The last picture I took of the Song Sparrow baby:
Two days later it was gone. I didn’t think it was far enough along to fledge, but maybe it did. Or maybe whatever predator that feasted on its siblings finally got it too.
The last picture I took of the BlueBird babies:
They fledged early by my count. Either I was off on exactly when they hatched, or only having to feed three babies meant they were able to grow faster. The parents don’t appear to be setting up for a 2nd clutch, so I’ll probably pull down the Sparrow Spooker this week.
While I was getting annoyed at the House Sparrows for killing the Bluebird babies I missed them attacking a Tree Swallow nest. That box is in a harder to see location, and I didn’t realize what had happened till I caught a House Sparrow going into the box with nesting materials. The good news: no dead bodies. The bad news: several destroyed eggs below the box. *sigh* I’ll have to decide where I want to setup the trap this time around…..
Horrendous year for nest predation! Lost our Willow Flycatcher nesting for the first time ever. Probably crows or grackles, but dang, I miss them.
damn :/
I know we have flycatchers nesting nearby, but I’ve never found the nests. SOMEONE built a nest in my variegated willow bush, but then left it and hasn’t used it, here’s hoping it was a decoy nest instead of they got eaten by the neighbors cat!