THE WREN STORY

This photo was made less than a minute before #2 left the nest for good. The little guy was called by the parents and when it had its feet out of the hole, I knew the fledgling would not return.

I’m sorry, it happened already five days ago, but life stood in the way and as you probably figured out by my recent blog posts, other events here in the woods above the Little Maquoketa Valley have been worth to share with you as well. Our young House Wrens left their nest box last week and even if we watch this since seventeen years now every summer, it’s always a good reason to celebrate the wonders of nature.

First landing place was between a patch of iris flowers that just were done blooming.

Oh, I can hold on to a tree! The parents watch every step and don’t let any other bird even come close to their offspring.

After two wrens had left the nest the parents kept feeding two more in the bird box. They did not leave until the nest morning.

Live goes on, while all of the above still happened, the male House Wren sent out enticing calls to attract the same or another female for a next round of breeding. However, his eyes were also kept on the offspring of the first brood.

CATBIRD STORIES, LAST UPDATE

Ready to leave the nest

I promised you another bird story but that still has to wait. Here is instead the last picture of our young Gray Catbirds from 7:37AM this morning. All four left the nest today and now we can hear their cat-like “mew” call from the surrounding bushes and trees. Catbirds leave the nest after about 11-13 days. They will be fed by both parents for approximately 12 more days after their departure.

A LITTLE DRAMA

Black Rat Snake

Let me start this way, this Black Rat Snake was not hungry anymore…

Yesterday evening Joan called me out of the house, telling me that there was a young bird in the grass. Suddenly we saw at least one more nearby and a pair of adult Eastern Bluebirds highly excited calling them into the woods. This was near at one of our nest boxes but we didn’t know that they used the box. Actually we didn’t see a bluebird near the house since last year, not even during the winter time. That was the first surprise. While I quickly snapped a picture of one of the fledglings resting on a pile of branches in the woods, Joan discovered the snake with one of the young bluebirds already half swallowed. This explained the upset of the parents a little better. It was a sad moment but we do not interfere with the course of nature. This is so unbelievable, because the last time I had one of these powerful large constructors in front of the lens in our woods was 2013!

Eastern Bluebird fledgling

We only can guess what really happened. The Black Rat Snake probably approached the nest box and the parents panicked and called the fledglings out. Maybe they were not ready yet. However, the snake had its meal. Today I heard and saw the bluebirds again briefly in the timber. It wasn’t clear how many of the young ones made it, but it sounded like the parents were not alone…

KILLDEER FLEDLINGS

Killdeer fledgling out for walk

I always worry when I go to the Green Island Wetlands and see a Killdeer, a larger plover, running around in one of the gravel covered parking lots. The parking lots are empty for most part of the year and only during the duck hunting season you may see a number of pick-up trucks with boat trailers there. But visitors use them to turn or look around. And that’s where the danger for the Killdeer starts. They lay their eggs in a shallow depression in gravelly areas or grass and the parking lots are obviously a preferred habitat for breeding. The incubation time is between 24 and 28 days and that’s a long time when bad things can happen and the brood is at risk.

Back under the wings

Killdeer are masters in luring an intruder away from the nest. I have seen this Killdeer and its partner running around and had an idea where the nest would be. I avoided the area and just watched with my binoculars or through the long lens from the distance during the last weeks. Yesterday evening I spotted a fledgling for the first time and a little later a second one. One of the adults was still on the nest while the other one foraged nearby. The adult bird on the nest called the young ones but they had their own mind and took their time to go back under the wings. The second photo tells the last part of that story pretty good.

We all hate rules, but there is one I like to bring to mind. When birds are active with nesting you have to remember, no photo is worth sacrificing the welfare of the animal! Keep your distance and don’t keep the parents away from the nest for a long time.