chickadee update

The chickadee babies have hatched (I think). Yesterday both parents started bringing food to the bird house. Every 15 minutes or so. I don't hear any chirping from inside. Chickadees are so secretive.

Here is a paragraph I posted earlier: "On April 27, I noticed that the chickadee pair were building their nest, bringing moss and grasses. A few days later they brought fluff and fuzz. Maybe around May 1 she probably started laying eggs. The female lays one egg a day for about a week. On May 8, I noticed she was staying in the box and the male was bringing her food. Chickadees incubate their eggs for 12-13 days once all the eggs are laid. If she started incubating around May 7, then the eggs should hatch around May 19-20. Then the parents will feed them for 16 days and the chicks will fledge on Friday June 5."

I put a wren guard on the chickadee's bird house several a couple weeks ago because we have a very active house wren around. I took it off this morning to make it easier for the chickadees to feed their chicks. Immediately, the wren arrived. He went right into a new sparrow house I just put up, where sparrows have been nest building for a few days now. He looked around, but didn't seem interested. Then he came over to the chickadee house. When he got about 5 feet from it, I shewed him away. Then I put the sparrow guard back on!

2009 chickadees
garden birds (Hortus Aves)

garden birds

It was so noisy at the community gardens yesterday evening! Every kind of bird was singing at the top of his lungs. The gold finches almost flew into me in their play. I did my best to focus on my planting chores, but hard with such commotion. Not clear photos, but here are my best: tree swallow, gold finch, ring necked pheasant and a chickadee.



garden birds (Hortus Aves)

nesting chickadees

This bird house is right on our patio. Its fun to watch the busy chickadees go about their spring activities. They don't seem to mind us too much. As long as we don't look at them, they go in and out of the house with sweet little chirps.

garden birds (Hortus Aves)
my back patio
2009 chickadees

blue sparrow

This sparrow posed for me so I turned him into a bluebird.

garden birds (Hortus Aves)

watching for spring birds

They are finally arriving! Last year I saw bluebirds in the meadow by the gardens on April 11, so I'm watching for flashes of blue.

The birds I saw yesterday include a few spring migrants and a lot of NE residents: white-crowned sparrow, eastern phoebe, red-winged blackbirds, lots of American robins, one lonely cold tree swallow, chickadees, nuthatch, downy woodpecker, ring-necked pheasant (no visual), starlings, and blue jays.

The fields and woods are still bare and brown. But if you look close, small grass shoots are coming up, leaf buds are ready to pop. As I wrote a few weeks later last year, "Once it starts, spring comes fast". Today will be 60*F! and I bet this will move things along.




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the gardener is on the beach

How are your bird ID skills? My mom knows them all pretty well. I just like to photograph them.








I'm only a little bit sun burned from a day on the beach.... (I wonder how my little seedlings are doing back at home in the cold snowy North.)

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robin in the snow

The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

The North Wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will the dormouse do then? Poor thing!
Roll'd up like a ball, in his nest snug & small,
He'll sleep till warm weather comes in. Poor thing!
-author unknown, traditional nursery rhyme

This robin was eating berries from the snow covered holly bush in my back yard this morning. We have many robins that over winter here. They seem out of place, but are nice and fat. I noticed my holly has more berries than usual this year. With all the summer rains we had, I bet there is an abundant supply of berries for the winter birds.

Today have about 5 inches of fresh powder snow. This on top of about 5 inches of old snow. Boston has had a season to date total of 27 inches of snow. Well above our normal amount. Fortunately much of it melts before the next storm.

(By the way - its an American robin. And here's some information of winter robin habits.)

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local furred and feathered wildlife

These are the "wild" things Skippy and I came across today. I can identify most but not all. Top is a house sparrow - of course. These guys empty my feeders instantly. Since they do good work in my summer garden, I refill. All are fluffed up with the 20 degree weather this week.

The next is a female cardinal who blends very well in the background of leaves. A lovely bird. She's very shy. Next is one of the squirrels who frequents my backyard. They're finding the sunflower seeds I've strewn under the leaves we need to rake tomorrow.

Next is a pair of ducks at the big pond nearby where Skippy and I walk. I don't know the type. Finally, an enormous red tailed hawk by the pond.

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garden bluebirds

We have a pair of bluebirds nesting in a house in the middle of the community gardens. As I understand, this is not a good location for bluebirds. The risk is high that gardening activities and aggressive birds, especially sparrows and wrens, will interfere with their nesting. But so far, so good. Both parents are bringing food to the box, which means their chicks have hatched. They need a few more weeks without interference to raise their family.

The following Eastern Bluebird information is from Alabama Wildbird Conservation Association at http://www.alaweb.com/~kenwood/saba/birdinfo/bluebird.htm.
# Egg Laying - Egg laying takes from 3 to 6 days. One light blue egg is laid each day until the clutch is complete. The most common clutch size is 5 eggs, but 3, 4, or 6 eggs is not uncommon. 2 or 7 eggs in a clutch is rare.
# Incubation - The female incubates the eggs for 13 or 14 days. She starts incubating on the day she completes the clutch. For this reason, the eggs will all hatch on the same day.
# Nestling Stage - The baby bluebirds will remain in the nest for approximately 15 days. They will be brooded by an adult bird every night, and on cool days until they are fully feathered. During the nestling period the youngsters will be fed by both parent birds. They do not leave the house during this time. All droppings are removed from the house except on the day the young birds fledge (fly from the nest). Once the young birds fledge they do not return to the nest.
# Fledgling Stage - At the end of the nestling period, the young birds fly from the nest. They will be fed by the parent birds for another 7 to 14 days. During this period you will see them in the vicinity of the house. Very soon after the nesting cycle has been completed the parent birds will start over. They may raise as many as 3 broods in a season. Certain management techniques should be practiced to help them along.


garden birds (Hortus Aves)

bluebird news

Good news! I hear the bluebirds in the meadow have 6 chicks that have fledged! How great! That's a lot of mouths to feed.

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Belmont Victory Garden

robin fledgelings

I was enjoying watching a couple of American robin fledglings in my yard today. The mom is busy tending them. In the bird house next my home garden, the sparrows must have just hatched as I can hear a quiet peeping coming from inside. I bet the bluebirds at the meadow are busy feeding young, too.

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flying squirrel

This is not really a vegetable gardening topic, but I wanted to share these fantastic photos my dad took of the current occupant of the bird house in his backyard. The critter is a northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus). Very cute! She has a whole family in a house that wrens usually use.

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birds in the meadow

Can I get any help in identifying this wing flasher I saw in Rock Meadow yesterday? Mockingbird? Shrike?

The meadow and woods adjacent to my community garden has great wildlife. This weekend I flushed a pair of wood ducks in the woods by the stream. I still haven't seen the noisy ring necked pheasant, but I keep looking. I'd like to check for the nesting bluebirds again today.

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Belmont Victory Garden

Rock Meadow Conservation Land, Belmont

bluebirds at the community gardens

Its spring! The birds are nesting. Skippy and I walked through the gardens at Rock Meadow (Belmont) where I hope to have a community plot assignment on Saturday. I was enthralled by the nesting birds. I didn't look too hard, but found several nesting tree swallows and 3 beautiful pairs of nesting Eastern bluebirds!

There's a big open field of conservation land adjacent to the gardens where the town has nesting boxes scattered. It is a beautiful habitat for many species.

garden birds (Hortus Aves)
Belmont Victory Garden

Rock Meadow Conservation Land, Belmont

american robin

Cheer-up, cheer-up! My garden workers are returning!

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garden crew

Here's a group shot of my garden crew. I guess they are on their coffee break.

garden birds (Hortus Aves)

ferocious house wrens

Perhaps putting up a wren house was a bad move. An article on the aggressive and destructive nature of house wrens is here, at an Audubon Blue Bird site. I have an enormous racket in my backyard often times now: the battle of the house wrens and the house sparrows.

Last week I posted photos of baby house sparrows ready to fledge. I never saw them after that day. But rather than attending to their family, after that day the sparrow parents have been battling the house wrens.

I perhaps should not worry that it is only sparrows that the wrens are fighting with, but the Audubon article suggests that no other birds nests are safe within an acre of a house wren nest. Sparrows are also very aggressive and will destroy the nests, eggs and nestlings of other species in their territory (see this Cornell article). Sparrows and house wrens are both believed to be factors in the decline of the Eastern Bluebird.

I have been moving the sparrow house progressively further from the wren house. But on my 1/8th acre property, I can't go very far. So, I listen to the battle noises outside. I just want them to do their job and eat the bugs in my garden!

garden birds (Hortus Aves)

almost ready to fledge

The sparrow chicks look almost ready to fledge. The parents are doing a great job of catching bugs from my garden to feed them. Between the sparrows and the robins, I've got a whole crew out there working hard!
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garden centers bird nests

I like to buy my plants from small local garden centers. I've been enjoying looking for vegetable and flower plants for my gardens - especially interesting heirloom tomatoes. I also like looking for birds' nests at the garden centers. Three times now, I have found one hidden in the plants somewhere. The photo above is a nest of robin eggs I photographed this morning.

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