OK with me since I can't hear 'em or see 'em, but I'll pretend I don't notice any ... ummmm ... instabilities in my team mates.
And speaking of instabilities, here's a call out to our bird expert, Icky: How long do those birds get for lunch? They've been off the job for over an hour? Do they get a siesta, too?
Apparently this job has good benefits. Two hours, 11 minutes for lunch!
I just did some reading about robins. It is not uncommon for them to build several nests. I hope that's not what she is doing with those pookas.
Most of what is there does not resemble any photos of robin's nests I have found so far. None of them seem to have cotton balls and tissues worked into them. And it seems they need mud to get them to hold together. It's quite a distance to the creek from here. Wonder how she plans to manage that.
I found a list of Seattle area backyard birds and looked them all up on the Audubon Society site today, saved the links so I can refer to the photos and listen to their calls and songs, get acquainted with some of my flying friends around here.
I have an absolute favorite now. Meet the Golden-crowned Sparrow. Read the few words about that bird's songs and then play the two song clips.
Everyone be very quiet. It looks like some serious nestbuilding going on under my deck. Looks like she may have discovered some mud in my neighbor's garden.
Everyone be very quiet. It looks like some serious nestbuilding going on under my deck. Looks like she may have discovered some mud in my neighbor's garden.
I keep learning things about my robins and their nest building. I didn't realize until yesterday they need mud to first affix the base and then they gradually build a mud bowl, use mud to surround it with grass and twigs, woven together. I have viewed hundreds of robin's nest pictures but have not found one with fuzzy white blobs in the mud bowl and/or base.
Amazing.
I gathered some twigs for her this morning and poked them out the door while she was away, just to see if she uses them, especially the green ones. That would be another distinction, I think.
I wondered why they work so feverishly hard from first light until nearly noon and then seem to leave the nests alone. Duh. Once they make hundreds of round trips to get beaks full of mud and deliver them, put them where they go, then they need to give it time to dry.
My robins are very intelligent to have chosen nest property where they won't have to worry about rain.
And they have a built in security guard to at least keep the crows away. The cat, who goes to the door two or three times a day to scold them, in her very scratchiest Pyewacket voice, may be sort of a negative, however.
This is actually Day 5 since I first noticed the activity in the 8th. Apologies for the interruption. I slipped out the back door when I thought nobody was watching. Got the following:
Leftmost and Rightmost are still being constructed
Left one has looked weird all along, still does
Rightmost looks better, but b4 I could snap the shot ...
Mama Robin swiftly appeared to let me know NOT TO COME ANY CLOSER!
Needless to say, I backed off. I don't think she is afraid of me!
Before Icky asks, I did not supply the tissues, have no idea where she got them. I can say they did look clean and new when she flew in with them, but she has nearly worn them out trying to decide where they belong.
It is, yes. We predict, if they ever want to put a freeway through here, they won't do eminent domain on us because they won't be able to tear down the deck. They would have to route the freeway around us.