Monday, May 18, 2020

They did it!

Congratulations to the Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) that nested in our neighbor's tree!  You might recall that I wrote about them building a nest in March ("Nest building" on 19 March 2020) and feeding young in early May ("A mouthful" on 4 May 2020).

Tonight I heard begging calls in the backyard and was suspicious that the Bushtits might have fledged.  We went out and saw the adults feeding at least four juveniles.

The young Bushtits are paler than the adults, and very fluffy looking.  Here are a few of my favorite shots:

 


 

 
 

Note the gray iris of the bird in the photo above...indicating this is a young female. 


 

Pretty darn cute, aren't they?

We felt lucky to observe this family's success from our backyard.
 
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4 comments:

  1. Doerte MannMay 18, 2020 at 8:46 PM

    Pretty darn cute indeed. Thank you very much for sharing! I am keeping my eye out for nesting birds in the backyard, but it seems that the scrub jays have taken over all real estate.

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  2. Alice ChanMay 19, 2020 at 11:22 AM

    Thank you! This cheered me up!

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  3. Mary KeefeMay 20, 2020 at 10:27 AM

    They are so adorable!

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  4. AnonymousMay 20, 2020 at 10:36 AM

    aaaaww! I have been checking on my backyard Western Bluebird nest box... four blue eggs are now tiny little featherless
    creatures. Have some oaks, bt no Bushtit nests. Love your pics!

    ReplyDelete