The parents could not be more attentive. The baby is out and getting lessons as it hops about. It can only fly a bit. I have a lot of hiding places however, with ivy covering the fence and low shrubs. Plan to put out a low bowl of water with different sized rocks in it. This allows for different sized birds. A tray that you might use beneath a plant is a very easy bird bath.
Today my yard sounded like there were some 30 bushtits, tsking about. Busy little birds, some of my favorites. Although they are perhaps not as showy as some of the little birds, they are INNOCENTS. We have a nest from some years back. It is shaped liked a soft, spongey sock. It has a hole in the top and is about 8 inches long. The eggs and then the babies are way down in the bottom of the nest and the parents enter and exit through the hole. I was able to find a picture of a couple of nests. They REALLY feel spongey, all moss and soft things these little birds have collected. More than anything, all the BIMBY (Birds In My Back Yard), require WATER. Many people don't realize how important this is.....MORE important than food when the weather is dry. Birds need to bath to get the dust off. VERY IMPORTANT. Using a tray that you would use beneath a plant is a great bird bath. I hung one using a plant hanger a few years ago and it was pretty cool seeing 8 or 9 little bushtits taking a bath. BIMBY stands for Birds In My Back Yard! Today the female hooded oriole was outside my kitchen window. Living on the second story of our Victorian home, we get quite the bird's eye view. She looks a little like a yellowish mocking bird. She tisked around the apricot tree looking for bugs. I am preparing a sugar water feeder for her little family. Today I saw the first of the California Towhee babies. He/she was outside the nest and so much smaller. I guess that is to be expected but I know there are several birds that are almost full-sized when they hatch.
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AuthorI love birds; I love water; I love Alexandra Sanders
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August 2014
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