Nest Watch!

[Afleetalex]

For the fourth year in a row we have robins nesting underneath our deck! They already have one egg in the nest. I going to try to do a photo diary of the chicks.
Meanwhile we also have what I assume to be, black capped chickadees nesting in a specially made nestbox only feet from the robin's nest. They did last year too so I'm guessing it's the chickadee's again. I plan to also do a photo diary on them. I'm not sure if they have started a nest yet though. I recently pulled out the old nest from last year.

Robins:





Unindentified bird: I'm not sure but I don't think it's a chickadee...chickadees use a lot of moss as their base for their nests and this one has mostly hair, fur and grass.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

beautiflu egg thanks for sharing

 

[Afleetalex]

It's raining here today and I went out to check on the nest. The momma had been sitting on it this morning so I expected to see another egg, and I did! So two eggs now! I'll try to get pictures when it stops raining and I'll also check the nest box.

 

[Afleetalex]

I saw momma robin today and snapped some pictures of her on our pool fence and piccies of egg numero dos.






Momma's proud second egg


Momma robin against the backdrop of my dad's putting green.

I checked the nest box but didn't take any pictures as there isn't too much of a change besides more fur and hair in the nest. I still haven't caught the nest builder yet. So it's still a mystery thus far.

 

[Forthesilent]

Aww this is cute and a great idea! I will definately be watching this!

 

[Afleetalex]

Thanks! I found out who the nest builder is! Drum roll please....



It's a black capped chickadee! I wasn't able to snag a picture of the busy little bee however. So my first prediction was correct! I have never seen black capped chickadee babies but I'm sure they'll be extremely adorable!

 

[Afleetalex]

Momma Robin was on the nest again this morning and another egg is now in the nest! That makes it three right now. I went out into the frigid cold Minnesota wind and snapped some pictures.





I also checked the nestbox and it seems to be almost complete. It sure has a lot of fur and hair in there! The front of the nestbox is on the left while the back part is where the cupped hair and fur is.





Hopefully some eggs will show up soon!

 

[Afleetalex]

I have some sad news. I went out to check on the robin's eggs today and all of them were gone, the nest was empty. I checked the ground and found some leftover egg shells and yolk on top of our pool cover. I have no idea what happened. I'm guessing somehow a predator or another bird got up there and rolled the eggs out of the nest. The nest is completely fine, no scratches. I'm completely perplexed. I just hope that the mom comes back and lays more. Robins lay more than one clutch each year. I'll just keep my eye on things.

Meanwhile the chickadees have yet to lay. I'm hoping in the next few days they will.

 

[Birdbabe]

Awwww, that sad. But thanks for sharing the pics, I miss the robins the most from back east.

 

[Sunnyside]

Sorry! Hopefully she comes back and lays some more! That was really neat.

 

[Afleetalex]

Well a couple days ago two new robin nests appeared! I'm not sure if it's the same pair building two nests or two pairs building two nests. They are quite close to each other so I'm guessing they're just building two. It will be exciting to see!

Meanwhile the chickadee has started to lay and she has seven eggs so far! The nest is so comfy looking with all that down and fur that even I want to sleep in it! LOL. She covers it every time she leaves the nest with a thick one inch plug of fur and down. It's no wonder, the eggs are tiny!

 

[Afleetalex]

WE HAVE CHICKS! And very cute ones at that, not even bigger than a nickel. These Black-capped chickadee babies are just adorable!







Also the one robin nest is active while the other has one egg in an unfinished nest. I'm guessing the now nesting pair chased the other pair off. The mom has started to incubate!

 

[expressmailtome]

Very cute chicks!

Matt

 

[Afleetalex]

Well the chickadee chicks have been growing like weeds! Here are the updated pictures.







Aren't they adorable? They are already getting feathers in yet none have their eyes fully open yet.

Meanwhile the robin's nest has failed yet again. Something keeps taking their eggs while they are trying to incubate them. It seems the nest has been abandoned.

 

[expressmailtome]

That is a lot of little mouths to feed!

Matt