I'm taking tons of photos, and probably getting my Facebook feed blocked from all my friends' timelines. Their loss!
Want some photos? OK!
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| My only shot with Mr. and Mrs. I think that's the female on the right. I could be completely wrong, though :) |
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| At first I just saw them (him? her?) bathing. I can't reliably tell sexes or individuals apart, so I don't know if it's just the same bird on a hygiene kick. I shot this through the screen door, so it's kind of weird lighting. |
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| Preening after a bath. I love this photo :) |
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| Patio furniture doubles as bird drying rack. |
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Then I saw them holding and carrying stuff! NESTING stuff! |
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| Dead leaf. This is the position of the nest, in the same potted Nematanthus as last year's nest. The new nest is close to the old one, but they don't seem to have disturbed it or taken nest material for their new construction - the remains of an unhatched egg are still in place. |
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| Speaking of eggs, here's the first one! I think this one did not survive, though - the next day it was accompanied by another unspeckled blue egg, possibly a cowbird's. (Kicking myself that I didn't get a photo). The day after, there was only one speckled egg again. My theory was that both previous eggs had been removed/eaten/predated, and a new egg, the third, lain. Potential nest predators in my neighbourhood include raccoon, crows, skunks, ravens, scrub-jays, rats, etc. |
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| I believe this is egg 3 and egg 4. The nest is difficult to photograph, it can be in quite bright light, as above, or deep shade, as here. I even had to take the zoom lens off my camera! |
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| Potential nest parasite, brown-headed cowbird. |
So far so good! They don't seem to mind me snapping away at them, and a few times I've set up the camera on a tripod with a remote shutter to keep further out of their way. If I go out on the patio while they're around, they chip and chip at me. Stay tuned for updates!
