[Mnbird] Mnbird Digest, Vol 68, Issue 9

Mon Jul 27 12:12:55 CDT 2020

How lucky you are, Cindy, to have all that activity in your own yard!  I'm
happy to report that our Eastern Bluebirds here in Golden Valley (2 blocks
from N Minneapolis) finally fledged last Tuesday.  I didn't have a very
precise idea of when they had hatched, so I had expected them to fledge a
few days earlier.  Wanting to witness the event, I spent five days on
Bluebird Watch in our garden!  But I enjoyed observing other activity such
as the House Wrens nesting in a nearby box (I know that is supposed to be a
threat to the Bluebirds, but apparently these boxes were close enough that
the proximity helped to keep the peace--never any trouble from the wrens),
a visit from the Great Crested Flycatcher that has apparently nested in the
vicinity, and the resident RTH visiting the bean blossoms.  In the end, the
actual fledging was of course anticlimactic.  Two came out while I had to
be away, and the one I saw just dropped to the ground.  It took about 6
hours for all four to come out, and number 4 only came out with some help.
Yes, we opened the box.  I suppose that's a no-no, but it was past 7p.m.
and the youngster showed no signs of an imminent departure.  It promptly
flew to the nearest tree, and after a bit of dive-bombing us by the adults,
all seemed to be well.

Another interesting note:  There has been a pair of Barn Swallows regularly
hanging out around the next yard over.  This has been going on long enough
that I'm convinced they must have nested somewhere close, but I don't see
anything unusual on the eaves of the neighbors' house, and I can't imagine
where else they might have established a nest.  Does anyone know of Barn
Swallows building their nests on residential structures in the suburbs? Or
can they nest in trees?

Best,
Betsy Kerr
Golden Valley, MN

On Mon, Jul 27, 2020 at 11:00 AM <mnbird-request at lists.mnbird.net> wrote:

> Send Mnbird mailing list submissions to
>         mnbird at lists.mnbird.net
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>         http://lists.mnbird.net/mailman/listinfo/mnbird_lists.mnbird.net
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>         mnbird-request at lists.mnbird.net
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
>         mnbird-owner at lists.mnbird.net
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Mnbird digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Young'uns (Brian and Cindy Drill)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2020 13:19:33 -0500
> From: Brian and Cindy Drill <bcdrill at charter.net>
> To: mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net>
> Subject: [Mnbird] Young'uns
> Message-ID: <1f07de3b-aa02-84c0-1563-539afc5e8457 at charter.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"; Format="flowed"
>
> Happy Sunday to all.? I don't know why I rarely associate the end of
> July with young birds, but there have been so many in the past couple of
> weeks.
>
> Yesterday our second nest of robins fledged from the honeysuckle
> trellis.? We almost missed the start of this brood, since it came about
> with far less fanfare than the original construction efforts of the
> first.? The first nest produced 4, and the second 3 youngsters.? The
> last to leave spent half the day perched on the carport eaves, ignoring
> his parents pleas to move on--somewhere, anywhere.
>
> Early last week, we were suddenly inundated with chipping sparrows and
> their ungainly foster children (suspiciously resembling cowbirds) around
> the back feeder in particular.? Much to my delight, after having seen
> only 2 orioles this year during early migration, 3 young ones suddenly
> began spending time in our back yard.? I quickly replaced my oriole
> feeders, but the new guys didn't seem to care--they were all about the
> birdbath.? Our little male hummingbird was pretty tickled with the
> orange nectar feeder, however, and stopped using the other hummingbird
> feeders for a while.? I haven't seen the orioles this week at all.
>
> Now there are numerous house finch families to fill the void, along with
> young chickadees.? A trio of fuzzy downy woodpeckers played King of the
> Hill with the front bird feeder.? A pair of cardinals with two offspring
> arrived in the front yard; to all appearances the adults were vigorously
> convincing the young that they were ready for an empty nest. Goldfinches
> seem to not be interested in thistle this summer, but are emptying the
> sunflower feeder as fast as I can fill it.
>
> A small group of waxwings arrived while I was in the yard this past
> week.? They grouped in the maple tree, and one flew into the magnolia
> over the pond and whistled to the others.? When no one came to join it,
> it flew back to the maple and tried to regroup them, and then back over
> the pond.? After more whistling back and forth, the one gave up and the
> entire group moved on.? Proof, I guess, that you can lead a flock to
> water, but you can't make them drink.
>
> Finally, our first RB grosbeak of the year--a young male has begun to
> visit us.? My husband is disappointed to only see him in his juvenile
> plumage, but I hope he remembers where he visited and maybe comes back
> next year all grown up.
>
> Oh, and my daughter and I were thrilled to see indigo buntings last week
> on a walk in a local park--2 males, sitting on the trail and singing
> their little hearts out.? Happy birding to all, Cindy in North Mankato
>
>
>
> --
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://lists.mnbird.net/pipermail/mnbird_lists.mnbird.net/attachments/20200726/73e20268/attachment-0001.html
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Subject: Digest Footer
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mnbird mailing list
> Mnbird at lists.mnbird.net
> http://lists.mnbird.net/mailman/listinfo/mnbird_lists.mnbird.net
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of Mnbird Digest, Vol 68, Issue 9
> *************************************
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.lists.mnbird.net/pipermail/mnbird_lists.mnbird.net/attachments/20200727/e7298799/attachment.htm>