Bird Nesting & Their Activities in Your Garden & Mine 2011

The Brown Thrasher is busy foraging the ground. These (species) too are building the nest in the garden.

awww, It's sooooooo springy down there!

*sniff*

Indeed it's in full swing here Marna, comon down here for a visit.

Hi Marna,
I can smell it from here. :O))

Well !!! Tonight I went out to my mystery nest and saw mum and dad sitting on the edge of this nest.
A link to Picture: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=8391397
It is the elusive Frogmouth.
This is what they sound like: http://birdsinbackyards.net/images/audio/podargus-strigoides.mp3
Nest is 47 feet up the tree.
So there won’t be any Pictures of eggs or very young.

Whoa! Ginger, no wonder people 'think/mistaken' them with Owls! Neat!!!

At dusk, the Brown Thrashers spent some quality time together after a long day at work building their nest. I have seen Northern Cardinals both genders work together on nest building and incubating their eggs. Apparently this species of bird do so as well.

I love the Brown Thrashers! Wish I saw them more often up here.

Pelle, thanks. Down South they're here year round. Remember the pix Rose has of a bird 'hops' over a rodent? Brown Thrashers are very protective of their youngs. I saw one 'hop hop, then pecks pecks' at my beloved Golden Retriever last year. And the dog didn't know nor saw what pecking at her. lol

A good sign here is that I'm seeing the male and female Red-bellied Woodpecker's come in together to eat from suet and seed feeders. This usually only happens during
prenesting, nesting and juvenile training times. So yippee. ^_^

Pelle, Spring is def. my fav. time of year. Remember this ? http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=6523393

I remember that Lily! So cute!

It seems the BBs have frequented the nest box more and more often. What I like about these birds is that they work as team. When you see one, you'll see the other half nearby. Here Mama Blue is about to enter nest box, while Papa Blue is sitting guard for her safety?

She has been staying high on treetop to sun bathe and preening most of the morning, but didn't go into the nest until her beau arrived. :)

Mama Blue Bird. As far as others, I have not found the Redheaded wp's new home. I saw it excavate a hole (as seen on the header post) but apparently it wasn't suitable. So it has not returned to that site....

Today, I saw the yellowshafted N. Flicker excavates a sizable hole in a live tree! ...

(I'll have to shut the pc down due to bad weather ... please stay tuned).

Whoa!!! This fella just a pecking away at this tree. I'm not sure if there is a damage area there but he was just hammering away. I've never seen a Northern Flicker at their own nest. If this meant to be, it would be interesting for me to follow their development this Spring.

Oh oh! Here comes trouble! The Redheaded wp not only dominated the Redbellied wps in the past that I've observed. Here he/she made an announcement "I'm boss!" to the Northern Flicker who was only mind his own business. lol

The Northern Flicker decended from the excavating site to a lower position on the tree to avoid the Redheaded wp, and refused to leave.

As shown in this picture; the two woodpeckers were on the stand off position ... One can see the Northern Flicker has returned to its working site. As I see it, the Redheaded lives up to its name-- very possessive and dominant.

This message was edited Feb 28, 2011 9:30 PM

Nice ones Lily! It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Spring is here-- several weeks earlier than last year! I even got some cut flowers for indoor. :) I took some pix of the BBs come and go to the potential new home. I also saw both the Redheaded and the Redbellied wps at the feeder. But there was no sign of the Northern Flicker at the excavating site. *sniff, sniff*

...that was yesterday!

Papa Blue and his Missus perching above the potential nest box.

Today? Well well, look at whom has returned to his working site?

I've yet found the female Northern Flicker around in the area. But this male N. Flicker is working hard as at carving out a new home ! At the mean time, the Redheaded hasn't given up on the competition (although the N. Flicker had careless about the buffet nearby). The red-white & black bundle of furry you see on the screen is Lord Byron coming in for a confrontation;

This message was edited Mar 2, 2011 11:11 AM

Lord Byron looks 'pretty mean' ain't he? LOL What I meant is, he is mean but yes he's also pretty!!!

At the meanwhile, seems as if my Chickadee pair has eyed another potential nest;

The two Dees took turn to go in/out of the nest for a few mins. Hmmm, seems like they were 'cleaning house' from a distance.

This afternoon there is new development; the Dees once again changed their mind and returned to investigate the Blue family's resident. Ummm.

The pair decided to go in and take a look of at what's all furniture there was inside! Oooh now I'm concern about the Blue Birds...

Does anyone know when Eastern Blues will begin laying their eggs in this part of the US?

This message was edited Mar 2, 2011 5:03 PM

Nice pics Lily!

Now my male & female Downy are coming in together.

Yippie! spring will arrive there soon for you Pelle, congrats. I have to admit I've largely ignored my Downy wps because I wasn't sure if I've Hairy wps in the mix? And I have yet learnt how to diffirentiate b/w the males and the females. Others, they sure are pairing up such as the Housefinches, they travel in pair now. It's the Cardinals that behave like a hoot. The females seem to 'chase' the males around.

A bit of creative editing here. ;o)

LOL with you Ginger. ;o))

I have opened a new continued thread, please everyone come and join us here;
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8404673