Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cardinals still nesting.

2022-08-28 Thread Donna Lee Scott 
Bluebirds are nesting again in a nest box across the loop road from my cottage 
here at Kendal. They nested there earlier this summer.

I saw the male take away a fecal sac 2-3 days ago & my neighbor, Nelly Farnham, 
& I see the parents bringing insects to the box. I saw the female with a big 
bug go to the box opening at twilight today.
Nelly saw at least 1 chick inside when she took a quick peek.

Donna Scott
Kendal at Ithaca
Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 28, 2022, at 11:06 PM, t...@ottcmail.com wrote:

 A pair of cardinals currently is feeding young in a large spirea bush just 
outside our kitchen window.  Nest construction began 8/5, completed 8/6, 
incubation underway by 8/10.  At least one nestling had hatched by last Tuesday 
(8/23) when at different times each parent was observed feeding it/them over 
the course of the day.   Nest is quite well built & sturdy and they seem to be 
diligent parents.  The nest is so close to the window (maybe 2' away, at eye 
level) that we try to stay away and not watch them too closely - plus nest 
unusually has high sides and we can't see what's inside yet anyway.

According to Birds of the World, nestlings generally fledge at 9 or 10 days, 
and can "fly strongly" a week after that but still depend on their parents for 
help with food.  They  "attain independence from parental feeding 25–56 days 
after fledging."  Since they don't migrate, perhaps they don't need to mature 
as early in the season - they don't need to bulk up for a long flight, just 
learn how to find food so they can get through the winter and whatever they 
might learn in summer won't do them that much good come November or January 
anyway.

The current Breeding Bird Atlas Breeding Guidelines Bar 
Graph
 lists N. Cardinals are "B" (Breeding) through mid-August and "E" (either 
migration or breeding, which in their case presumably means either dispersal or 
breeding) through the end of October.


On 8/28/2022 10:05 PM, Dave Nutter wrote:
Twice this afternoon a female Northern Cardinal flew toward my birdfeeder 
carrying a substantial white object in her bill. Both times the cargo was a 
fecal sac, which she dropped where I could see it clearly when she perched a 
couple feet away from the feeder before she perched on the feeder and fed 
briefly on sunflower seeds. Probably there are folks reading this who know 
better than I, and I’m interested in your opinions, but it seems to me that 
August 28 is pretty late to have nestlings, which is what her activity 
indicated. Late or normal, it was cool to witness.

- - Dave Nutter
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cardinals still nesting.

2022-08-28 Thread tess 
A pair of cardinals currently is feeding young in a large spirea bush 
just outside our kitchen window.  Nest construction began 8/5, completed 
8/6, incubation underway by 8/10.  At least one nestling had hatched by 
last Tuesday (8/23) when at different times each parent was observed 
feeding it/them over the course of the day. Nest is quite well built & 
sturdy and they seem to be diligent parents.  The nest is so close to 
the window (maybe 2' away, at eye level) that we try to stay away and 
not watch them too closely - plus nest unusually has high sides and we 
can't see what's inside yet anyway.

According to Birds of the World, nestlings generally fledge at 9 or 10 
days, and can "fly strongly" a week after that but still depend on their 
parents for help with food.  They  "attain independence from parental 
feeding 25–56 days after fledging."  Since they don't migrate, perhaps 
they don't need to mature as early in the season - they don't need to 
bulk up for a long flight, just learn how to find food so they can get 
through the winter and whatever they might learn in summer won't do them 
that much good come November or January anyway.

The current Breeding Bird Atlas Breeding Guidelines Bar Graph 

 
lists N. Cardinals are "B" (Breeding) through mid-August and "E" (either 
migration or breeding, which in their case presumably means either 
dispersal or breeding) through the end of October.


On 8/28/2022 10:05 PM, Dave Nutter wrote:
> Twice this afternoon a female Northern Cardinal flew toward my 
> birdfeeder carrying a substantial white object in her bill. Both times 
> the cargo was a fecal sac, which she dropped where I could see it 
> clearly when she perched a couple feet away from the feeder before she 
> perched on the feeder and fed briefly on sunflower seeds. Probably 
> there are folks reading this who know better than I, and I’m 
> interested in your opinions, but it seems to me that August 28 is 
> pretty late to have nestlings, which is what her activity indicated. 
> Late or normal, it was cool to witness.
>
> - - Dave Nutter
> --
> *Cayugabirds-L List Info:*
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> Rules and Information 
> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave 
> 
> *Archives:*
> The Mail Archive 
> 
> Surfbirds 
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[cayugabirds-l] Cardinals still nesting.

2022-08-28 Thread Dave Nutter 
Twice this afternoon a female Northern Cardinal flew toward my birdfeeder 
carrying a substantial white object in her bill. Both times the cargo was a 
fecal sac, which she dropped where I could see it clearly when she perched a 
couple feet away from the feeder before she perched on the feeder and fed 
briefly on sunflower seeds. Probably there are folks reading this who know 
better than I, and I’m interested in your opinions, but it seems to me that 
August 28 is pretty late to have nestlings, which is what her activity 
indicated. Late or normal, it was cool to witness. 

- - Dave Nutter
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