In and Out

Tags

carolina chickadee, Eastern Bluebird, house wren, photography, postaday

Both Bluebird parents have been very active bringing food to the young ones. Just this morning, the mother flew to the nest hole with a dark orange caterpillar.

Female Bluebird delivering food to the young chicks inside birdhouse.

As soon as that was done, she flew out with a fecal sac from one of the baby Bluebirds.

Female Bluebird carrying out fecal sac to dump it far away from the nest.

The male Bluebird came next with a bright green caterpillar.

Male Bluebird with green caterpillar.

Then the female followed that with another caterpillar.

Female Bluebird with more food.

And she again had to carry out another fecal sac.

Female Bluebird with another fecal sac.

In front of our house we have another birdhouse which was taken over by a breeding pair of Carolina Chickadees.  A few days ago, the parent Chickadees were very active bringing food to the young ones and performing fecal sac duties.

Carolina Chickadee before flying toward nest.

Carolina Chickadee removing fecal sac from nest.

One day I saw a House Wren inspecting the nest.

House Wren inspecting Carolina Chickadee nest.

House Wren inspecting Carolina Chickadee nest.

House Wren are known to take over other birds’ nests, but in this case nothing happened and I think the young birds were able to fledge successfully. There is no activity at the nest today, but I will keep watching from time to time.

Saturday Birds

Tags

eastern phoebe, house wren, noirthern cardinal, photography, postaday, snowy egret

Spring is a frenetic time for birds as it is their breeding season and they are very busy courting, building up their nests and their bodies for the rigor of incubating, and in general preparing for the arrival of the next generation. Last Saturday I took the following shots of a variety of birds carrying out those spring activities.

Flying tissue: a female Northern Cardinal ferrying a piece of tissue toward her nest.

Eastern Phoebe between trilling to attract mate. Updated after Eliza’s comment below.

House Wren taking over Bluebird birdhouse.

Snowy Egret caught first fish.

Snowy Egret caught second fish.

Snowy Egret caught third fish.  

Singers

Tags

house wren, photography, postaday

After building their nests, the House Wrens do not shy from singing their prowess to attract potential mates. Here are some shots of the House Wren that was so busy the other day amassing twigs for its nest.

House Wren singing, eyes closed.

House Wren in between songs.

House Wren singing from the top of birdhouse. Note the feet beating time!

House Wren singing from rooftop.

House Wren singing from oak branch.

Nest Builder

Tags

house wren, photography, postaday

For several years, I’ve put up birdhouses in the hope of attracting Bluebirds. I must have placed them in the wrong places, because no Bluebird came, and only Chickadees and House Wrens have taken advantage of my birdhouses. Yesterday, I saw an energetic House Wren busy building its nest inside one of the birdhouses.

House Wren bringing twig to add to its nest inside birdhouse.

House Wren handling long twig.

House Wren and long twig.

House Wren, eyes half closed, cramming another twig into nest.

House Wren flying in nest material.

House Wren and another twig!

Air House Wren.

When will it stop bringing in more materials?

House Wrens are mostly plain brown, but they sing well and are one of the most common birds in North America and South America.

Best of 2015 – Part 3

Tags

canada goose, egret, great blue heron, house wren, nuthatch, osprey, photography, postaday, red fox, snow geese

I take a lot of pictures of wildlife, so Part 3 of this series will be about the birds and animals that I have seen through my camera.

Mallards taking off from an icy pond, February 2015.

Great Egret and Snowy Egret, April 2015.

Ospreys mating, April 2015.

Young Red Foxes, May 2015.

Canada Goose and Gosling, May 2015.

Nuthatch pretending to sleep, June 2015.

House Wren holding meal for fledgeling, August 2015.

Sanderling, November 2015.

Great Blue Heron in Flight, December 2015.

Snow Geese in flight, December 2015.

House Wrens

Tags

house wren, photography, postaday

This spring I put up a bluebird house in our backyard, hoping that Bluebirds would come and set up their nest inside. However, Chickadees took possession of it first, then Sparrows tried to invade. Finally a couple of House Wrens evicted all the other occupants and settled in. They are small birds but very feisty and aggressive.

House Wren peeking out of bird house.

The House Wren in the above photo was holding a fecal sac that it would take and deposit somewhere away from the nest. It could also take similar looking spider egg sacs to deposit inside the nest. When the spiders hatch, they will help the nest by eating parasites in it.

Young House Wren clamoring for food. They can be very noisy.

Unlike other backyard birds, House Wrens eat insects and don’t care for the sunflower seeds in our feeder.

House Wren holding insect it caught. The bird was keeping its prey for another House Wren, perhaps a younger one, that flew in and snatched it away.