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Post by Kimby on May 24, 2010 20:41:22 GMT
Bumping this because it's almost eggzackly a year old. I love Kimby's little bird neighbor shown above. Was it your neighbor in Montana or in Florida, Kimby? Montana. Coincidentally, bixa, I just saw this little guy again YESTERDAY, back from wherever he/she winters. Maybe my power box will soon have another nest. (I hang a mirror from the eaves so I can see into the nest from inside without disturbing the birds.) And I envy you your Vermillion flycatchers. Much prettier than my olive drab neighbor.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 9, 2010 15:53:27 GMT
There is a new song around my house and I haven't been able to glimpse the bird singing it. It's sort of chirp-chirp, then a long smooching trill -- like the kissy sound people make to call a dog, but extended. I just went outside and startled the song sparrows whose nest I had to remove from the chimney of the water heater. It looks as though they've accepted the alternate venue I set up. Kimby, I really like your "olive drab neighbor", the Cordilleran flycatcher. I love little birdies with crests, and he looks as though he has one.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 9, 2010 17:08:25 GMT
He's back! I hope I haven't scared him/her off. I was repotting herbs nearby while my little flycatcher friend was checking out the nesting site on top of the power box. If it does nest, I will hang a mirror from the eaves so I can watch the nest (and eventual nestlings) without disturbing the parent birds.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 9, 2010 23:49:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2010 3:02:57 GMT
We have a pair of red shouldered hawks nesting up on the batture and they come and try to snatch the purple martin fledglings from the houses we have up. I heard a commotion and ran out on the balcony and scared them off, but, I fear not for long. Red shouldered Hawk
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 10, 2010 3:35:36 GMT
Nature, red in tooth and claw
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2010 11:25:15 GMT
Nature, red in tooth and claw Yes, they (the hawks )look so majestic,such a bearing about them and to see them soar,unmistakable wing span.They fly over from the river without the least bit of effort, and the eyesight on these guys must be phenomenal!! It's the distress call of the Martins that's so heart breaking for me to hear.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 10, 2010 16:00:05 GMT
Those red-shouldered hawks are noisy neighbors, aren't they? We have them on Sanibel.
Our bird feeder predators in Montana are sharp-shinned hawks in summer, and pygmy owls in winter. They both occasionally kill themselves chasing birdies into our windows.
During mating season the ruffed grouse also crash into our windows. Ending up in our oven, if I find em before they cool off!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2010 16:37:33 GMT
I've never heard the hawks Kimby,I guess, all my ears are tuned to is the distressed Martins. Hmmmm, now you have me thinking,will keep my ears perked for. We also have Cooper's Hawks and I think Sharp Shinned,not sure. Sometimes,it's hard for me to id,some of them closely resemble one another,I need to brush up on my raptor id'ing.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 11, 2010 21:47:45 GMT
I hope I haven't scared him/her off. I was repotting herbs nearby while my little flycatcher friend was checking out the nesting site on top of the power box. Well, yesterday, THIS showed up! I had to mow the lawn during a spell between showers, and hoped I didn't scare him/her off. Perhaps not. It looks bigger to me today:
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2010 22:45:55 GMT
Ah! So very cool Kimby!!!! Thanks for that!!
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Post by Kimby on Jun 11, 2010 22:59:19 GMT
She's not done yet, it will be much bigger and messier when she starts laying and sitting...IF I haven't scared her off.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 12, 2010 21:55:45 GMT
She's at it again today. Watched her mashing down the nesting materials (mostly lichens and moss?) with her body. Here's a fuzzy image of her on the nest... Fuzzy because I used digital zoom, not wanting to get close enough for optical zoom. Once she has eggs, she'll be harder to dislodge. But for now, I want to keep her as my neighbor. Seems like good luck to have a bird nesting on your house.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 13, 2010 2:15:39 GMT
That is really something! As you know, those little song sparrows stuck around until their kids were grown last year. However, every time I walked out on porch, they'd fuss and fly away.
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Post by spindrift on Jun 13, 2010 9:50:27 GMT
My neighbour's new cat visited my cat in my garden this morning. These are the neighbours who have fenced and wired their property so that nothing can escape from their clutches. But their young cat is very nimble and was able to jump into my garden and roll in the warm sunshine with Mr Dash who was very pleased to see him. I now fear that the neighbours will lock their cat up whilst they make their garden more secure. They are really paranoid.
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Post by lagatta on Jun 13, 2010 13:05:09 GMT
Oh, the cat will manage to escape if he really wants to. We have a supposed cat-proof trellis above our garden fence and the cats have found a hole under it. Renzo doesn't really bother any more, as he is 14 years old, but he still scampers from my front balcony across the roof of the building next door to the back garden. I have to lock the front balcony door if I'm away as thieves could do the same jump in the opposite direction, though they'd have to get up on the roof first. Cat burglars!
I don't have much interesting wildlife around here, but we do atop Mont-Royal and in the so-called nature parks at the northern edge of the island.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 15, 2010 0:32:42 GMT
I don't know your neighbors, Spindrift, so certainly they might be very neurotic. However, many homeowners really object to the neighbors' cats coming over to use their property as a sandbox, assignation spot, whatever. So, fixing the yard so the cat would have to stay on its own property could be seen as good citizenship.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 15, 2010 2:29:38 GMT
No eggs yet!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 15, 2010 4:37:30 GMT
Isn't it amazing how birds get the nest hole so very round?
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Post by spindrift on Jun 15, 2010 8:32:15 GMT
Bixa - it's a long story. There is nothing good about my neighbours' fencing/wiring abilities. Over the years their cats would rather be near me than with them...it's as simple as that..and yet it's very complicated when shared gutters are leaking and shared chimneys falling down...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2010 10:36:21 GMT
Oh Kimby that is so cool!!!! Wow,you have really gotten into it! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us. I just love it!!! (Does the mother seem at all spooked by all this activity so close to the nest?)
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Post by Kimby on Jun 15, 2010 12:42:56 GMT
She just isn't around much lately. I suspect she is gathering strength after nest-making before egg-laying. One egg per day for a clutch of about 4. When the clutch is complete, she incubates for about 12 days, I believe, then both parents feed the nestlings for about 2 weeks before they get too big for the nest and fledge. I'll try to post more pictures, assuming she hasn't abandoned the nest. I still hear them calling, so I know they're around.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 16, 2010 3:28:02 GMT
I still hear them calling, but no eggs...
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2010 3:35:58 GMT
Is it possible with those birds that the male builds the nest and then entices a female to it? Perhaps the calling you hear is his mating call, and there is no mama bird yet.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 24, 2010 2:06:45 GMT
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.)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2010 15:55:29 GMT
They are faithful to their chosen spots! The song sparrows ignored the alternate spot I fixed up for them, directly above the water heater chimney where I had to remove their nest. They keep coming back to the water heater and chirping and looking up to where the nest was, which now has an old pot upended over it.
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Post by Kimby on Jul 6, 2010 13:52:07 GMT
When we got home from Wisconsin, on July 2nd, I found mama flycatcher sitting on these: A closer view: Since the bird book says they incubate for 14- 15 days, I knew hatching was imminent. Mama bird was acting restless, spending more time looking into the nest before settling back onto the eggs
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Post by Kimby on Jul 6, 2010 14:04:11 GMT
Yesterday morning when I looked into the nest, there was only one egg left, plus three naked lumps of baby bird flesh: Mama continued to incubate the nest, when I thought she should be out catching bugs for her babies, and at 4 pm, the nest still looked like this: This morning she's STILL incubating. I'm getting worried.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2010 14:45:49 GMT
Oh how very cool Kimby!!! I was wondering about her...thanks so much for the update!!! Maybe not hover around too much and bother mama...she may be skittish around babies. I'm sure you know what you're doing... Thanks again,I love this!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2010 18:00:37 GMT
But the babies ARE alive?
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