I have not been out birding much lately and have been very busy with some big changes in my life – I apologize for slacking with my posting! To make up for it, I will share photos of all of the nesting birds that I found locally this year. Most of the photos are not that great – this is because I observe them from a safe distance and do not want to disturb the nests!!
The only nest I found near my yard, so far, is a Red-bellied Woodpecker cavity. They made it easy to find by constantly calling from the tree. I am still waiting to see the fledglings come to my feeders.
Red-bellied Woodpecker in cavity
I found some nests while out in the field just by seeing birds fly into them.
American Goldfinch on nest
Red-eyed Vireo on nest
Blue Jay on nest
And others were pointed out to me by friends who already knew the location.
Canada Goose on nest
Wood Thrush in nest on my friends property
There is an abandoned building nearby that Cliff Swallows like to nest on every year. Unfortunately, right after we saw them this year the property owners knocked down all of their work.
Cliff Swallows building nest
While out on a trip with my local birding club, we found a female Baltimore Oriole building a nest right above the road. I re-found this nest over the weekend, but did not scout it out to see if it was active.
Baltimore Oriole building her nest
I’ve also found various birds carrying nesting materials – of course, they are very cautious when someone is watching them.
Common Yellowthroat with nesting material
Dark-eyed Junco with nesting material
American Crow with moss
To end this off on a cute note, I will share a non-avian nest – I found this Groundhog den at a local park. The young would crowd around the opening, forage and play.
Ground Hog den with four young