Barn Swallows still having babies

A friend of mine from Rocky Ford sent me this photo earlier this month (she needs to reset the date on her camera). This is a nest full of Barn Swallow nestlings that is under her carport. The nest was built on top of a frog wind chime.

Kim said that some of the nestlings had fallen out of the nest and she was worried the cats in the neighborhood would get them. It is not unusual for nestlings to fall, get pushed out or just try to fly away prematurely. Sadly free-roaming cats are a real risk for these babies.
SeEtta

Mourning Doves still nesting

Since many Mourning Doves have two nestings, some can still be found on the nest like the one in this pic. I was actually looking for another bird I had seen fly into this shrub when I looked up and found I was close to this dove. I was surprised that she didn't flush as I have inadvertently flushed other Mourning Doves that had less tolerance for humans being too close to their nests. It is apparent from the pic why I didn't see this dove until I was so near and that is because she is very well camouflaged.
SeEtta

More Great Blue Heron nestlings

In addition to the older nestlings, I saw one nest with the younger nestlings shown in this pic. One of the nestlings has it's beak open as it begs it's parent for food. The second nestling is to the left of that bird and is more difficult to see. A few days later when I returned to do more bird surveys, I watched as a parent bird brought a large fish that looked about a foot long to the nest. One of these nestlings chugged it down in several big gulps while the other nestling protested loudly and tugged on the parent bird's beak with it's beak (a way they stimulate the parent to feed them). The parent bird then regurgitated some food (again, this is how they usually feed their young)and the second bird got some food, though nothing as good as it's sibling.

Many of the other nests were empty by the end of July as many of the young birds had already fledged. There were also a few birds standing near nests where nestlings were not visible--could either be they were younger or just down on the nest.

Though the pics become somewhat blurry, the nestlings are more easily seen when the pic is double-clicked to enlarge it.
SeEtta

Nesting Cliff Swallows-up close & personal

I was able to get fairly close to some nesting Cliff Swallows and with my 12X digital camera got some very close-up shots. In the top pic, this Cliff Swallow was looking out from inside the nest. The pale foreheads of these birds make them appear to be wearing visors.
In the bottom pic, this Cliff Swallow has an insect in its beak, has flown up to its nest and is getting ready to feed its nestlings. Be sure to double-click on each photo to enlarge them as this really shows details nicely.
SeEtta

More pics of chickadee excavating nest cavity

The bird in the top photo has what appears to be some wood fiber in its beak. It was removing it from the nest cavity it is excavating. This is consistent with information in the Birds of North America online that states that Black-capped Chickadees "use beaks to remove substrate (usually rotten wood)."


I uploaded the bottom photo as pics of birds showing their tops, or back sides, are not often shown. I think it is unfortunate that more pics of tops, bottoms, etc are not shown as I believe it makes it easier to spot and identify birds if you know what they look like all over since they don't always provide frontal views.
SeEtta

Chickadee excavating a nest cavity

On a short excursion to the Canon City Riverwalk this morning I found the Black-capped Chickadee in these photos busy excavating a hole in a tree to use as a nest cavity. This bird(while only females in this species build nests both share the job of excavation so can't tell what sex this bird is) worked hard while her mate loafed nearby.

Black-capped Chickadees often nest in snags or rotten branches of trees or holes made by woodpeckers anywhere from ground level to as high was close to 60 feet according to Birds of North America online This hole was fairly low on this tree.

Surveys for the last Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas found evidence of nest building as early as April 20 so this may be an indication of earlier nesting (but it could just also be a pair that is early in their nesting behavior so we will have to wait to see what data comes from the updated Breeding Bird Surveying that is beginning this year in Colorado before coming to any conclusions).

I will post more pics of this on my nest post so this doesn't get too long.
SeEtta