Nesting

Nesting

Spring/Summer 2019

July 8 - Mourning Dove nest in White Oak tree next to our house

Since we live in the country, surrounded by various kinds of habitats, I know that there must be many nests all around us – in the woods, in the trees around the gardens and house, in the fields, in eaves, tucked into all sorts of places. Last year a Carolina Wren built a prodigious nest below the outside of the PTAC unit, below the bay window. The year before I found a nest of an Eastern Phoebe tucked under the overhang of the barn. Sometimes we have muddy nests of Barn Swallows up in the barn rafters.

This year I came upon a rabbit's next just below the top edge of the woods, but it had already been abandoned.

April 13

I find places in the woods where fawns have been tucked away, as well as openings under shrubs, burrows in the ground, holes in trees (low and high). One year I found five tiny baby Raccoons in a low tree hole.

I know Summer Tanagers nest not far from my house because every year the male yells about it all day, every day, for much of the summer. I have seen both the male and female, but have never found their nest. By the cacophony of bird song and calls, especially in the morning, I know our area must be laden with all sizes of nests, with various types of construction (and, sometimes no real construction).

The Mourning Doves are always busy, and their activity sometimes belies their nest locations. I often wonder how so many Mourning Doves make it to adulthood when I see their haphazard nests, sometimes perched in precarious spots. I really don't know how they make it through storms – and we've already had plenty of storms this year!

June 25 - Mourning Dove in her nest in the large Crabapple tree

I'm sure that, this early summer, I saw the fledged young of the first brood from the Crabapple tree, with fresh, pinkish feathers, exploring the world around our house, and that Mom was working on a second brood at that same time.

And, now, the story of a new, unusual nest for this year.

During the winter, I had hung an old cobalt-blue teapot from a branch of the Volunteer Peach Tree (VPT), near the edge of the Herb Garden Transformation Project (HGTP).

January 26

January 26

I kept it filled with black sunflower seed, and it became a popular spot, hanging on the VPT along with a couple of other bird feeders, as the VPT developed buds, then tiny leaves peppered the branches. Leaves grew and started filling in spaces, but still I was able to see the blue teapot.

April 6

April 7 - A dark blue spot in a tree - the teapot

Mostly small birds came, but larger birds, such as Cardinals and Blue Jays, would sit on an adjacent branch and grab some seeds from the teapot. Very small birds would often fly all the way inside, sitting on the seed, taking time, having a feast. Sometimes one would use the teapot as shelter from the rain.

May 1

May 1 - Gimme shelter!

I could sit on the screened porch and watch all the coming and going.

Eventually the leaves of the VPT burst into full size, filling in almost all the spaces, so that I could not see even the deep blue of the teapot from the porch. But, I could still watch birds coming and going, into and out of the tree. 

May 8 - The very full VPT at the far end of the HGTP

May 8 - I challenge you to find the teapot!

And, eventually, I quit putting seed in the teapot, and in any of the feeders. I waited until I knew there would be plenty of insects and larvae for the birds to eat, as they would be switching to this now available higher protein diet for the intense energy period of defending territory, building nests, and feeding young. And, so, the teapot hung there empty for awhile.

June 21 - Sunflowers next to the VPT

There was one opening in the leafy branches of the VPT through which I could see the teapot. One day I walked by and something caught my eye, because it looked different from the usual.

June 21

Someone had been building a nest in the teapot!! I had no idea that had been going on. The bird had very artfully encircled the inside of the teapot “door” (the part where, if one were using it as a teapot, one would pour in the water) with a lovely collection of grasses, dry leaves, and seed heads. 

What kind of bird would be doing this? I posted the photos on Facebook to see if anyone knew. There were some guesses, but nothing definitive. I started watching the teapot more closely, to see if I could solve the mystery of Teapot Bird.

One day, I was able to see the top of Momma Teapot Bird's head, her eyes, her beak. When she or Father Teapot Bird flew to and from the nest, it happened so fast that I never had a good look at the rest of their bodies. But, I had some clues from the head. The beak was small, thin, very pointed. The head was sort of flattish and streamlined. That ruled out some kinds of small birds.

June 25 - There she is!

I got out my guide to birds' nests and started looking for something that might build a nest in a place like that, out of those kinds of materials. What I came up with was Tree Swallow. Everything made sense, especially that they will build nests in all sorts of birdhouses, as well as mail boxes and other advantageous places. I realized that the many birds that line the wires in late summer and early fall, swooping over the crop fields catching insects, were Tree Swallows. And I had seen Tree Swallows using Bluebird nest boxes at Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve near Chesterton, Indiana, as well as, this year, along the Clear Creek Trail in Bloomington, Indiana.

May 15 - Tree Swallow on a Bluebird nesting box along the Clear Creek Trail, Bloomington, Indiana  Look at that little streamlined, flattish head – I'm sure it's the same thing!

Later, I stopped to look in the teapot and, instead of an adult head, I'd see as few very tiny heads, and even very tiny beaks sticking up.

July 8 - Barely seen Teapot Babies

July 8 - If I had a camera with a better zoom, it would be easier for you to see the tiny head and beaks in there.

Once in a great while I'd stop and look again, but I wanted to disturb the birds as little as possible. I looked from the outer edge of the VPT branches, though one time I did step further into the branches for a closer look.

One morning I was sitting on the screened porch, enjoying the blooming plants and the abundant bird song – from the woods to my left, the field to my right, and the gardens and fruit trees before me. I saw rustlings at the VPT, birds going in and out. Then I heard what sounded to me like very excitable sounds. I thought of what that might be about. Did another kind of bird get too close to the nest, and the parents were chasing, warning, scolding? Or was it another kind of bird making the excited sounds?

The next morning I was hurrying to my truck with just enough time to get to and appointment in town. As I hurried past the VPT, another sight caught my eye, and I had to stop, if just for a brief time. Three fluffy baby birds were sitting straight up, just inside the edge of the teapot “door”, beaks all pointed outward, watching me intently.

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera, and I had no time to run back in to get it.

Later that day I checked again, but saw nothing. I hoped they had just tucked themselves deep into the nest during the heat of the day. I checked each day, different times of day, and saw nothing. I also saw no more activity around the VPT, no one going in and out of the branches.

Now I wonder if the ruckus I heard previously had been the day the babies ventured out for the first time, among the branches of the VPT. The excited calls could have been the parent, or parents, encouraging the Teapot Babies to come out farther, and some of it could have been the babies themselves. And, I wondered if the next morning, when I saw them perched at the teapot edge, was the day they truly fledged and left the nest for good.

I wish I had been there to see that.

June 30 - The Herb Garden Transformation Project - Volunteer Peach Tree on the far left