FLEDGE!!!!!!

I was in the shower and both the house phone and my cell were ringing and ringing; I knew it was Linda because my phone was barking at me.  She had just gotten home and found fledgling birds all over the carport!  Mind you, I had looked at them in the nest no more than 20 minutes earlier!!!  They must have just fledged.

Linda: I came home today and walked toward the carport with all my bags, planning to stop and peek in the Carolina wren nest.  As I got closer I could hear lots of cheeping, so I kept looking at the nest to see what was going on.  All if a sudden I noticed movement on the ground.  I peered into the carport and gradually made out four tiny balls of fluff hopping around the floor of the carport right under the nest!  I quickly backed out of the carport and called Diane, afraid that she, or she and the dog, would come out of the house, into the carport, and step on one of the babies...

Just fledged!!!  Still hopping with no flight.
It hasn't grown into its feet yet! (Photo L.Murdock)

I ran out the front door (which we never use!) and stood with Linda watching the miracle of 5 little freshly fledged Carolina Wrens hopping around the carport!  Their wings were so stubby, there is no way they could fly yet, but the way we've seen them grow and change in just a few hours, that might be very temporary.  When Linda got home, they were still all clustered just under the nest, but by the time I got out there, they had scattered all over the carport, hopping around.  I had just shown the nest to the UPS deliveryman about 20 minutes earlier, so I know they were in the nest then.  We estimate fledge time to be ~4:30 PM, May 16, 2014. The 15 second movie below shows the tentative hopping -- it is dark but you can see the movement.  The 2nd movie is easier to see and the little guy is moving around much faster and more adeptly!  They were about 2 hours apart.

The little fledglings were scattered all over the carport, hopping and cheeping, and the mama bird was getting quite agitated, so we departed.  We came out a bit later and she had corralled all of them into a QUIET little lump of feathers, up against the dark side of the garbage barrel.  Three were in a row, wing to wing, with two others behind and on top of the bottom three -- quite regimented.  
 
Later in the evening, we peeked down over the edge of the upstairs porch (over the carport) to find that the birds were in a little clump near the front of the carport,
in a pile of leaves, and the parents were feeding them.  The picture below was taken from above, looking down. 

Parent Carolina Wren (left) feeding fledglings

Notice that there are only four fledglings there now.  We never again saw five.  The fifth could have been the oldest/largest and have taken off more on its own, or it could have become someone's supper.

When I went out before bed so that Blake could do his business, all four were huddled together so tightly that it just looked like a brown lump in the leaves.  Had I not seen them earlier, I never would have even noticed the clump, let alone known that it was a feathered ball!

They were in the same place this morning (Saturday, May 17) when Blake and I went out, but beginning to move around.  Parents were feeding them. Later when we peeked over the side of the porch, one was in the stones below and the others were nowhere to be seen.  Later still, Linda spotted them in the woods!  All had been relocated to a safer place.  I'm glad they spent the night in the carport, though, as it was raining HARD all night. 

In the picture below, notice one adult (papa?) is on the left end of the branch.  He had just fed one of the fledglings, but it is impossible to find the little one, unless you know where he is!  You can try...  looking at the long, horizontal branch, find the right-most piece of lichen on the branch, come forward just a little bit and there is a lighter colored plant. Now go forward & left from the lighter plant just a tiny bit and there is a darker lump.  That is the fledgling.  What do you mean you can't tell that it is a bird?!?  Well, we couldn't either, but we saw papa feed it! (If you double click on the picture, a slightly larger version will come up.)

They took to the woods... (Carolina Wren fledgling hidden in leaves - papa on left)

It has been quite a couple of days.  Below are some pictures taken in the last 24 hours before fledge. 

Penultimate day in the nest (Carolina Wren nestlings)

Carolina Wren nestlings 3 hours before fledging - look at the size of those feet!

Good luck little birds; may you be safe, live long and thrive!  And come back here to nest in our wreath; there will always be one on the wall for you!

CAROLINA WREN UPDATE, PLUS

Five days is a lot in the life of Carolina Wren nestlings and ours are REALLY growing!  It amazes me that they are so tolerant of noise and activity near the nest.  Yesterday I had the house AC being serviced, a consultant in on HVAC for the Studio that we are building and the carpenter running saws, hammer guns, etc.  (Of course, they are used to the carpenter, as he has been here their entire lives, with the generator running right next to the nest before we knew that the nest was occupied!

Anyway, there is a lot of bird activity around the nest this morning, and I would not be surprised to find that they fledge today!  Both mama and papa are near by and mama was sitting on the construction wood pile with a bug in her mouth, calling. "Hungry?  Of course you are!  Come and get it!"  When we looked in the nest this morning, the nestling that is clearly the oldest and strongest was sitting in the mouth of the hole and it has an eyebrow stripe!!! 

May 15 - This is NOT the parent bird - you can still see the yellow of the baby gape, but today there is an eyebrow stripe!

The picture below is from yesterday - there is a HUGE difference overnight!

May 14 - beakier and beginnings of eyebrow stripe

In the picture above, the beaks look more like beaks and less like gapes, but the yellow is still there.  The bottom right nestling is starting to get a bit of an eyebrow stripe, but it is not as defined as the top picture.  These two pictures above were taken just ONE DAY APART!

Going back one more day, the picture below was taken May 13 and feathers are starting to show under the chin.

May 13 - Starting to show some feathers among the down

Papa has been singing all around the area, from the dogwood, to the Studio roof top, to the piles of construction wood, to the porch railing near where I am sitting.

Papa watching over his territory

 
Elsewhere in the yard, a squirrel decided to sample the fruit I put out hoping to entice the Scarlet Tanager to return. 

I had a half a bag of peanuts get wet in the bird food can and many were moldy and  not edible.  Some were still OK, so I put them out for the squirrels.  Our fox decided to sample them.  Blake was on the porch - some foxer he is!  Didn't even notice 'cuz he was looking the other way.  I didn't tell him...

And the flicker has been around a lot -- EAT THOSE ANTS!!!!!  Notice how hard it is to see him in the stones!  I never realized the camouflage effect that their feathers have!

Flicker eating ants, camouflaged in the stones.

 OK... back to work!

THREE LIFERS!!!

Within just over 24 hours, I saw three life-birds, without even leaving the house, right here in our yard!  Very cool!  

Sunday afternoon I was doing the dishes and Linda was reading Harry Potter aloud when I looked out at the dogwood tree, which is just outside the window, to find a bird I had never seen!  Linda grabbed her binocs, and we started "reading" off characteristics: plain greenish-brown back, yellow on sides of tail, yellow spot on wings, yellow spot just under the shoulder, white breast, dark eye, small bird-warblerish size, warbler-like beak... (we forgot leg color).  The bird was very accommodating and hung around a long time so we could get a good look at her (and why didn't I grab my camera or phone??).  Once she left, we each got our favorite books and started looking.  Female Americab Restart!  Wow!  A lifer for both of us.

Monday morning I was talking to my mother on the phone and looked out to see a scarlet tanager sitting in the old crab-apple tree (dead, but it is a great perch for birds near the feeder).  "Wait, mom!  I'll be right back!"  The camera was close by on the table: click, click, click!  This gorgeous bird was on our "want to see" list and I'm sad that Linda didn't get to see it!  Hopefully it will come back when she is here.

Scarlet Tanager singing

Later in the day, I was outside shaking rugs and looked up to see a red-tailed hawk being mobbed by some bluejays.  I got this picture just before it flew!

There was a lot of noise in the trees on the other side of the deck, so I picked up my binoculars to go take a look.  Strange call that I don't think I've heard before.  Wait - movement.  Wow!  New bird!  Lemon yellow belly with no markings running into a gray throat, large black bill, large bird (bluejay size), dark eye, rusty tail (!!!) with the lemon belly, that is going to be distinctive! There were two of them and one turned a bit so I could sort of see that the back was brown or olive or gray and the wings had some wing bars, but I couldn't distinguish details.  They flew.  My Sibley's opened up to the flycatcher section (which was good 'cuz I really wasn't sure where to start) and there it was!

We've had an amazing spring for birds!  Two of the bluebirds that were here this winter stayed on and they must have a nest nearby, as I see them every day (momma is on the feeder right now).  The orioles are enjoying the oranges and suet and the female was here looking for long strings of grass, so they must be building their nest.

I still count five nestlings in the Carolina Wren nest.  I could easily sit and look outside all day long!

CAROLINA WREN NESTLINGS - ABOUT A WEEK OLD

We think the nestlings are about a week old.  This picture was taken yesterday (Saturday, May 10).  Only 4 beaks show up here, but when I just peaked in, I think I saw a fifth.

BIRDFUL WEEK!

Lots of bird activity this week.  Our Carolina Wren nestlings are growing and there are now five mouths.

Carolina Wren nestlings - probably about a week old

 I thought the picture below was interesting!  I can't figure out what the scaly thing on the bottom right is, though.  The left lump is a beak and head with an eye that isn't yet open.

I looked out at the feeder yesterday and it was quite colorful!  Male Oriole on the suet, Cardinal in the peanuts, Bluebird on top of the feeder pole and two male Goldfinch on the nyger!  I looked back about a minute later and it was all grey, black and white: Tufted Titmouse, Downy Woodpecker, Mourning Dove, White-breasted Nuthatch and a female Red-winged blackbird on the ground!  Equally beautiful!!

The Baltimore Oriole pair are keeping me company these last two days.  They are so striking!  This is my first closeup encounter with this bird and I have to say, I like it!

This is peanut butter suet with calcium added for the mama birds.  He seems to like it a lot!

Baltimore Oriole.  Look at his beak as he gets ready to eat!

Now I have GOT to get to work!  Enough play for this morning!!

CAROLINA WREN CHICKS, WARBLER MINI-FALLOUT

Exciting bird times around here!  Saturday AM, as we sat on the porch at dawn, we saw some Yellow-rumped Warblers.  We don't usually see the warblers, probably because we spend too much time looking at the feeder instead of the tree-tops!  Saturday was a three bird event day:  the yellow-rumps, our first hummingbird (Blake HATES it when he is on my lap and a hummer comes in to feed right above us!  I think he can't see it, but he hears the hum and it drives him crazy!), then later, we discovered that the Carolina Wren HAD laid eggs in the Christmas wreath nest!  
 

Mama Carolina at the entrance of the nest

Sunday afternoon, we came home, pulled the Subaru into her parking place and realized that there were birds everywhere in the trees in front of us.  Thankfully, Linda carries a pair of binocs in her car because it seems we were in the middle of a mini-fallout of Warblers.  We saw lots of the Yellow-rumps, a Magnolia Warbler, a Hooded-Warbler, a Palm warbler and something unidentified.  Very cool!  They swarmed all over the pine trees and the ground.

Meanwhile, the Carolina wasn't sitting on eggs, the eggs had hatched!  Monday I looked into the nest and there were two gaping mouths waiting for mama or papa to come with some food.  Yesterday there were four mouths, today five!

Carolina Wren chicks in nest.  The yellow is the gape (mouth).

Parent Carolina wren waiting to for me to leave to feed the younguns.

I've opened my summer office on the porch and today had a visit from the male hummer and our first Baltimore Oriole!  I called Carol to tell her that the oriole had visited and she brought over a half an orange.  Right now (15 minutes later), the oriole is happily chowing down on that orange!

 

Baltimore Oriole found the orange!