Funny you should ask... Today at home I saw a pair (first time so far this season I've just seen 2) feeding at one of my suet cages,and then they moved to visit a cage I hung filled with cattail fluff. They fussed with the fluff and then both carried some off out of view. I had presumed carrying nest material, but I could not tell where they went with it.
David Suddjian Ken Caryl Valley Littleton, CO On Wed, Feb 15, 2017 at 2:18 PM, DAVID A LEATHERMAN <[email protected]> wrote: > Yesterday, sitting at the computer with my Fort Collins apartment door > wide open, I noticed the familiar tinkling sound of bushtits in the > courtyard. Last year they nested on this property (nest building first > noticed on 12March2016) about a mile east of CSU and it appears they will > do so again. In fact, they are refurbishing the same nest which > successfully produced a brood last summer. In the "Birds of North America" > account on bushtits by Sarah Sloane, it states the following: "In > Chiricahua Mtns., se. Arizona, on only 1 occasion was a nest reused a > second season, and this was late in season by a year-old inexperienced > male; nest had remained unusually intact through 2 winters due to heavy > concealment in a clump of mistletoe (SAS). Most nests deteriorate rapidly > when abandoned." The nest here is at the end of a lower branch (about 20 > feet above the ground) on the ene side (catches the morning sun) of a large > CO blue spruce. As is typical of the species, the substantial nest "bag" > is well concealed and woven into the spruce foliage. Even knowing where it > is and looking straight up at the nest site, it takes me a minute or so to > locate the nest material hiding in the needles. > > > I would also note Coen Dexter mentions in his bushtit account for the * > Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas II *book that the earliest recorded > nest-building was 17March. Thus, nest-refurbishing on 14February is either > a freak event triggered by hormonal influence on Valentine's Day, > preliminary activity influenced by both warm weather and the existence of a > suitable old structure, an indicator things are changing, or most likely, > just the early end of activity that birders, especially BBA atlasers > accustomed to doing most of their work in "typical" bird breeding months, > have missed. > > > Anybody else noticing bushtit nesting activity out there? > > > Dave Leatherman > > Fort Collins > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/ > msgid/cobirds/MWHPR06MB2749A6E0FBDF00DC0F01F062C15B0%40MWHPR06MB2749. > namprd06.prod.outlook.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/MWHPR06MB2749A6E0FBDF00DC0F01F062C15B0%40MWHPR06MB2749.namprd06.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGj6RooCXaGi4vpR_xUUScRA%3DcX4mZ2eKzPSRcxQ2xZxfgzn-Q%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
