BIRDIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A FINAL UPDATE. The nest is empty... =(

[calimary]

Last edited Fri May 1, 2015, 07:56 PM - Edit history (2)

Third year in a row!

I hear birdies!!!!! We have these little "tuxedo birds" in our area. I call 'em "tuxedo birds" because they have little black hoods, white tummies, and dark gray/black backs and wings. Tails are black and white, and they flick - I'm sure it's communication of some sort. Now I've learned they're called Black Phoebes. The cutest little things!

http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/black-phoebe

Year before last, I spotted this little nest, mud and sticks, that suddenly appeared, tucked up in a quiet, dark corner by our front door. Soon enough I noticed lots more bird activity. I started leaving birdseed around in front. They seemed to love it. Then I noticed quite a bit of "swooping" starting to happen. Every time we'd open our door there'd be this SWOOP! Some little black object would SWOOP down from that upper corner and across the front to the nearest tree. I'd see it happen a lot during the day when I'd peek through the window and watch.

THEN! MAGIC! Spotted a couple of little heads with BIG open mouths, sticking up from within the nest. Over the days they got bigger and bolder, and louder. And either Mom or Dad would be yelling at them from one of the nearby trees - probably telling them to hunker down because there were those large beige featherless beings appearing again, a little too close by. Within a couple of weeks, they'd grown so big they couldn't all fit in the nest anymore, so you'd see tail feathers sticking out, somebody perched on the rim of the nest, somebody else's butt in the way, and some little heads all in a row, all looking outward and down at us.

Two years in a row I watched as the hatchlings grew to the point of being ready to leave the nest. I saw the last one leave, both years. Maiden flight out, always a little wobbly at first, but within moments they "got" it and were off to the races. Year before last we had three hatchlings. Last year there were FOUR! Michael, Matt, Josh, and Max (I named them after the band boys! LOL)! Spotted the first of them on April 30th. The last of them left home on Mother's Day.

This year! All the activity has returned. Swooping for the past two weeks. And yesterday evening, when I took the dog out for a walk before it got dark, we opened the front door and MAN! I heard it again! Little chirps and cheeps from down inside the next. It was quiet in the neighborhood and the traffic noise had died down for a little bit since rush hour was over. So you could hear it! THIRD YEAR IN A ROW!!!!

As soon as somebody sticks his/her little head up over the rim of the nest, I'll post some pictures! They're just AMAZING!!!! I am LOVING this! Just had to share!

[shenmue]

1. Sweet!

I loves me some boids.

[Phentex]

2. It's exciting! I saw three babies and one egg still in the nest

on my porch. I am guessing the last egg is not going to hatch. But the little ones are in there and mom is keeping a close eye. I have not named them like you did!

They are in a wreath on the porch. I did move it off the door so we wouldn't keep disturbing them.

I hope they don't fall out and land on the porch!

I look forward to your pictures.

[calimary]

3. I'd suggest you do what we thought might be helpful in our case.

We spread a bunch of leaves and mulch and dried grass and stuff on the floor directly underneath where the nest is. If, Heaven forbid, one of the little guys up in there falls down, he or she won't go BOOM onto the hard stone surface.

[calimary]

4. PHOTOS - from LAST YEAR (what I'm looking forward to, within the next few weeks):

ENJOY!!!!!!

Started last April 30th - ONE sighting! (After I'd first heard them the day before.)

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Then in early May we started seeing more...

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Nest was getting full by the 10th! They don't all fit so easily anymore...

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And finally - TADAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! The REVEAL! FOUR of 'em in there!

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The last one left on Mother's Day - which I think was a day or two after this one was taken.

[calimary]

5. Last year's Mother's Day was when the last of the four finally flew off.

I literally had empty-nest syndrome. They don't hug you goodbye like your kids do! And they don't let you know when they're leaving. All of a sudden it got really quiet around here. No more busy activity by the parent birds swooping back and forth, to and from the nest. No Mom squawking at them from a nearby tree branch whenever one of us would open the front door. All quiet.

The first year, I thought I'd try to take a photo of the last bird leaving the nest. I KINDA did. But what I really got was a little splat of bird poop on my cell phone as the bird flew past me!

[calimary]

6. SIGHTING!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!

Heard 'em yesterday. MAN are they loud! They're cheeping and chirping and squawking like crazy! And - just now --- shortly after 6pm Pacific time, TODAY --------- >>>>>> I SPOTTED one!!!

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See the little beak?

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Still don't know how many are in there, but I'd guess, from all the chirping there have to be at least two or three!

DAYUM I loves me some little birdies!!!!

Does that make me a grandmother?

[Phentex]

8. You are the grand-birdie, lol!

Congrats on your new flock.

I think there may be four in the nest on my porch. Nobody's making much noise yet.

[calimary]

9. Oh they will!

That is COOL COOL COOL!!! I'm just loving this - I'm getting a real contact high from it.

One of my friends in the Midwest reported that she suddenly sees baby cardinals at her bird feeder. She saw the fun we were having when she was visiting out here, and went home and started feeding her birds and MAN is she getting a kick out of it now! I get regular reports. She says the males are pretty red already, but should become brighter red as they grow up. The females are brown. Cardinals. Such gorgeous red birds! I remember, as a kid, in the winter, just LOVING to watch the bright red cardinals in the white snow. Still remember how beautiful that was.

I'm a little JEALOUS!!!!! But we don't have cardinals here at least in this part of the Southwest.

[Enthusiast]

12. They sure build a sturdy nest.

[calimary]

14. It's really astonishing - how it adheres to the wall. Mud! And sticks and stuff.

And these are just birds - but look what they build. Everybody marvels. And this little thing has been there for three years now.

It's not only the engineering but the location. These birds are little geniuses - the nest is tucked way up in a very protected corner. Not at all exposed to anything dangerous - whether it's the ringtail hawks in the hills or rain or wind or exposure of any sort. They can't be reached. And even if we got a ladder and climbed up, you still couldn't see into the nest because it's so close to the ceiling there. And you couldn't even get YOUR head up there to peek in, in the first place. But I wouldn't want to disturb it, anyway.

But EVERYBODY here has been learning all kinds of things observing these bird behaviors. It's really been illuminating. And fascinating. There's a woodpecker or two in the neighborhood, and I found myself pointing it out, up at the top of the wooden power pole, and our mailman had never seen one before. He'd heard woodpeckers all his life but had never spotted one. And there it was, working away at the top of the pole that day! My husband did a Google search of local birds and surprise! We have every one of those species in our front yard going after the bird seed every day. Only bad part is coming in a couple of weeks or so - when the hatchlings are big enough to start leaving the nest. I know that's how it's supposed to go, but still...

The really interesting thing is if you're there to watch when they start leaving. I've seen the first flight out of the last straggler in the nest both last year and the year before. The first flight is pretty shaky! The first one started out, lost altitude over the front porch, gained altitude, wobbled in the air circling one of the trees out front, and then gained strength and sort of "got it" - mid-flight, but wound up crash-landing into this soft, reedy plant in the front yard. I went over to the plant because the little bird seemed to be stuck in there. I tried carefully to move some of the plant fronds aside so the little guy wasn't so pinned down, to clear the way for him to get out of there. And he looked up at me for a moment, evidently realized I wasn't going to hurt him, and then ZOOM!!!! OFF he went.

I tried to get a photo of one of 'em leaving and it happened so fast I didn't snap anything in time. But then I looked at my phone and saw - I'd been smeared! The bird sped off, leaving a small splat of bird poop ON my phone!

[Enthusiast]

15. Thanks for sharing your birdies, calimary!

[calimary]

16. SHIT, Enthusiast! I just went back out to look - and replace bird seed

Last edited Sat Apr 25, 2015, 07:20 PM - Edit history (2)

and SHIT!!! It's NOT four in there. Looks like FIVE!!!!! HOLY COW!!!! If I name them after our band boys, the fifth one might be Tyler our crew dude! Michael, Matt, Josh, Max - and TYLER!

I'm enthralled!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's hard to describe, fully, how much fun this is!

CORRECTION - there are four. I thought for sure I saw another one back there but it's a steady four now. Another Michael, Matt, Josh, & Max - so maybe their daddy's name is Tyler, then!

[Enthusiast]

20. I'm glad you are enjoying them.

I've been casually watching birds all my life. When I was a hunter in full camo they would almost land on me but not quite. I love to watch the birds.

They cut all the surrounding trees last summer close to our house. Our birds are in a state as they returned to find their traditional nesting sites all gone. They are crowded into the few remaining trees. I have a wren box but they won't get in it as things have become too competitive for their tastes.

[locks]

7. It makes you a very lucky lady!!

[calimary]

10. Update - FOUR BIRDIES!!!!

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OMG!!!!!!

[Bertha Venation]

11. Fantastic!

I love your joy. I share it.

[calimary]

13. We have been having the most amazing fun with this!

A few days ago, with the first - well - what is it when you first hear their little chirpings but you don't see 'em yet - it sounded like these little high-pitched whistles were blowing from up in there. AMAZING. Everybody's so excited about it! The band boys come over to the house for various reasons and they all stop and crane their necks and look up to see whatever they can see. And now there are all these little heads popping up above the rim of the nest. I thought there were three, at first. Was calling them the "Three Tenors." But now, well, either Michael, Matt, Josh, and Max (the boys in the band) or the archetypes: John, Paul, George, and Ringo!

[calimary]

17. Um... update - I think there may be FIVE in there!

Holy COW!!!!! If they haven't left the nest by Cinco de Mayo, then we'll have something extra to celebrate!

[WinkyDink]

18. I feed my birdies outside my garage. Cardinals, finches, cowbirds, juncos, chickadees, doves, wrens,

and a rare bluejay!

[panader0]

19. Very neat Calimary.

We feed the birds here daily. Now the water and seed has become well known to the local bird community.
Now we typically have twenty or so quail, twenty doves, curved bill thrashers, pyroloxia galore, various smaller birds,
a few roadrunners, several bunnies and three rats--all at once, twice a day. Jeannie doesn't like the rats or the doves (flying rats she calls them). The other day one of the roadrunners snatched a rat while Jeannie cheered. The red tailed hawks and a falcon or two show up once in a while, as do mule deer and many javelina. Our big living room window is better than TV.

[calimary]

21. Update! We have FOUR birdies. L.A. has some drizzly rain today but they're sheltered nice 'n' dry!

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AND THEN!!!! They heard their mother squawk from a nearby tree... and on cue:

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TaDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Rhymes with "MAAAAAAAAAAA! (Bring me some FOOD!)!!"

Or maybe they're trying to sing one of my kid's band's songs?

[cwydro]

22. K and r!

I love birds!

AND cats AND dogs lol.

[calimary]

23. Waaah. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

I'm afraid we're reaching that point here at casa de calimary. The first birdie either jumped, fell, was pushed, or tried to fly out of the nest, on Sunday. Our son found it sitting on our front door stoop Sunday morning. And then he started skeedaddling outward! Flapped and flopped his little self all the way across the street and UP onto the curb. Mom and Dad birdies were squawking and swooping and making a commotion, trying to follow the little guy. I ran to grab my shoes but by the time I hurried back out front, he'd disappeared. My son kept trying to stay mellow - "try not to worry, Mom. It's Nature. You can't do anything about it one way or another." I knew he was correct but didn't like the thought of it. You just want to go nuts and scream - "MY BABY!!! MY BABY!!!! OH NOOOOOOOOOO! SAVE MY BAYBEEEEEEEEE!!!!" But, in truth, the little guy does have to be able to fend for himself in the world, once he's big enough to leave the nest.

We have a "carpet" of leaves and grass and twigs and stuff spread out directly underneath the nest so if somebody falls out, they don't hit the hard cold pavement below.

And then there were three...

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We're at a point where they don't all fit anymore (even with one gone already). Their little butt-feathers stick out now!

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BUT THEN... LAST NIGHT... ALERT! Birdie-on-MAILBOX!!!! It was nighttime, and I didn't have the heart to turn on the lights - OR use a flash on my camera. You have to look carefully, but By Jove, there he is!!!!

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One of our son's bandmates came over. He rang the bell even though he knew we left the front door unlocked for him. He wanted me to come downstairs and see. There was a birdie perched on our mailbox - REALLY close to the door. The mailbox is fairly close to the nest, about four feet or so below it. And there he sat! He moved slightly - from one side of the mailbox to the other, and evidently clung there all night. This morning, he was gone.

And we're left with kind of a mystery at this point. Assumed he finally flew off after the sun came up. Just how many birdies were in that nest, to begin with?

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I thought SURE I saw five a few days ago. Didn't get a photo of it in time. They move around up in there.

But we finally figured there were four. So minus one on Sunday, and that'd make three. The little guy last night, we assume, found his "sea-wings" and flew away. Or did he flap his little wings back up, so he could return to the nest? There are still three in the nest now! Getting fat 'n' sassy!

Last year, and the year before, we heard and saw the first signs of them at the end of April. April 29th & 30th. By Mother's Day they were either leaving or had flown off already. These, this year, got started about two weeks earlier. Monday April 13th was when I first heard the earliest little chirps. I figure they'll be LONG gone by this coming Mother's Day. We'll probably be empty-nesters by the end of the week.

[Doremus]

24. Love your birdie stories, calimary

I'm enjoying the saga of the baby birds. In future years if you have a fallen nestling (and are able to get hold of it), you can replace it in the nest with no ill effects. Your mailbox visitor is likely close enough to fledging that he'll be fine but stray babies can be placed back in the nest if they'll let you.

[calimary]

25. Good to know for later years. We couldn't catch him!

Last edited Wed Apr 29, 2015, 11:03 PM - Edit history (3)

We were thinking maybe to use some of those surgical gloves so we wouldn't leave our scent on him. I don't want to mess with 'em too much, especially at that age! I'll have more pictures later, but I THINK - not sure, but I THINK we're down to one now. There were two most of the day. Spotted one of the escapees in the tree out front! TEENY little thing, compared to the adult birdies. They don't start out with long tail feathers like the adults have. But this little guy fluttered up to a higher branch after sitting there awhile on the lower branch. SO DAMN CUTE!

And we're still left with one question - were there four up there, or five? Guess we'll never know, now. But I could swear I saw three little heads, with two additional little heads above them kinda like a pyramid (without the point at the top):

O O
O O O

Dang! Can't get the representation right. It's supposed to be a pyramid, not a right-angle.

[calimary]

26. Then there were two...

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There IS a second birdie behind and underneath this one:

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Even with some room, they still don't fit anymore...

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[calimary]

27. Then - ONE.

One in the nest...

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And one in the tree out front!

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See the itty bitty tail feathers? I guess they lengthen with age.
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[calimary]

28. And finally, this morning (Friday May 1st)...

Back where we started. Empty nest again.

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My husband said he saw one of the babies standing on the front stoop, early this morning, looking at him and squawking - as if to say "where's the bird seed?"!

Two weeks early this year. In the past two years, the last straggler left on Mother's Day. They spend about two weeks in the nest. Our son said he spotted the mother bird sleeping in the nest when he came home last night. He used a flashlight to take a quick look-see. She sleeps on top of them. When there were still three, a few days ago, I took a chance and did a quick look with a flashlight myself, after dark. And there she was, sitting on what looked like three big round fat grey puffs. Keeping her babies warm, I'm guessing.

Now they're all out, off on their own.

Sigh - they grow up so fast...