Birds' Nests

[ElsiePeaRN]

I just wanted to share a smile I have three birds' nests in some hanging plan baskets on my porch. I've been tracking them for a few weeks. I thought I'd share a couple photos I took today. I believe these two are house finch nests, but Im not sure-- the residents dart away as soon as I open the door! The third nest is a robin's nest that has nothing but a pile of poop in it, so I thought I'd spare you the photo!

In the first photo, it appears a cowbird has left an egg in it!

The other one has had most of the eggs hatch-- they look like little fuzzballs!

 

[adam]

I had a sparrow nest on my porch ledge, and she hatched four little babies. They just "flew" out this past Friday. I say "flew" because they did a lot of flapping and didn't really get far, so hopefully they've figured it out by now. I can't post an attachment yet or I'd throw a picture up.

 

[Que]

I have a nest on a light fixture on my porch. I didn't touch it since it was complete before I could remove it. I no longer see the birds dart away when I open the door, so I guess they are gone. I can't get up there to see if there are any eggs, but I will give it a bit more time, just to be sure.

 

[eldirector]

I have finches of some sort nesting in the tree next to the house. Mama had the little ones sitting on the deck railing, and was making trips to and from the feeder for them.

A family of woodpeckers is in the scrub in the back corner of our lot. I haven't seen the chicks out yet.

 

[Scutter01]

We had barn swallows build a nest over our front door one year. They nested in it for a total of three years. Each year, we had a crop of birdlings hanging out on our front porch bench and window sills, and then when they could fly, they'd hang out in our garage. We had to keep the garage door open for weeks so they wouldn't be trapped. We'd eventually have to shoo them out to get them to leave.

When I would go out to mow the lawn, they'd follow me around the yard flying in big circles around me, occasionally swooping me. It was pretty cool.

We've also had finches that would feed every morning at our feeder. Whenever it was empty, they'd start flapping against our 2nd floor bedroom window until we woke up and fed them. I'd never see birds do that. I was skeptical until they started going from window to window until they found us.

 

[ElsiePeaRN]

...
When I would go out to mow the lawn, they'd follow me around the yard flying in big circles around me, occasionally swooping me. It was pretty cool.

We've also had finches that would feed every morning at our feeder. Whenever it was empty, they'd start flapping against our 2nd floor bedroom window until we woke up and fed them. I'd never see birds do that. I was skeptical until they started going from window to window until they found us.

I love this story!

I avoided putting out any feeders when we first moved in until I was sure there were no hawks in the area. I haven't seen any yet, so I may start putting them out. I didn't take that precaution when we lived in California and my feeder ended up as a deathtrap for the poor finches that fed from it. The neighborhood hawk sure liked it though!

 

[eldirector]

I love this story!

I avoided putting out any feeders when we first moved in until I was sure there were no hawks in the area. I haven't seen any yet, so I may start putting them out. I didn't take that precaution when we lived in California and my feeder ended up as a deathtrap for the poor finches that fed from it. The neighborhood hawk sure liked it though!

I have a nice hawk that hangs out on my fence. I guess the feeders are too close to the house for his comfort. It does get pretty quiet in the yard when he is around! The Jaybirds and Red-wing blackbirds run him off eventually, and the songbirds come back out.

Mr. Hawk put a dent in my rabbit population, though!

 

[.452browning]

we have a robin's nest by our front porch and everytime we go by it swoops out of the bushes and spooks us. we also have a red tail hawk nest in our backyard about 60 feet up in a tree on our treeline. they have just hatched the babies i think since the female spends more time in the nest also because when it was raining she stood up in the nest and spread her wings to cover the babies. always fun to sit out back on the deck and watch them

 

[Scutter01]

I love this story!

We have a lot of birds in our yard, and the first couple of mows I never really took notice of them flying around. It wasn't until I started getting swooped on and Spasmo mentioned to me that they'd leave the garage when I mowed that I realized they were the same birds and must have been following me. I can only assume that since they nested on my front door that they were just really used to seeing me and somehow bonded to me a little bit.

 

[Rayne]

We have a lot of birds in our yard, and the first couple of mows I never really took notice of them flying around. It wasn't until I started getting swooped on and Spasmo mentioned to me that they'd leave the garage when I mowed that I realized they were the same birds and must have been following me. I can only assume that since they nested on my front door that they were just really used to seeing me and somehow bonded to me a little bit.

I would think that your mowing was stirring up the bugs and they were swooping down to catch bugs. Which is good because that meant they were eating the mosquitos instead of the mosquitos dining on you.

But then again you might be a really likeable fella who just happens to look like big bird and they thought you were there long lost brother.

Boy I hope Scutter know how to take a joke!!!

 

[adam]

Here is a picture of my little neighbors before they flew away.

 

[Scutter01]

I would think that your mowing was stirring up the bugs and they were swooping down to catch bugs. Which is good because that meant they were eating the mosquitos instead of the mosquitos dining on you.

That is a distinct possibility. I like my story better, though, that they were helping me mow.

But then again you might be a really likeable fella who just happens to look like big bird and they thought you were there long lost brother.

Boy I hope Scutter know how to take a joke!!!

I'm not chewing up their worms for them. They're on their own.

 

[public servant]

We *had* several nests in our yard this year as well...

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Anyone have any duck eggs, er, um, I mean duck nests?

 

[shooter521]

During last summer's dry spell, we had a mourning dove build a nest in the gutter over our garage, directly on top of the downspout. Natural selection at work. We moved the nest with two eggs to a nearby tree, but the dove never found it again. We had a torrential downpour a couple days later, so the nest wouldn't have made it anyway.

Anyone have any duck eggs, er, um, I mean duck nests?

My folks had a mallard nest in their flowerbed in front of the house last year; they are 300 yards or more from the nearest water source, so we thought that a bit strange. She came back this year and hatched a brood; when they were gone, my Mom covered the nest up with dirt. Well, she came back the other day, and my Dad posted the following:

"Yesterday there were three ducks in the yard, two males and a female quacking up a storm and occasionally looking at the flower bed where last year's nest was located. Mom had put some dirt where the nest had been and this seemed to be the topic. One of the males left and then the remaining two had a loud beak to beak conversation periodically looking at the nest site. Finally the female went over to start rebuilding. I suspect she was arguing for the location and won! Too funny."

To which I replied, "Two males and a female? She must've brought her husband and her gay interior duckerator friend..."

 

[Scutter01]

I love this story!

I found some pics. These were all taken in the spring of 2007:

Still just babies

Grown up now, but not quuuite ready to leave the nest yet

Not quite ready to venture too far from the nest, yet. You could sit down on the bench next to them and they wouldn't freak out...too much.

Here, they've left the porch and taken up residence in the garage. We let them crash there for about two weeks before finally deciding enough was enough and we gently, but firmly, evicted them.

Glamour shot. Because they'd let us get right up to them, getting closeups was easy. I swear this one was posing for me.

 

[hornadylnl]

We've got birds nests everywhere. Robins made a nest on our kitchen bump out window, on our gutter spouts, etc. They even made a nest on top of one of my truck tires. We took the truck somewhere and they tried making another one on it the next day. So much for us humans destroying habitat.

My wife has a gazillion bird feeders out back. She recently got 3 hummingbird feeders you hang on the window. She put one of them on our patio door and I was standing there looking out about an hour ago. I was about a foot away when a hummingbird came up to it and started feeding. That was pretty cool. I could even see it's tongue or whatever it's called. We also had an oriole out there the other day. She got a special oriole feeder but we haven't seen it back.

 

[88GT]

Anyone have any duck eggs, er, um, I mean duck nests?

I DID. But Destructo-Dog made sure they didn't return. Despite leaving an egg behind.

About the only "cool factor" bird activity we have is a peregrine falcon that occasionally dines on the local dove population. I've seen him perch in the pines at the back of our property and rip the poor victim to shreds. When he's done, there's a veritable hat store's worth of feathers littering the ground below.

 

[shooter521]

I've seen him perch in the pines at the back of our property

That behavior doesn't sound at all like a peregrine. More likely, you've got a Cooper's Hawk.

 

[88GT]

That behavior doesn't sound at all like a peregrine. More likely, you've got a Cooper's Hawk.

What behavior? Haven't seen a PF yet that swallowed the prey whole.