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Any Port in a Storm :: The Beacon :: Putting Down Roots :: Meet the neighbors...
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AuthorTopic: Meet the neighbors... (Read 2,943 times)
bixaorellana
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #60 on Jul 6, 2010, 7:07pm »		[Quote]
Kimby, do you think she's not so much incubating that egg now, as keeping the babies warm until they grow feathers?

I reported on this somewhere else on the forum, but don't remember where. I found out the song sparrows had built a nest neatly blocking the chimney of the water heater. Since I hardly use the water heater in the hot months, I could have accidentally baked a bunch of little feather buns when I finally turned it on.

The last picture is just to show the how the heater is located. That's my kitchen window on the right, so you can imagine how loud their song is when they perch on the heater. You can see where I put the nest when I extracted it. It promptly blew down

[image]

[image]

[image]
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casimira
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #61 on Jul 7, 2010, 10:41am »		[Quote]

Jun 24, 2010, 2:06am, kimby wrote:
No, my book says the female builds the nest. But, the morning we left on a 2 week trip, I checked and there was one egg! During our absence, she should complete the clutch and do most of the incubating. And be fully committed to the nest by the time we get home. Will post updates with photos.

BTW, Mr. Kimby admitted - casi will love this - that when he was blowing dust and pine pollen off the porches and window sills with a LEAF BLOWER he accidentally blew the flycatcher's nest off the power box, but carefully replaced it. It seems to have worked. (I wonder if he ever would have told me, if she had not returned to lay an egg.)


I had not seen this yesterday when I was in here!!!!! AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-X :-X :-X :-X
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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #62 on Jul 7, 2010, 1:34pm »		[Quote]
Another Mr. Kimby blunder:

We were cleaning windows this weekend and he went up on the roof above the breakfast nook - and the flycatcher's nest on the outside of the nook wall - to wash the upstairs windows. I was tending plants on the adjacent deck when I heard a flycatcher "shreek" and saw it streak away from the house. There were Mr. Kimby's size 11 white tennis shoes hanging over the roof edge right next to the nest as he stretched to reach windows on the adjacent wall! No wonder she fled! But she came back and has been diligently sitting on the babies, all four of which had hatched by last night. And at least one was alive last night, raising its little head - and gaping big mouth - when the mirror loomed overhead as I checked it out.

I have yet to witness food being brought to the nest, though. Not to say it hasn't happened, I just haven't seen it. We are trying to keep a low profile and avoid disturbing her, though her instincts would probably not let her abandon the babies now. The windows closest to her nest have gone unwashed, and I only photograph the nest when she has flown away.
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casimira
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #63 on Jul 7, 2010, 3:16pm »		[Quote]
Perhaps Mr. Kimby could find some volunteer work in the community to occupy his free time..(he retired recently ,no?)

"Our" purple martins have all fledged and I miss their busy chirping,singing at dawn. I watched the adults give them flying lessons to and from the telephone wires.
We have a mating pair of woodpeckers in the tree outside the upstairs bedroom/balcony that are just adorable to watch. They probably already have babies but,I haven't seen the nest.
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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #64 on Jul 7, 2010, 5:15pm »		[Quote]
casi, woodpeckers nest inside a tree cavity - look for dead branches with holes in them.
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casimira
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #65 on Jul 7, 2010, 5:36pm »		[Quote]

Jul 7, 2010, 5:15pm, kimby wrote:
casi, woodpeckers nest inside a tree cavity - look for dead branches with holes in them.

I know Kimby,am definitely up on my woodpeckers and where they nest,all that stuff. ;)
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #66 on Jul 7, 2010, 5:52pm »		[Quote]

Jul 7, 2010, 3:16pm, casimira wrote:
We have a mating pair of woodpeckers in the tree outside the upstairs bedroom/balcony that are just adorable to watch. They probably already have babies but, I haven't seen the nest.

Sorry to disrespect a fellow naturalist!
This quote was what made me think you didn't know that. And unless you climb the tree with a flashlight and a dentist's mirror, you aren't likely to "see the nest". Just the nest hole. ;)
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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #67 on Jul 7, 2010, 6:09pm »		[Quote]
Good news from the power box. TWO flycatchers are around, and FINALLY I have witnessed one bringing an insect to the nest! Whew! I was getting worried.

This morning's nest photo, sleepy babies:

[image]

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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #68 on Jul 8, 2010, 5:08pm »		[Quote]
Yesterday afternoon, still sitting:

[image]


But finally, both flycatchers seemed engaged in catching insects for their offspring.
Hard to catch them sitting still, much less in the same frame.

[image]


And at last, I caught an adult feeding the young, though they are too little to stick up out of the nest yet.

[image]
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #69 on Jul 8, 2010, 8:35pm »		[Quote]
Here's another portrait of my bird (by another photographer). My birds won't sit still long enough to take a good portrait.

[image]
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kerouac2
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #70 on Jul 8, 2010, 8:53pm »		[Quote]
Looks nervous!
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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #71 on Jul 8, 2010, 8:54pm »		[Quote]
They ARE high strung little birdies!
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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #72 on Jul 8, 2010, 9:21pm »		[Quote]
I caught the nest unattended briefly this afternoon and snatched this image:

[image]

They are starting to look just a bit like baby birds. Less like raw meat anyway.
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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #73 on Jul 12, 2010, 7:08pm »		[Quote]
[image]

Taken on Sunday, in the hanging mirror.
I can watch from inside the kitchen without disturbing the birds.
Until the wind turns the mirror to a useless direction!
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #74 on Jul 12, 2010, 7:10pm »		[Quote]
This morning's look at "my" babies:

[image]
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #75 on Jul 12, 2010, 7:23pm »		[Quote]
How boring to spend all day waiting for food! Now I know why some people don't have children. ;D
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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #76 on Jul 16, 2010, 8:49pm »		[Quote]
[image]

Their mouths are open because they're hot (and hungry).
They are beginning to overfill their nest.
And now I can see that all have 4 survived. So far.
Ravens prowl the neighborhood looking for such tasty morsels!
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bixaorellana
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #77 on Jul 17, 2010, 1:51am »		[Quote]
Wow ~~ you got some great pictures. I never caught a parent in the act of feeding when I had my baby birds. I now know where another nest is, though, in a hanging basket of fuzzy wandering jew which the bird surely thinks was put thee for his/her convenience. I will try for pictures.
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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #78 on Jul 17, 2010, 2:18pm »		[Quote]
Oh, goody. What kind of bird, bixa?

I frequently catch an adult feeding the young in my mirror, hanging from the eaves, but they won't come to the nest when I am outside with my camera.

The last photo I took from a 6 foot ladder about 6 feet from the nest while the parents were away.

The 1st three babies hatched on July 5, and they are in the nest about 14-18 days before fledging, so they will have to grow up a lot in the next few days as today is Day 13.

BTW, "fledging" doesn't necessarily mean flying. Sometimes flightless nestlings fledge because they don't fit in the nest anymore, or because a predator (or an oaf with a camera) startles them out of the nest. Then they will hop up into a bush where their parents will continue to feed them until they can fly and catch their own insects.
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bixaorellana
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #79 on Jul 17, 2010, 4:29pm »		[Quote]
... or they fall, and the damned dog who never even chased a mouse even though his human repeatedly asked him to, pounces on the poor little barely feathered thing, kills it, then walks away.
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kimby
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #80 on Jul 18, 2010, 10:32pm »		[Quote]
The afternoons have been quite hot lately, and the little ones look like this a lot of the time:

[image]


They wake up pretty quick when Mom or Dad arrives with a tasty insect!

[image]

Sometimes the parent bird gives a heads-up "peek!" as it arrives, so the little ones assume the position and no time is wasted.
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #81 on Jul 19, 2010, 4:20am »		[Quote]
I am awash in admiration over that 2nd picture!
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #82 on Jul 19, 2010, 5:11am »		[Quote]
Really amazing photos, Kimby!
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #83 on Jul 19, 2010, 5:16am »		[Quote]
Aw, shucks! It's the subject matter that's good, more than the pictures (though I am kinda proud of #76).
Bixa, if only I was fast enough on the shutter to catch Mama bird with her insect-filled beak feeding a youngster!
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #84 on Jul 19, 2010, 7:09am »		[Quote]
[image]
Another look at ma and pa flycatcher.
Taken a week ago, but they don't change much.
Unlike their babies.
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #85 on Jul 19, 2010, 9:26am »		[Quote]
Thank you for these amazing pictures, Kimby.
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #86 on Jul 19, 2010, 9:57am »		[Quote]
Thank you! (I'm afraid I won't be around when they fledge, but they'll for sure be gone when I get back. Till next year, anyway.)
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #87 on Jul 22, 2010, 6:00pm »		[Quote]
They'll be ready to eat then.
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #88 on Aug 2, 2010, 10:46pm »		[Quote]
We returned from hiking in Idaho to find an empty nest as I predicted. But I still see and hear flycatchers around, just not so close as before.

But in Idaho, we camped next to a waterfall with American Dippers nesting on the cliff by the water, so I got to continue my nest watching. And I came home to find a nest with almost-ready-to-fledge robins in it.
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Re: Meet the neighbors...
« Reply #89 on Aug 4, 2010, 8:02pm »		[Quote]
A flycatcher landed on my front porch railing today. Wasn't quick enough with the camera, but it's nice to know they're sticking around.

I haven't been able to tell adults from babies. My, my, they grew up so fast!
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