We woke up to Turkey Vultures perching on the barn, keeping an eye on things below. They hung out there for about two hours.
The male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks continue to visit the feeders and sing from the trees. We still have yet to see a female.
The nesting box at my parents' house is now full of little eggs- we suspect they are Chickadee eggs, but they could possibly belong to a White-breasted Nuthatch. There were 7 in there as of last night. The cardinal nest is empty and the babies seem to have successfully fledged. We also saw a Spring Peeper creeping up the side of the house. Dave repositioned him closer to a tree.
And the most exciting part of the day! We had two Killdeer at the top of the driveway.
They were making all kinds of noise and lo and behold, the male was putting on quite the show for the female- all kinds of dancing, singing, displaying. We looked it up and found out that this is a ritual called a "scrape ceremony." From
Cornell: "The male and female of a mated pair pick out a nesting site through a ritual known as a scrape ceremony. The male lowers his breast to the ground and scrapes a shallow depression with his feet. The female then approaches, head lowered, and takes his place. The male then stands with body tilted slightly forward, tail raised and spread, calling rapidly. Mating often follows." This means that they may have chosen a nesting site at the top of the driveway- a relatively busy spot. I heard the calls going on throughout the night, so we got up this morning to check for eggs. Killdeer don't build a nest and only add materials later on. The eggs will blend in with the gravel stones quite well, so we were very careful. We didn't see any as of yet.
We woke up to Turkey Vultures perching on the barn, keeping an eye on things below. They hung out there for about two hours. 
The male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks continue to visit the feeders and sing from the trees. We still have yet to see a female. 
The nesting box at my parents' house is now full of little eggs- we suspect they are Chickadee eggs, but they could possibly belong to a White-breasted Nuthatch. There were 7 in there as of last night. The cardinal nest is empty and the babies seem to have successfully fledged. We also saw a Spring Peeper creeping up the side of the house. Dave repositioned him closer to a tree. 
And the most exciting part of the day! We had two Killdeer at the top of the driveway. 
They were making all kinds of noise and lo and behold, the male was putting on quite the show for the female- all kinds of dancing, singing, displaying. We looked it up and found out that this is a ritual called a "scrape ceremony." From Cornell: "The male and female of a mated pair pick out a nesting site through a ritual known as a scrape ceremony. The male lowers his breast to the ground and scrapes a shallow depression with his feet. The female then approaches, head lowered, and takes his place. The male then stands with body tilted slightly forward, tail raised and spread, calling rapidly. Mating often follows." This means that they may have chosen a nesting site at the top of the driveway- a relatively busy spot. I heard the calls going on throughout the night, so we got up this morning to check for eggs. Killdeer don't build a nest and only add materials later on. The eggs will blend in with the gravel stones quite well, so we were very careful. We didn't see any as of yet.
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Lucky you! I still don't have anything in my boxes as of last wed. I had three Tree Swallows but they disappeared....... probably has something to do with the cold weather and the light snow this morning. I hope to also find a Killdeer nest this year..... Keep us posted on yours.
ReplyDeleteNolan