Bird Nests
This year we had a relatively mild March, but winter came back with snow and freezing temperatures just after we dismantled our snow fences for this year.. I am sure though that spring has arrived. Our birds are busy building their nests. In the last thirty years I have found quite a few nests on the ground. They probably fell down during a storm. I have learned to identify by the nest structure what kind of bird built it.
I found this robin's nest under the eaves of our barn between two flood lights. For me the easiest nest to recognize is the one of the robin. They use long blades of grass that hang down and wave with the breeze. Our robins like to make their home on the corner and under the metal shed roof. That way they are protected from the rain and from predators.
The red winged blackbirds prefer the cattails on the edge of the pond. The stretch from their nests round to our bird feeder is like an express highway at this time of year. They do not hang around and after getting their food, hurrying back to their blue, speckled eggs or their young immediately. When I mow the dam around the pond, it is quite a scene.
They try to protect their young and fly in swarms over my head, dive-bombing me and making a lot of noise. After I leave with my mower, peace has returned.
We have a lot of barn swallows that also use the pond. Now they are busy harvesting mud from the spillway as they make new homes under the eaves of our barn. One mouthful at a time, they build hollow bowl-shaped houses with ping pong ball sized entrances under the eaves. In the evenings, they wheel above the pond’s surface catching insects on the wing and skim across the water’s surface, their lower beaks cutting thru the pond’s surface, scooping up insect larvae such as mosquitoes.
The pond has been a wonderful improvement to the land, attracting so much wildlife! Bald eagles have fished our small-mouth bass, as have herons. They don’t nest by our pond, but rather use it as one of many buffets in the area..
Of course, canada geese and various species of ducks have tried to claim the pond as a new homestead each year, but we have to chase them off. If, like us, you use your pond for swimming, you can’t let geese or ducks set up residences, as their droppings will infest the water with intestinal parasites harmful to your health. We use ‘screamers’- small, screeching, smoke-trailing fireworks to scare them away. Of course, a rambunctious dog will do the job nicely.
Of course, canada geese and various species of ducks have tried to claim the pond as a new homestead each year, but we have to chase them off. If, like us, you use your pond for swimming, you can’t let geese or ducks set up residences, as their droppings will infest the water with intestinal parasites harmful to your health. We use ‘screamers’- small, screeching, smoke-trailing fireworks to scare them away. Of course, a rambunctious dog will do the job nicely.
Although we have two to three hummingbird couples every year, I have never found their nests. It must be tiny. According to Wikipedia, the cups are not even an inch across and one to two inches high. Hummingbirds are very combative. So if you’re blessed with more than one couple, having a second feeder set up on the other side of the house will reduce stress for the breeding pairs.
Our resident house wren builds its nest in a birdhouse and collects dozens of little twigs and feeds them sideways through the little quarter-sized hole in the front to make the nest. The female wren is in charge of nest building, whereas the male sits nearby supervising and making a lot of noise with his singing. For such a tiny bird, he has a loud and penetrating voice. One male can have several households! Our’s spends his time singing from the wire above the birdhouse in front of our bay window. Then he flits off to the nest he protects with a different female hidden in the concord grape vines on the side of our barn. Later he will shoot over to his third home with another female under one of the shed roofs, before completing the circuit in front of our house.
The most interesting nest I ever found was the one with our siberian husky’s hair woven into it. The siberian husky sheds and in the spring we have to comb our dog several times a week to get the undercoat off that keeps her warm in snow and ice. The birds must have liked the fluffy material and used it to make their home extra warm and cozy.
Nests can tell you a lot about the birds and their care for their young. But most of all, making sure you have habitats to ensure many types of birds nesting nearby, enriches your surroundings! We love to sit outside and listen to their songs as they move around us, divining their conversations about food, competition and predators. And their help in controlling insects annoying to us and hazardous to our garden, is another bonus.
Nests can tell you a lot about the birds and their care for their young. But most of all, making sure you have habitats to ensure many types of birds nesting nearby, enriches your surroundings! We love to sit outside and listen to their songs as they move around us, divining their conversations about food, competition and predators. And their help in controlling insects annoying to us and hazardous to our garden, is another bonus.
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