An EASTERN BLUEBIRD pair continues its unlikely nesting attempt in our backyard in suburban northeast Ithaca. The eggs seem to have hatched around May 25. At first, the parents would disappear completely into the nest box with each food delivery, but now they mostly perch on the box face and place their only their bills through the hole, greeted by increasingly strong begging voices. The nestlings seem to be getting mostly short fat green larvae.
We also have a nesting House Wren pair. The male lost all his tail feathers about a week ago, maybe to one of our neighbors’ marauding outdoor cats. I can’t see any signs that the feathers are growing back, but arguably his truncated silhouette ennobles him and makes him even more fun to watch. He looks like an honorary Tawny Antpitta. And he still sings like a boss. Certainly this wren is undiminished in the loving eyes of his mate, who this morning spread and quivered her wings, inviting and then accepting copulation. Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
