Good day to all you birdwatchers out there in #featheredfriends land.
With this week's theme being open I thought it would be a little different sharing with you some of the bird nests that I have spotted over the last several months. Many of them I was able to spot while the leaves were still on the trees. After the leaves met their demise, as they do every year, a new lot of nests that were no longer camouflaged by all of the greenery stuck out like a sore thumb.
This nest was constructed in a treetop of one of the walnut trees on our farm.
The day this pic was taken, the weather was absolutely splendid. I must have taken a dozen pictures of this nest. That day the clouds were racing across the sky providing a different background of blue and white every 15 seconds or so. After critiquing all of the shots, this is the one I chose.
This is the same nest from the picture above. I zoomed in on the nest, which was at least 40 feet in the air, to get a detailed picture of its construction. The nest looks a little disheveled, but who knows how long ago it was built or when the birds moved on. #Mother #Nature has a way of erasing things over time.
#2- This nest only became apparent after the leaves had departed.
#3- When spotting this one,
I thought that there may still be some little ones nesting,
waiting for their parents to return with some food.
#4- Another nest that I spotted was erected in another walnut tree.
#5- This nest was one of several that were built just a few feet off of the ground. I wonder if different species of birds build their nests at different heights.
#6- This nest was so well concealed that we only spotted it when we were standing within a few feet of it admiring the fuzzy nubs on this Pussy Willow tree. This was one nest that we saw in action. A pair of Robins had chosen this very secluded spot to lay their eggs.
#7- The trees that line both sides of the road we live on form a natural canopy, with the limbs of the trees meeting in the middle.
When traveling on this stretch of road you feel like you are in a tunnel.
If this nest were to become dislodged from its resting place
it would fall on the middle of the road.
#8- The birds must like the Black Walnut plantation. The trees do provide a lot of cover for their newborn.
#9- Months ago I was going to move our mill
to where I would stage it for milling.
When I lifted the cover I was surprised at what I found.
When I first found this nest it had three Robin eggs in it.
Needless to say, restaging the mill had to be put off until the little ones had moved out.
#10- This one was the largest nest of all. It would have been very cool to see what type of bird had chosen this spot.
#11- Last winter a snowstorm dropped a few feet of snow on the landscape. The snowstorm played havoc with some of my favorite trees on the property. As the snow became heavier and heavier the weight of it all snapped almost every branch from the six Wild Cherry trees
that we had planted 20-some years ago.
I hoped that they would recover from the devastation, and they did,
so much so that the new growth provided just what expecting parents look for, privacy.
The bottom pic in this collage shows a few wild cherries hanging from the new growth. The cherry with the halo around it confused me when I first viewed this photo.
After loading it on the computer and seeing a larger version of the pic,
I realized that an ORB had returned
to enjoy the reclamation of this gorgeous flowering tree.
#12- Another nest built low to the ground
and hidden among the leaves of this bush.
#13- A nest about to succumb to the elements.
#14- Of all of the bird nests that I had spotted over the last several months, this was the smallest of all.
I was surprised when I found it.
It was built by our pond, a very busy place during the summer months.
It was not until just the other day did I spot it when the leaves had all fallen.
A big thanks to all of the wonderful women who make #featheredfriends a place I enjoy beyond words. Good luck to all the folks that enter this week's contest.
I thought that there may still be some little ones nesting,
waiting for their parents to return with some food.
#4- Another nest that I spotted was erected in another walnut tree.
#5- This nest was one of several that were built just a few feet off of the ground. I wonder if different species of birds build their nests at different heights.
#6- This nest was so well concealed that we only spotted it when we were standing within a few feet of it admiring the fuzzy nubs on this Pussy Willow tree. This was one nest that we saw in action. A pair of Robins had chosen this very secluded spot to lay their eggs.
#7- The trees that line both sides of the road we live on form a natural canopy, with the limbs of the trees meeting in the middle.
When traveling on this stretch of road you feel like you are in a tunnel.
If this nest were to become dislodged from its resting place
it would fall on the middle of the road.
#8- The birds must like the Black Walnut plantation. The trees do provide a lot of cover for their newborn.
#9- Months ago I was going to move our mill
to where I would stage it for milling.
When I lifted the cover I was surprised at what I found.
When I first found this nest it had three Robin eggs in it.
Needless to say, restaging the mill had to be put off until the little ones had moved out.
#10- This one was the largest nest of all. It would have been very cool to see what type of bird had chosen this spot.
#11- Last winter a snowstorm dropped a few feet of snow on the landscape. The snowstorm played havoc with some of my favorite trees on the property. As the snow became heavier and heavier the weight of it all snapped almost every branch from the six Wild Cherry trees
that we had planted 20-some years ago.
I hoped that they would recover from the devastation, and they did,
so much so that the new growth provided just what expecting parents look for, privacy.
The bottom pic in this collage shows a few wild cherries hanging from the new growth. The cherry with the halo around it confused me when I first viewed this photo.
After loading it on the computer and seeing a larger version of the pic,
I realized that an ORB had returned
to enjoy the reclamation of this gorgeous flowering tree.
#12- Another nest built low to the ground
and hidden among the leaves of this bush.
#13- A nest about to succumb to the elements.
#14- Of all of the bird nests that I had spotted over the last several months, this was the smallest of all.
I was surprised when I found it.
It was built by our pond, a very busy place during the summer months.
It was not until just the other day did I spot it when the leaves had all fallen.
A big thanks to all of the wonderful women who make #featheredfriends a place I enjoy beyond words. Good luck to all the folks that enter this week's contest.