2023 Nesting Season Overview Part One

Growing Up

3 baby mockingbirds

New baby mockingbirds

3 new baby mockingbirds at John Paul’s Landing Park. What’s weird is that there getting feathers but barely even have eyes!

Only 2 nestlings now

Sadly there are only 2 nestlings left. The two weaker, smaller ones are gone from the nest. Any idea what happened? There used to be 4, then 3, and today 2.

3 baby mockingbirds

There are only 3 babies in the nest. I meant 3 yesterday. 1 baby hatched late and looked weak, he sadly probably died.

Such Sweet Mockingbirds!

Still 4 cute baby mockers.

They all hatched!

All 4 eggs hatched! Even the one that I thought was infertile.

Tree Swallow Young!

Happy Birthday Baby Mockingbirds!!

Two have the four eggs hatched!! Still waiting for the other two. The other nest’s eggs are due to hatch between July 4th and 5th.

Mother Grackle and her Fledgling

Rufous Hummingbird at our feeder!

Young male Rufous Hummingbird at our feeder! He’s been here 6 times so far!

Baby Great-Tailed Grackle

Mother Grackle feeding baby grackle, Sorry for the bad photo! Here is another time we saw Great-tailed Grackles and took pictures ~ https://ebird.org/checklist/S113698000

Eastern Bluebird Hatchling

In this clutch of 6, the first Eastern Bluebird egg hatched at 6:50 am. This is the second brood for this young breeding pair, who was also born in this same nest box last Spring. What a great way to start Memorial Day weekend!

Brown-headed Nuthatch Feeding Young

The Brown-headed Nuthatch pair (was a cooperative breeding situation with former juvenile from prior brood, but that one has moved on) has been tending to their hatched young. Managed to get great videos at multiple angles showcasing feeding, fecal sac removal, and young peeking out. Lots of vocalizations by parents and young. They’ve grown so big!

Young bluebirds

Carolina Wren Babies

Our “Workshop Nest” built by the Carolina Wren contained two beautiful little eggs, which we were pleased to observe as successfully hatched today (Easter Sunday)!

Baby Tree Swallows

How many chicks do you see?

This photo was taken for my American Robin nest attempt. Today is the first day I figured out how to see inside a nest that was so high up in a tree with no branches: buy an extension pole that’s long enough, attach a camera to the end, start the video, lift it above the nest and angle it so that it can record what’s inside, lower it back down to the ground, stop the video, then watch it and see what you see.

Siblings

American Robin juveniles in my back yard.

The Cardinals Are Hatching!

A neighborhood cardinal nest with 3 eggs has begun to hatch! We’re actually not 100% sure if they are all cardinals or if a cowbird snuck in there, but we are very excited to see the first healthy young!

male feeds chicks

Ruby-Throat Stretches/Preens

A young Ruby-Throat hummingbird relaxes, preening itself and stretching while perched on a branch, taken in July 2018.

American Wigeon Nest

Nest about 100 yards from water.

House Wrens

We had a House Wren nest in our garage, there were a lot of fledglings.

Song Sparrow

A curious fellow citizen.

Young House sparrow

Kill deer nest

Unknown bird

American Robins

Mountain Chickadees

First brood of the year. If you look closely you will see 5 Chickadees, look for yellow beaks or black and white heads.
This pare was kicked out of a different bird house then moved to my bird house and will soon have fledglings.

House Wren Nest.

The Final Look At The Eastern Phoebe Almost-Fledglings At The Nest Before They Fledge.

Day 15 Of The Nestling Phase/Period.

The 11th and 12th days of the nestling phase at the eastern phoebe nest.

The cowbird already fledged.

The Cowbird Has Left The Eastern Phoebe Nest, While The Rest Of The Pack Are Still There.

Young are growing even bigger at the eastern phoebe nest.

The young are almost grown up at the eastern phoebe nest.

Young are growing fast at the eastern phoebe nest!

Feeding time at the eastern phoebe nest!

An eastern phoebe nest full of young!

A lot of little mouths at the eastern phoebe nest!

❤️

Some phoebes hatch at the eastern phoebe nest.

Those phoebes are on top of an unhatched egg.

Resting Baby Bluebirds

Growing Robin Family

The female robin I’ve been monitoring, nicknamed Serene, now has a full brood, and, boy, are they HUNGRY! I am delighted to present such a lovely series of photographs which, without the trusting presence of the birds, and a nice zoom lens, would not otherwise enable me to show off this growing family.

The little ones are quickly growing their feathers. Today is the first day I’ve dared to peek at them since I noticed they hatched. To see that one of them has a tiny foot with the beginnings of “fingernails” (talons, heh!) made my day. Before I know it, they will fly away. I am anxious to report someday that this nesting attempt will be successful.

My whole neighborhood is excited about these birds!

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology