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Desert quail are one of the few Arizona wild species that I actually LIKE, and they picked my backyard to nest in.
Will try to dig out my long lens for the camera so I can get some pics without disturbing mama.
So cool!!
Of course now I have to watch jack the wonder terrier when he goes out to do his business...
Cool! I found a bird nest in our grill last year (eww, but I couldn't disturb the growing eggs). They hatched, but all died. :(
I hope your desert quail grow and prosper in your tree. Too cool! I'd love to see some pictures. :)
Where is their nest? Tree or bush?
The swallows have returned to my carport after a year absence. They were there last in 2007 but their nest fell and the eggs were destroyed. I actually made them a better ledge to build on and they found it :)
From 2007http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...ixbirds2-1.jpg http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...dsPShopped.jpg
RM-that is cool! I remember growing up with the quail. They are the neatest birds. I love the males and all of their coloring. Then how protective of the family they are.
Zen' those are grat pics of the swallows. They look like they are about ready to start testing their wings. Watch out! They mighrt dive-bomb you from your carport.
Happy birding.
Red Rock
Zen, you're a nicer person than I
I'm a meanie and have been trying to discourage the birds from nesting underneath my deck & sunroom. It's a bit unpleasant if I've got kayaks or bikes & the hot tub down underneath there and birds are expelling waste all over everything.
I left them last year, but they made a mess, so this year I've been trying to knock down the nests immediately after them making it. (not to mention my mom came along last year and knocked them down without asking me, so it's my goal not to have eggs or babies knocked down)
Which means I've knocked down about 3 nests a week this spring. It's getting a bit old.
Just in case you think I'm completely mean, I leave the nests they seem to have in my gutters and all through the maple trees in my front yard. I have 2 big maple trees which seem to literally have like 70 starlings living in them for half the summer (I can throw a stone up into the trees, watch a couple dozen fly out, throw another stone, and watch more fly out... ), which also make a bit of a mess & quite the racket when the trees are chattering which they start doing at about 4 in the morning. I leave the ground hog that lives underneath the shed, and let the bunnies eat my tomatoes. I just want the birds to stop nesting under my deck. I'll have to screen it in.
RM, that is so cool! Its fascinating to watch.
We had several years ago, a killdeer nest in our driveway. Their eggs match the color of rocks and blend in so well. It was so cool to watch them, they hatch, and you have big fuzzballs with long legs running around, then they are gone.
We have bluebird houses but the sparrows seem to claim them first so I put up extra houses. A bluebird family moved in, built, laid eggs and wouldn't you know, saw a sparrow come out of the house last night. We have problems with sparrows like Catriona has with her birds...
We have a red-tailed hawks' nest a couple of hundred yards down the lane. Now that the trees are leafed in, we can't see it from the ground any more. I think the hawks prefer it that way. ;)
House wrens are nesting in the clothesline again as they do every year, and waking us every morning with their happy hollering just outside our bedroom window. The size of the voice in those tiny birds never ceases to amaze me. :)
No phoebes this year. Don't know where they've set up their nest.
Yesterday morning I woke up to a big ruckus. Apparently my house finches were being stalked by a little black cat. I don't think he got one. Those finches like to dive bomb at the cats when they come close. I think the babies are flying already.
I'm waiting for the Starlings to fledge before I take down their nest and repair the eaves of my little backhouse/future office. Some people don't like Starlings, but I couldn't bear to destroy the nest during nesting season. I can wait.
I think I heard one of the baby hawks calling when I came back from my run this afternoon. :) Definitely a hawk-ish voice, but not as full-throated as I'm used to hearing, and coming from the direction of the nest.
saw mama quail this evening returning to the nest. I hope I'm here for the hatch. The little cottonballs are soo cute when they hatch!