows) does add a bit of variety to the collections of 'little brown birds' we get though.

Well, this is news to me! I had never once thought about how many species of sparrows might be in the UK, and am astonished to learn there are only two! For a country that gave the US its House Sparrow, I can scarcely believe it has such scarcity of sparrow.

The US has such an abundance of sparrows, it would be embarrassing... if many of them didn't look almost exactly alike; instead, it is sometimes maddening. If we leave out the 22 species of birds that are sparrows-but-not-called-sparrows and the sparrow cross-breeds, we still have 37 sparrows that are called sparrows rather than bunting, junco, or towhee. We not only have a Lark Sparrow, we have a sparrow called a Lark Bunting (which I hope to see someday).

But some sparrows, whether called sparrow, bunting, towhee, or junco, are not LBBs/LBJs and so are more readily identified. Thank goodness!!

Black-throated Sparrow, Arizona


Spotted Towhee, Washington (the state, not the city)


Dark-eyed Junco, my backyard


(I love them all!)

[owlice]

Now to look up dunnocks...

[Kalevala]

If they had, I'd expect there to be be bits of eggshell in the nest. But there was no indication that any eggs (or egg) had ever been there. We worked out a hypothesis that the female was trying to lay, and the male kept bringing food to her. But she never managed it, and so eventually they cleared off.

Maybe?

From what I understand, birds normally remove eggshells from their nests.  I've also seen (via Cornell's hawk cam) the female eating some of the shell.

K

[Elgarian Redux]

From what I understand, birds normally remove eggshells from their nests.  I've also seen (via Cornell's hawk cam) the female eating some of the shell.

K

I didn't know that. Thank you very much. So you may be right that there was perhaps a chick or two, even though we never saw one emerge. My wife especially will be cheered up by this possibility.

[Elgarian Redux]

Well, this is news to me! I had never once thought about how many species of sparrows might be in the UK, and am astonished to learn there are only two! For a country that gave the US its House Sparrow, I can scarcely believe it has such scarcity of sparrow.

The US has such an abundance of sparrows, it would be embarrassing... if many of them didn't look almost exactly alike; instead, it is sometimes maddening. If we leave out the 22 species of birds that are sparrows-but-not-called-sparrows and the sparrow cross-breeds, we still have 37 sparrows that are called sparrows rather than bunting, junco, or towhee. We not only have a Lark Sparrow, we have a sparrow called a Lark Bunting (which I hope to see someday).

But some sparrows, whether called sparrow, bunting, towhee, or junco, are not LBBs/LBJs and so are more readily identified. Thank goodness!!

Black-throated Sparrow, Arizona


Spotted Towhee, Washington (the state, not the city)


Dark-eyed Junco, my backyard


(I love them all!)

1. I never knew there were so many over there.
2. The quality of images here is such that I don't know how to comment sensibly on them except in terms like 'Wow' or 'Gosh' or 'Goodness me', followed by some random number of exclamation marks.
3. Each of those sparrows looks like a bird I would want to know, and have a conversation with.

[Elgarian Redux]

Now to look up dunnocks...

Dunnocks are much overlooked. Shakespeare perpetuated the idea of calling the dunnock a 'hedge-sparrow', a name that clearly leads to misunderstanding.

The dunnocks in our garden are cheery little birds that scuttle about under bushes and, if one is spotted out of the corner of an eye, it can give the impression of a scurrying mouse. Apart from qualifying as 'little brown jobs' they can't be mistaken for sparrows, and so Shakespeare did us no good service in this respect.

I shall attempt to photograph one, if only to prove that I own a camera.

[Elgarian Redux]

So this morning we took ourselves up into the hills, with spectacular views across to the Pennines, and set off on a favourite walk. And there on a post was a male stonechat, calm as you like. We slowed down. He stayed. Eventually he was only a few feet away. I reached for my camera .... but ....

I hadn't brought my camera! Again!

So we stopped and just looked. No need for binoculars. White collar, black head, light red-brown chest. Fabulous. After a few minutes, Mrs Stonechat landed on an adjacent post, and then off they both went. This of course is a 'one that got away' story, but truly I have never had such a close view.

Otherwise the place was devoid of visible birdlife - not a lapwing or a curlew to be seen.

But I really, really have to sort out this camera issue. Apologies, @owlice. I appreciate you are doing your best to help.

[Kalevala]

So this morning we took ourselves up into the hills, with spectacular views across to the Pennines, and set off on a favourite walk. And there on a post was a male stonechat, calm as you like. We slowed down. He stayed. Eventually he was only a few feet away. I reached for my camera .... but ....

I hadn't brought my camera! Again!

So we stopped and just looked. No need for binoculars. White collar, black head, light red-brown chest. Fabulous. After a few minutes, Mrs Stonechat landed on an adjacent post, and then off they both went. This of course is a 'one that got away' story, but truly I have never had such a close view.

Otherwise the place was devoid of visible birdlife - not a lapwing or a curlew to be seen.

But I really, really have to sort out this camera issue. Apologies, @owlice. I appreciate you are doing your best to help.

Well, maybe focus on the fact that you were able to see those birds up close?   

K

[owlice]

About to go into a meeting (from the one I'm currently in), but I got you covered for stonechat pics:

[Elgarian Redux]

About to go into a meeting (from the one I'm currently in), but I got you covered for stonechat pics:

Got 'em. Thanks. (Just in the nick of time.)

[Elgarian Redux]

Well, maybe focus on the fact that you were able to see those birds up close?   

K

And I do, and did, I assure you. We revelled in the moment. It was not so much disappointment in the camera's absence, as astonishment at my apparent inability to remember to take it.