House Finch Nest and Farewell To a Tree

Looking out my front window, I used to see a tree. A little pine tree that was planted by me in a poor spot. We received a free pine tree many years ago (maybe 12-15) from TCI Cable Co. I transplanted it into a coffee can and had it on my kitchen windowsill for awhile. I finally transplanted it into a whiskey barrel in front of this window. There it stayed for the next many years. It's roots eventually busted through the bottom and this little tree thrived and became quite large. To my enjoyment, the birds came to love this tree. In the picture above, a wintering bird (House Sparrow I think) stopped by for a nibble on the pine cones.

In May of this year, this House Finch built a nest in our little tree. I wondered if this was the same House Finch that made a nest in this tree 2 years ago.

I really enjoyed watching her work on her nest for a few days from inside my window!



I decided not to invade the nest with my camera to see how many eggs were laid but after I heard nestlings, I snuck this photo from a distance with my zoom lens. Eventually the nest was empty and we had to make the tough decision to remove the tree for our landscaping project.

We had the hardest time parting with this tree, but because of the roots being in the whiskey barrel, it had a low chance of being transplanted and it was smashed up against our house. After waiting a few weeks to make sure the nest wasn't going to be re-used, we said farewell to our tree.


And a few days later, we went to the nursery, bought a new tree and planted it (further from our house this time). This Autumn Blaze Maple will turn red in the fall and it will be a joy to watch it grow. I hope the birds find some enjoyment from it, also!

Cooper's Hawk Nest was Successful!

Back in early April, I posted about a Cooper's Hawk building a nest on the greenbelt where I walk everyday. Well, turns out it was a very successful nest this year! After the nest was built there wasn't much activity so I thought it was abandoned. Then one day I walked by and saw mama hawk sitting on it so I knew there must be eggs!
I kept my eye on it and eventually I saw a little head poking up. This nest is very high but with my Sigma 50-500mm I got some decent shots!
I walked around to the other side of the nest and saw another head and even had the pleasure of seeing mama feed it!
I apparently overstayed my welcome under the nest because shortly after mama fed them she stood on the edge of the nest, looked right at me and proceeded to dive-bomb me. I kid you not, I thought she was going to hit me so I ducked. It made my heart race and I quickly made my exit. If I wasn't so busy fearing for my safety, it would've made some great photos :0)
I waited a few days before returning and to my surprise noticed there were more than two babies in the nest...
there were 4 ! In the above photo you will see 3 in the nest and one already making it's way onto a nearby branch!
On my next visit, 2 of them were on branches with 2 still in the nest.


I continue to see them near the nest on my walks...calling out to mom and dad and learning all their hunting tricks!

Birds By The Lake

Snowy Egret

Western Meadowlark

Red-winged Blackbird

American White Pelican

Mourning Dove

An appropriate bird for this post. Around the time of my last post, my pup Kayla had to have an emergency surgery to remove her spleen. Long story short, turns out she had cancer and we had to say goodbye to her on June 21...5 1/2 weeks after her surgery. Words cannot express how much I miss that girl :(
During the time of Kayla's last weeks, I continued to follow a couple of nests that I will soon be blogging about. Also I have some misc photos of the ever-present House Finches in my yard and a couple photos from our camping trip. Stay tuned while I get caught up...

Colorful New Visitor!

I was a bit down about the House Finch nest being abandon this morning but was quickly cheered up when I looked out my kitchen window and saw a very colorful new bird at my feeder! A Western Tanager!!! A first sighting for me and even more exciting that all I had to do to see him was look out my window. He was a welcome sight on this dreary, rainy, cold spring day! So far he has been hanging around all day coming and going to my feeder and the nearby trees. I hope he decides to stay.

Abandon Nest

It's been 2 days since I last checked on the nest (when I took a picture of the eggs) and it seems mom is no longer sitting at the nest :( It has been a cold and rainy 2 days so I think any time off the eggs would be detrimental and since she hasn't been there any of the times I've checked today I can assume she has moved on. I don't understand why she would leave and I can only hope it wasn't because I climbed up there to take a picture. I did it quick and then high-tailed it out of there so she would be left alone. I guess I will not ever know why. Now, I'm not sure what to do with the eggs or nest so for now I will leave it be and see what happens.

New House Finch Nest, Old Location

May 3, 2011

May 5, 2011

May 7, 2011

May 13, 2011
I knew mom had finally laid an egg when I checked on the nest and saw her sitting on it. When she left, I just had to know (for Nestwatch as well as for myself). I was wrong, there was not one egg...

There were 5 !!!

And here is the proud papa watching from a nearby tree making sure I don't harm the eggs!
I won't do too many updates so mom can have some privacy but I will be keeping an eye on them from a hidden spot in the garage!
This location was used by (I believe) this same pair two summers ago for 2 successful broods in a row. I left the nest up last summer thinking they would re-use it but they didn't. Last fall, I removed that old nest and I am happy to see they are using this piece of prime real estate again!

Cooper's Hawk Building a Nest!

There have been a pair of Cooper's Hawks nesting in the same vicinity for at least the last 2 summers and I noticed yesterday, they're at it again! On my daily walk on the greenbelt near my house I noticed a hawk on the ground grabbing a stick. Of course I hung around so she would lead me to her nest. All I had was my iPhone so I went back today and go some better shots! It will be fun to see it progress. Enjoy!

Decorah Eaglets!

I'm still a bit obsessed with the Decorah Eagle nest cam! In case you've been living under a rock and have not heard...the third hatchling arrived yesterday (April 6) and all 3 are doing well so far. I grabbed this screen shot this morning but the cam was having some technical difficulties so it's not real clear. Clear enough to see all 3 cuties, though!

Live Eagles Nestcam (Decorah, Iowa)!

I started watching this nest yesterday and the eagles had their first hatch over night! The next two eggs are due to hatch anytime! Enjoy!

If you want to watch a great PBS documentary about the history of this nest and American Eagles in general, you can watch it online HERE!

Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV

New Visitor! Hairy Woodpecker!

I looked out my window and instead of my little Downy Woodpecker visitor I saw this extra large looking Downy and knew immediately it must be a Hairy Woodpecker! This is a first sighting for me but I had read about them and knew they are larger and also have longer beaks than the Downy. It was the male I saw first but he didn't stick around long enough for me to swap lenses on my camera. 20 minutes later, this female showed up and I was ready with my camera. After she left, I put more suet out but I haven't seen them again. They know I've got the goods so I'm sure they'll be back!

GBBC 2011

The Great Backyard Bird Count has come and gone again. Time sure flies doesn't it? I have my counts written down but have not entered them on the website yet. I wanted to go out and visit some local parks but I ended up literally counting in my backyard only. Well, I guess that's not exactly true since I did count the Mallards and Canada Geese at a small pond near my house while walking my dog.
I saw a nice variety for my count but not very many of each variety. Here they are if you're interested:
Canada Geese---------------- 50
Mallard Ducks----------------18
House Finch------------------12
Black-capped Chickadee-------2
Northern Flicker-------------- 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch------- 1
White-breasted Nuthatch----- 1
Downy Woodpecker----------- 1
Dark-eyed Junco-------------- 1
Black-billed Magpie----------- 1
American Robin--------------- 1
Blue Jay----------------------- 1
Brown-headed cowbird-------- 1

Sorry for the lack of photos lately. I'm in the midst of an online photography workshop until April 10th so I've been taking loads of photos for my assignments just not of birds. I need more cooperative subjects than birds for now. I'm learning tons about photography so it's been fun!

What else...I'm still doing Project Feederwatch and getting pretty much the same count each week from my regulars...and I'm ready for spring!

Coming in for a Landing!

Birds on a Fence

Dark-eyed Junco

House Finch

There's just something I love about photographing birds on a wood fence. Maybe it's because when they land on a fence they usually stay there long enough for me to get a decent photo of them. Plus there's no branches in the way like there is when they're in a tree!