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Steller's Jays: After trying for almost two months to build a nest on a narrow beam at the peak of the two-story roof, the Jays finally succeeded. It was hard to watch as they struggled for months to situate their nest high up on this narrow 4" beam. They brought load after load of twigs and twine and assorted materials only to have it fall to the ground. They never gave up and slowly a nest began to take shape. Mother Jay started sitting almost immediately and the babies hatched about June 28. This was well past the time that most of the other Jay babies had fledged but they have plenty of time to learn all they need to know before winter. The site is well protected from the Ravens which might explain why they tried so hard to locate it here. Ravens make raids on Jay nests frequently. When the Ravens arrive you can hear every Jay in the neighborhood squawking and calling as they rush in and try to help the Jay parents drive off the huge birds. Most of the babies do survive and we now have parents bringing their young into the habitat to find food and water.
Postscript: Four Steller's Jay babies were successfully raised in this nest!
Mountain Chickadees: No nesting this year. Our resident mother Chickadee lost her mate last summer. We aren't sure what happened to him but she ended up raising all the babies by herself. She either did not find another mate this year or she has left the area. Maybe next year we will have a family in the nest box.
Western Bluebirds: This is the first year we have had nesting Bluebirds. The father Bluebird guards the nest box closely and chases off any squirrels, woodpeckers, and jays that come too close. Mother and father both feed the babies. We put out meal worms for them which they love; they went through 30 meal worms in about 30 mintues!
Postscript: Two bluebird babies were sucessfully raised! Mama and Papa blue bird brought them back to the yard all summer for meal worms and water.
Gray Squirrels: We have two squirrel nests in the yard this year - one high up in the Oak and the other in the big Ponderosa Pine. There are many squirrels in the habitat this year!! |
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