[Mnbird] Mnbird Digest, Vol 68, Issue 9

Tue Jul 28 14:10:53 CDT 2020

What an amazing stroke of luck for those birds! Thank you for doing that
rescue--- and we can all be grateful to have such a great resource in the
Wildlife Rehab Center.
Linda Whyte

On Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 11:38 AM Pamela Freeman via Mnbird <
mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> wrote:

> I recently rescued a nest of very young barn swallows from the underside
> of a pontoon boat.
> The owner didn't notice the frantic diving parents, upon our return to the
> slip. I did, however, and looked under the boat when I saw them going
> beneath and not returning right off
> and sure enough, saw a bit of the nest. It must have either not had eggs
> yet or had eggs but no chicks.
> I returned to the boat a week later and carefully coaxed the nest and
> young chicks off and into a box and took it to the wonderful rehab folks in
> Roseville.
> The owner of the boat was taking it back out  and they would not have
> survived the pounding of the boat on waves nor the possible spray of said
> waves over the nest.
> I also wondered if they had been allowed to fledge, how they would manage
> that first step... down into the water.
> But in any case, the boat was being used actively and taken out for long
> hours at a time, when the parents could not care for the young and when the
> young would be pummeled and washed with water and possibly even bounced or
> washed out.
> They had a much larger chance of surviving at the rescue.
> The parents unfortunately, didn't understand that when I took their nest
> away from them.
>
> So, yeah, they seem to find many surfaces with overhangs or ledges as
> possible nesting sites.
> Unfortunately, some are better than others.
>
>
> - Pamela
> Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take
> to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. - Unknown
>
> “There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.”
> ― Aldo Leopold
> I am one who cannot.
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 10:54 AM Steve Weston <sweston2g at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I have found many Barn Swallow nests in home entries, although I see them
>> more often in dock entries in industrial and commercial areas. I remember
>> delivering a box to a home and as I walked to the front door to ring the
>> bell, I noticed bird poop on the entry floor. Looking up, I found a full
>> nest on the light fixture with about six young. When I glanced up, they
>> abandoned the nest, but one bird got tangled in the nest and was left
>> hanging and I had to extract it.
>> I also find Cliff Swallows on the fronts of shopping developments,
>> preferring those that have structures that are higher than a simple first
>> floor overhang. Also, Rough-winged Swallows like to nest on the
>> undercarriages of truck trailers that are in many industrial dock areas.
>> Steve Weston
>> On Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN
>> sweston2 at comcast.net
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jul 27, 2020 at 12:24 PM Pamela Freeman via Mnbird <
>> mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Betsy,
>>> Barn swallows can and do indeed at least attempt to build nests upon
>>> houses.
>>> We live in Oak Grove, not exactly suburban, but sort of rural.
>>> We had a pair, inexperienced, we believe, who attempted to build their
>>> nest on the tiny ledge above our front door.
>>> The ledge was about an inch wide and not enough of a real ledge. The
>>> nest was not stable and inevitably fell. They rebuilt. Twice. They finally
>>> gave up after the third nest and its eggs fell and they eggs and probably
>>> their hopes for that year were broken.
>>> It was horribly sad.
>>> We didn't use that door because of them, hoped they would be successful,
>>> but the weight of the nest was more than the tiny ledge could hold.
>>>
>>> So, they sometimes do try!
>>>
>>> Pamela Freeman
>>> northern Anoka county, Oak Grove
>>> - Pamela
>>> Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take
>>> to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. - Unknown
>>>
>>> “There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.”
>>> ― Aldo Leopold
>>> I am one who cannot.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jul 27, 2020 at 12:14 PM Betsy Kerr via Mnbird <
>>> mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> 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:
>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>> 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
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
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>>>>>
>>>>> Subject: Digest Footer
>>>>>
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>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> End of Mnbird Digest, Vol 68, Issue 9
>>>>> *************************************
>>>>>
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