Feathers and Fuzz

one woman's cure for the empty-nester blues

Feathers

Just Plain Weird Out There

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I don't know how else to say it ... it's Just Plain Weird Out There!!

Let's Start with the Phoebe Nest

Now, normally, I would not even consider sending you images including my new nemesis -- the Rat Snake -- but -- IF you choose to read on, you're going to see a snake.  I'm with the majority when it comes to snakes -- EWWW!!  In this case, however, my fascination with the scene of the snake's return overtook the EWWW.

Read on if you will ...

In the first picture, you will see Momma Phoebe (who is sitting on 5 eggs) flaring her tail -- a sign that she is reacting to a threat and attempting to intimidate it.  That was at 10:50 p.m.

What this snapshot tells me is that the safety barriers I had put in place were effective.  A snake got UP the wall, across from the nest, but s/he failed to reach the platform.  At 10:50 p.m., I was feeling pretty good about myself.

That all changed just after midnight.

Just Plain Weird Out There - Phoebe vs Snake

Phoebe Reacting to Snake Presence

Just after midnight, the Rat Snake had managed to find a 1/2" square hole in the armor I had constructed to protect the Phoebe nest.  He slid onto the platform.  What I found weird is this:  Momma Phoebe was wide awake, watching the snake approach -- and she just sat there.  She sat there even as the snake climbed the side of the nest -- arched less than an inch from her body.  I'm yelling at her to move.  I'm praying I won't see her die.

For 30 seconds the Phoebe and the snake simply stared at each other.  What the heck!!  Finally the standoff ended.  The snake struck and Momma Phoebe took flight -- lifting the clamped-on snake off the nest.  In the end, Momma Phoebe did escape unharmed.  The snake writhed in apparent agony as s/he struggled to clear its throat from a mass of dry Phoebe down.

Just Plain Weird Out There -- Snake Eyes Phoebe

Phoebe and Rat Snake Stare at Each Other

Snake Strikes the Phoebe

Rat Snake Strikes the Phoebe

And, yes, in the end ... the snake won.  Five Phoebe eggs became its midnight snack.  I have NO idea what the Phoebes will do now.  In my experience, if a clutch is lost, the parents will begin again.  I've heard stories about Phoebes repeatedly using a given nest site even after losing multiple broods to snakes.  As for me, I will continue on my quest to protect "my" birds ... humbled, but undeterred.

On a MUCH brighter note ... when I finally made myself go back through the camera footage of the snake attack on the House Finch nest ... one of the two nestlings escaped the attack.  S/he flew strong and hard off the platform.  With all that the Finch family endured, there was a special touch of joy in that maiden flight.

Weirdness at the Garden Bluebird Nest

Over at the Garden Bluebird nest, more weirdness is playing out.  In all of my years of observing Bluebird nests, there has been no variation to this pattern:  One egg per day, every day.  Overnight incubation begins after the final egg of the clutch has been laid.

Well ... not at the Garden House.  Egg 1 was laid on June 19 ... followed by Egg 2 on June 20, and Egg 3 on June 21.  There was no added egg on June 22, yet Momma Blue wasn't incubating overnight.  I also noticed she wasn't rotating the eggs with the usual frequency.  All of this made wonder if the eggs weren't viable.

Then ... on June 24th, a 4th Egg was laid.  And that's it.  Momma Blue is rotating the eggs, incubating them frequently during the day ... but not incubating at night.  I have NO idea what's going on.

Between the black bear, three snake attacks in under a week, and the strange goings on at the Bluebird nest ... I'm trying to prepare myself for the appearance of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Weirdness Along the Chain Link Fence

I've lived at The Retreat for six years now.  I am quite accustomed to Drake's love of sighting a deer in the distant landscape then tearing down to the fence, barking ... apparently loving the macho feeling of making those deer scatter.  Not this week.

The scene started out the same -- a doe in the woods and Drake making a loud bee-line for the fence.  For 10 minutes, there was a stand-off.  The doe did not flee.  She came at Drake -- and he at her -- the fence between them.  I have NO doubt, Drake though they were playing -- a dream come true!  Up and down the fence line they went.  I had visions of the doe jumping the fence to make this more personal -- a scene I did not want to witness!!

I hauled Mr. Macho back to safety.  He collapsed on the cool, tile floor for the next two hours.  At 9, he's not a young man anymore.  Drake is currently grounded from playing along the fence.  Since June is peak fawning season in Georgia, I'm guessing the doe has fawns nearby and she undoubtedly isn't going to back down from keeping them safe.

One of the cameras caught the scene ... the chase and the "play".  There are many videos on the web of deer genuinely playing with dogs along a fence line ... but ... I'm pretty sure the only one at play in this video was Drake.  And, as you'll see, he nearly killed himself in the process.

Yeah ... standby for that Tyrannosaurus video.

Raising a House Finch Family

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Being an observer of "Raising a House Finch Family" on camera has been quite the experience.  Obviously, the whole Cowbird nightmare was a piece of it.  What has been equally-educational to me is how different a Finch family is from the other songbirds who have nested on camera.

Finch Nesting Differences

  • Fresh, green plant material is used in nest construction.  The other nests I have observed contain only non-green material.
  • The nest cup is shallower and much more-loosely "thrown" together.  (The bottom to the current nest on my property is completely pushed away.  The nestlings are resting on the bare wood of the platform.  Makes me wonder what would happen if this nest were on a branch!)
  • The female parent spends considerably more time sitting on the nest -- almost constantly during incubation and well-into the first week of the nestlings' lives.
  • It appears the female parent's primary nourishment comes from her mate feeding her -- compared to the male providing an occasional meal to the female.
  • The male parent also appears to take primary responsibility for feeding the nestlings -- a duty shared by my other on-camera songbird parents.
  • Nestlings are fed almost exclusively a vegetarian diet -- quite the contrast to the mealworm-feasting families inhabiting my other nest sites.
  • The parent eats the plant/seed material and then regurgitates it when feeding the nestlings -- hmmm -- some similarity to cows here.  I wonder if that's what attracts the Cowbirds?!  (Okay, I don't really wonder that.)  Regurgitation behavior has not been observed among the other nesting species.
  • The shape of the nestlings' beaks is also quite different -- much narrower; almost heart-shaped -- not broad and triangular like the others.
  • It strikes me how the two nestlings in this brood commonly eat with their beaks touching each other.  It's a striking difference from the other species' nestlings whose only goal in life is to reach closest to the incoming food.
  • Finally, I don't know what it is about Finches and their busy-body nature!  Poor Mom and Dad Finch spend considerable time chasing off other Finches (mostly female) who feel compelled to stop and stare at the nest/nestlings.

 

Foreign Female Finch Visits Finch Nest

Foreign Finch Visits House Finch Nest

In the feature video, you will see Dad House Finch feeding his offspring on two different occasions.  Note that Mom Finch is on the nest in the first feeding and she appears to duck out of the way while Dad does the feeding.  In between the two feedings, yet-another visitor arrives to stare at the nest and nestlings.  You'll see one nestling begin to respond to the visitor's presence with open beak, but appears to quickly realize this is a foreign species and backs away.  In the second feeding, Dad dares to turn his back after he arrives with lunch and at least one nestling is quite unhappy about it.