baby ducks

Yay baby duckies!!!

Welcome to July!!!



Mindi

Aww, Cool to see baby ducks in the US and here at the same time! Thanks for starting the new thread, Dirt.

cliftoncat said:Aww, Cool to see baby ducks in the US and here at the same time! Thanks for starting the new thread, Dirt.

Love, Love, Love the ducklings!

I've seen a little Carolina Wren darting back and forth today but it's so quick, I haven't been able to get any pictures. The Wrens placed nesting material in the old birdhouse sitting on the ledge out back and I've been calling it a dummy nest. There's no sign of eggs or babies in the nest that can be seen and I know this same pair of Wrens has a nest in the shrubbery just over the fence in the neighbors yard but I keep seeing two Wrens taking turns flying into and out of the birdhouse on the brick ledge and it appears they have something in their bills as they leave the nest and immediately head over the fence to the neighbors shrubs. I think they are getting lizards from the birdhouse (we have hundreds of those little Anole Lizards around here) and I think the lizards are hiding inside the birdhouse and the Wrens are catching them to feed their babies.

Anyway ... no Wren photos but this Hawk was in a tree so I managed a couple of decent shots:

Thanks for keeping the ball rolling, Dirt.

Also agree with the ladies above......love the little duckies.

EscondidoCal said:Thanks for keeping the ball rolling, Dirt.

Also agree with the ladies above......love the little duckies.

Me too, !!!

Me three!

I've been gone all day but took a couple of pic's this morning and just got home so I'm moved the pictures from the camera to my laptop.

Red-shouldered Hawk


I've been watching the pair of Carolina Wrens going back and forth from the birdhouse, appearing to take bugs, etc. to the opening and also taking stuff out ... cleaning house?? When I downloaded and zoomed in on one photo it appeared like the adult in photo #3 was feeding the wide open mouth of a baby but I have not heard any sounds whatsoever, like peeping coming from the birdhouse and the one in the last photo, grabbed something from the nest and flew off with it.

Lin,

That sure looks like a baby's mouth to me!! I think you have babies!!!

😀

Mindi

@MindiHammerstone, that's what I thought too and I've seen many tiny baby birds in my life but it's just odd that they are so quiet ... maybe it's just that they are still really young. I'm going to be keeping watch, especially as the babies get larger and venture out ... my doggies will be on leash until baby birdies fly.

edited to correct my spelling.

😀 that's kind of you!!! Don't want any birdie snacks!!!

😀

Mindi

Oh yes, I see the baby's mouth very clearly in the third photo.

Speaking of babies, I haven't mentioned that the barn swallows are still here. They come back every night and roost under the porch, in various places but they stay away from the nest and the side where the snake was.

Above the door



Along the ledge


On top of the chimes


The babies often perch on the light fixture before coming and going


Yesterday evening the sky darkened when a storm blew in about 6pm with a lot of wind, thunder and lightning. It was soon after the whole swallow family showed up chattering away! It was cute to see two locked together, faces huddled on each other. It was too dark to get a picture.

Christine, you have definitely been adopted!

Yes Lin, that's an open mouth and what the adult wren is taking away is feces. Parent birds do keep the interior of the nests clean.


I love that Christine! Just imagine the convos they are having.....
Wow, it's really getting rough out there.
I sure am glad we have this safe haven to come to.
Yes, I agree! It sure beats the heck out of having to weather the storm in some tree!
Ooooooooo I'm scared! Did you see that lightning just then?!
Ah, don't worry son, it's not going to get you here under the porch roof
Listen to your father children

I love those little barn swallows!!! So cute!! And the stories that went with them. They sure are getting around!!!

😀

Mindi

MindiHammerstone said:I love those little barn swallows!!! So cute!! And the stories that went with them. They sure are getting around!!!

😀

Mindi

!!!

Tufted Titmouse; adult in photo on left and two juveniles that had been fighting over a peanut that mama brought from a feeder:


This morning I was out in the yard and noticed an egg fairly close to one of the openings of the birdhouse where Wrens have built a nest but I didn't pay too much attention and it was so hot that I didn't stay outside very long. A couple of hours later, I heard a Wren that sounded very agitated so I walked out and went down towards the birdhouse. The adult bird was in a Crepe Myrtle tree right near the window ledge and really making a lot of noise and I noticed that the egg was gone. I looked around and didn't see it on the ground or in any of the potted plants nearby and as I was tipping water out of a Bromeliad basket, I disturbed a black snake that wasn't too happy with me! I have a feeling that snake ate the egg but my husband took a flashlight and peeked into the nest hole and there are two babies still there. I don't know where the snake went but I sure hope it doesn't return for the babies.

Aww I'm glad the babies are still there. Unfortunately there's no easy way to keep snakes away, that I know of.

Well gosh, I'll have to take a closer look at Alfred the squirrel, may need to change the name to Alfreeda or something!!

Someone's been stealing the apples off the trees too and yesterday I saw a squirrel running off with one. It was funny because I went outside and scared the squirrel away as it was eating an apple. It kept trying to put the apple in its mouth and run with it but the apple kept falling out and the squirrel would have to stop and pick it back up. It was a funny sight and I turned from upset to laughing out loud. That squirrel must have thought that apple was much too delicious to leave it behind.