3 Out 1 to Go...

Of all times for me to oversleep... Apologies to my fan for not getting this update out sooner. I just know your sitting on pins and needles awaiting the latest development in As the Finch Turns... or some soap thing...

I thought Mrs. Finch would never get off the nest and let me see. She went so far as to turn her back to me when she fed the little creatures.  She finally left for a few minutes and I was able to snap some pictures.

It looks like something that was left in the fridge for a month!  All fuzzy

Here is the same picture but I've cropped it and enlarged it a bit.

Kinda reminds me of Custer's Last Stand... but they are just resting up for the next feeding.

Whoohoo!!!

2 Hatched 2 to Go

News Flash: The second egg hatched around noon today or 5 or 6 hours after the first egg hatched. I was able to snap a picture... These little guys have the cutest little hair stick'n out all over, especially the head hair.

1 Hatched 3 to GO!

I stumbled into my computer room not totally awake but excited because it's Sunday and I had calculated this was the day things would start happening at the Finch residence.

I peeked around the various towels and mats hanging under the window shade to find Mr. Finch just standing next to the nest. He wasn't trying to feed his bride and she wasn't asking for food... very strange behavior I thought. A quick thought of the Wizard of Oz came to mind... "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"  I told Ginger that I think something must have happened because they exhibited behavior I had not seen in the past.

I fired up the computer so I could enable the webcam. No sooner did I get things going when Mrs. Finch revealed her first-born.

Needless to say everyone at the Red Tail Ridge Home for Two 'Ol Pharts was just atwitter... so tiny, so fragile looking... ahhhhhh.

Just when we were thinking we had seen the best the finch family had to offer they presented us with more action. Watching Mr. Finch look at the baby is just adorable... I can almost see love hearts in his eye.  The new baby can only hold it's head up for so long and then crash.  Ahh geez, I think I'm getting carried away...

Now if the video's aren't enough gee-whiz for you on this fine sunny day at Red Tail Ridge... I was able to snap this picture of the new arrival.

Only hours old. You can double click on this picture to view the original size to get a closer look.

OH Man Oh Man... Whoohoo!!!!!

Finch Food

We were surprised to find that the finches liked the orange we put out to attract orioles.  Now that I think about it we shouldn't have been so surprised as I've seen the finches trying to drink out of the hummer feeder.

This isn't earth shaking news but just another one of those interesting things that jump up and slap ya along side your head... WOW, I didn't know that.

We haven't seen nary a single oriole this season. Might have to buy another orange... then again the orioles might not be tempted to come all the way to Red Tail Ridge for a single orange snack.

Whoohoo!

Backyard Update &The Woodies are Back

It's become another rite of spring... The Woodhouse's Toad A.K.A. the Rocky Mountain Toad made his presence know last night at exactly 9:33.  It won't be long and there will be a chorus of toads singing their screechy song. I posted their mating call HERE along with the leopard frog... all for you listening pleasure.

In fact, pretty much all the posts made in May of 2011 were about the toads, if you care to take a look you can navigate there using the archive on the left margin of this blog.

Around the yard;

The ash tree in on the left, centered is the pear tree.

• the ash tree finally has it's leaves out and is looking good. 
• The chives are in fact, tasty. 
• Lots of seed pods are finding their way into the pond and have clogged the skimmer and filter for 2 days straight. 
• Most of our pots in the yard now have their annual plants making more color. 
• The 3 fish living in the bridge pond have made appearances every day for the last 3 days... haven't see all three since last year.
• Ginger put an orange out in hopes of attracting a oriole to stop by... we now know that the house finches love oranges. 
• It is supposed to rain... that would be nice.

Two of the pots now sport'n flowers.

The same pots shown above but from the opposite side... I just liked this picture.

Our first iris bloom... more on the way.

I am told this plant is a canna lily and it will have very pretty flowers... we hope.

Our second canna lily that will have a different colored flower.
That's grass on the right. These plants live in Joe's pond.

How about those lily pads... growing like crazy :)

In case anyone has any doubt... this is an (orange) gold fish.

Snow balls in the spring.

If I may direct your attention to the base of this pussy willow. The root ball is wrapped around big rocks to hold
it in place. This was started from a couple of cuttings. I think this is it's 3rd season. 

Whoohoo!!!

Lazy Spring Days

I just wanted to check in with my fan to let you know there is nothing going on. Mrs. Finch is on her nest and catches 40 winks every now and then. It's been warm here of late and at times she doesn't sit on her eggs but stands over them. I am making the assumption that her thermostat has indicated the eggs were not in need of heat.

Mrs. Finch "standing" over her eggs.

In the cool mornings she is all snuggled down in her nest so far the rising sun doesn't put a ray upon feather. She looks very comfortable.

On Tuesday another female finch came over for a visit. She was not received at all kindly. Our Mrs. Finch let out a squawk and Mr. Finch was there is a flash. He drove her away and that was that.

It is all very peaceful now... maybe the quiet before the storm that will begin once the chicks peck their way out of their oval home into the new world.

I think I need a nap....

Whoohoo!

Enough of the Bird Already

I was thinking it's time for a little change of blog pace. There are other things going on out back besides lay'n eggs and editing video. I took my camera and snapped a few pictures to show y'all how things are coming along.  It's a dynamic time of year and it just gets me excited to watch things change so fast.

Ginger is just finishing planting the gourd seeds. You remember the
 gourd trellis from last year? This year it's going to be bigger and
better 'cuz we've done this before. Note the smurf hands :)

This picture goes with previous pictures I've posted earlier this spring.
The purpose of the picture is to show the difference just a  few weeks can make.
Do ya think that purple ash on the left will ever turn green. Must have missed
the memo about a early spring.

Same as above.

This is Alejandro  F. doing his chore of topping off the skimmer pond. I just love the way it works without flaws
year after year.  You may remember when s/he got her makeover... that was fun.

The water lilies are coming back bigger than last year. They will turn green.  If you look
really close at the base of the farthest lilies in between the two large rocks is a dash of
orange.  That, my friends is Gleem, one of our gold fish... she is hiding.

Our raised garden. It's starting to fill out and there are some surprise plants coming back that were not
supposed to live through the winter. That's like finding an onion ring in your french fries. Cool!

Here we have the blooms on our chives.  When no one is watching I pull
one of the blooms off, just now and then, and eat it. Better than dandelions.
I just love the color.

OK, I admit it... I couldn't post something on my blog without mentioning the current/recent focus of this blog, the
finch nest with eggs.  The nest is between the trellis and window.   I was thinking you might enjoy a different perspective.  Also, this is our pot trellis. The trellis will fill out in the coming months. 

That's it for now. Hope your having a great weekend and enjoying this wonderful weather.

Whoohoo!!!

I'll Huff & I'll Puff & I'll.....

The wind picked up yesterday afternoon and blew harder than Uncle Elmer after eat'n beans and cornbread. That's what it does around Red Tail Ridge this time of year... or is it this century since it blows so often... Anyway you look at it the wind does tend to get a bit obnoxious just like ("Here, pull my finger") Uncle Elmer.

I watched Mrs. Finch a number of times during these wind gusts and was proud of the little lady as she stayed rooted to the nest. I believe that under her calm demeanor there was a little bird with her toes locked around something solid at the bottom of the nest, hang'n on for dear life.  I found myself leaning into the wind for her... of course I was inside watching her on my monitor. HA!  This isn't the worst she had to endure but it's the best I was able to capture on my webcam.

Just when it's almost over she does an egg count to make sure no one was blown from the nest. I can just hear her... "Hey, all y'all OK in there? Hang on, I gotcha."

I tried to spice this up a little with editing... hope you like it.

What did you like best about this video?  Please leave a comment.

Whoohoo!!

4 ~ And No More

It's almost time for lunch and I have not found another egg so I'm thinking the number for our Mrs. Finch is 4.

I've wondering when Mrs. Finch becomes a momma? Is she a momma when the eggs are laid or when they hatch. I'm thinking it's when the eggs are laid but there sure is a lot of room for other opinions. Heck, this question could become quite controversial. Maybe as controversial as; which came first, the chicken or the egg... which I have answered in a previous post my blog (think ducks)!

Mrs. Finch has taken two potty breaks this morning. She hasn't left the nest for more than about 5 or 6 minutes so I'm thinking she has dedicated herself to incubation duty. In the mean time, Mr. Finch has come by 4 times to feed his bride.  I think we're getting into a routine here.

My information about incubation said it takes 12 to 14 days for the eggs to hatch and then another 2 to 3 weeks until the chicks fledge. A quick glance at my calendar and using both hands and one shoe off I calculate hatching around the 29th of April but maybe as long as the 1st of May. They will be on their own by June.

This is a picture I took this morning in an attempt to determine if there was a 5th egg.  Don't think there's one in this basket.

Whoohoo!

Egg #4

Whoopee, we have Egg #4, I wonder if there will be any more (your poem for the day:)!

Egg #4 was clearly seen by yours truly this morning. She must have produced it during the night as there was very little sunlight when I spied all four as she turned the eggs.

Mrs. Finch, a fine feathered friend, is now dozing in her nest. An eye slowly opens, then the other and then they close again. She was on her nest all night, I think.  I checked on her about 2 in the morning and she was saw'n logs.  She was there just before sunrise too.  I'm think'n all that egg production takes a lot of energy from such a tiny creature.

About 9 this morning Mr. Finch came by and offered food.  Mrs. Finch was all atwitter and in her zeal she almost knocked one of the eggs out of the nest.

The following video was taken after the feeding and you can see the egg situated near the top edge of the nest. It took a while for her to move it back down into the "cradle."

The next video was taken yesterday, Tuesday. The video starts almost immediately after Mr. Finch arrived but I wasn't fast enough on the mouse to get the video started to see him approach the nest. This, however, is a good indication of how long he sticks around feeding his bride, just add about 2 seconds.

It doesn't seem like she is getting much food to this observer.

Egg #3

Egg #3 arrived this morning... right on schedule.

Mrs. Finch is spending more time on the nest now. I don't know if she is spending the night on the nest and will endevor to check that out this evening.

It seems that Mr. Finch is not very attentive as he has been very scarce lately.

So without further ado... Egg #3 and it's older siblings:

If I'm not mistaken, isn't that a face on the upper left egg?

Watching Mrs. Finch sit in her nest, I see her eyes close but never for long. Sometimes she will "awake" with a start and quickly check things out to the left and right.  Other times the eyes just open a little and she just sits for a while. She turns her eggs about 4 or 5 times an hour.  This morning she left the nest for just a few minutes (so I could take a picture?).  Maybe that was just a potty break.  I imagine sitting on a nest is a pretty boring job at this stage... do you think finches dream? 

Whoohoo!!

Egg #2

Yesterday evening at sunset, Mrs. Finch was sitting in her nest. The webcam was dark so I turned it off. It was rainy and cold with wind blowing the trellis to and fro with nest attached.  My mind slipped to memories of sleeping on my sailboat. How pleasant I found it to be rocked to sleep... but I doubt if Mrs. Finch has ever been sailing.

This morning, with calm winds, Mrs. Finch was not at her assigned station and her single egg lay exposed to 34 degree temperatures. I know I shouldn't worry as Mother Nature has been hatch'n broods of House Finches for a lot longer than I've been on Gods green earth. I worry anyway... it's my nature.

After breakfast I turned my attention to the webcam and there was Mr. and Mrs. Finch. He was feeding her and all appeared normal to my untrained eye.  I recorded this brief video of the feeding.  I will continue to try and catch better pictures...

I enjoy looking at the excitement during the feeding.  Her fluttering about and open mouth, like a chick, probably spurs Mr. Finch to bring more food.  Nothing like a atta-bird from momma to give the guy an incentive.

She has left the nest again after sitting for almost 2 hours.  When she left, the picture below is what I saw on my webcam. It's the second egg. I know. Different spots. I also got on my tiptoes and looked in the nest. Sure enough we now have 2 eggs.  This is like a soap opera.

The rain is now over and we're on a warming trend... don't know if this has any affect on the eggs or birds but it certainly makes me feel better.

Mrs. Finch must have read the Wikipedia article about House Finches egg laying patterns. She is following the script to the letter (you can reread that post here).

Whoohoo!

Egg #1

We have an egg!  She popped the little nature miracle out sometime in the past hour... say between 9 - 10 AM.  I may have been watching when it happened, if so it was very subtle.  I only know there is an egg there because I got a glimpse of it when she was turning it.

Mr. Finch has now assumed the role of provider. When he comes to the nest to feed her she acts just like a little chick. She flutters her wings and opens her mouth wide.  Sooner or later I'll get a video of the feeding.

Mrs. Finch on the nest.

As she keeps her egg warm she makes a chirping sound almost constantly. It's too high a pitch for my old ears to hear but Ginger can hear it well... might be a good thing I can't hear it considering the amount of time I spend at my computer lately.

According to what I've read the average number of eggs is 4 and we can expect another tomorrow morning. Should start a pool for the number of eggs.

More coming as things develop.

Wait!!! She just left the nest! Checking the outside temperature I see it's 45 and breezy. The egg is not visible to the webcam but I got a few pictures from my digital camera. Here is the best of the lot.

You can click on the picture to view at original size. The egg has a slight blue
tint to it.

It's been almost 30 minutes since Mrs. Finch flew the coop... ahh nest. I did see a hawk fly over the yard around rooftop height. Maybe that's what spooked her. Of course now I'm concerned about the viability of the egg and also wondering if she will be back to lay more.

Stay tuned... 

Update: It took an hour or so but I finally found something about incubation of finch eggs. This little snippet seems to address my concern above... incubation does not begin until the parents start sitting, which frequently will not happen until the 3rd or 4th egg is laid, or sometimes the entire clutch.

Now isn't that something?

Whoohoo!

Egg Soon?

Mrs. Finch has been acting different this morning compared to other mornings.  Maybe something is about to happen.

Prior to this morning, Mrs. Finch would come by, not long after sunrise, add a few things to the nest, futz around with this and that and then be off, sometimes for hours at a time. She rarely would come by in the afternoon and did not spend any time in her nest other than construction and maintenance activities.

This morning, however, she has changed her behavior. Thrice so far she has come and spent time just sitting in the nest like she was brooding eggs. She would sit in her nest for more than 5 minutes and just chirp away.   On the second sitting (so to speak) Mr. Finch came over and they sang to each other  and displayed courting gestures.  That is what is shown on the video.

Sorry about my voice on this video. I was speaking for

Mr. Finch saying: "I'll go get a bug for you!" 

The third time she was chirping away and Mr. Finch came over and was actually feeding her.  So romantic, now if he would just rub her feet. 

I'll post updates shortly after something interesting occurs.

This sure is interesting to me and I hope for you too....


Whoohoo!!!

Stuck Like Glue

I couldn't wait to post this video as it made me laugh out loud... kinda like LOL.

I saw Mrs. Finch (my music teacher in Jr. High was named Mrs. Finch) coming toward her nest as I gazed out the window. I started the video in hopes of catching her with the white stuff in her mouth that looked like the cat that ate the canary. Then she got into this think like she had glue on her beak. Just funny to me... hope it's funny to you also.

Note: On my computer this video does not enlarge when

the fullscreen option is clicked. If you like, you can watch

it on YouTube by clicking on the word "Tube" in the lower

right corner.

Lets Build a Bird NestPart 2

Mrs. House Finch has been very, very busy. She has responsibility for building the nest and the male doesn't contribute much. I have seen him bring a strand of grass and some of my chair cushion to the nest but he doesn't bring much and doesn't do it often. While the female dances around the nest and fritters about the male usually parks himself on another trellis about 5 feet away and keeps a lookout. Where she goes he is right on her tail... so to speak.

I did see them mating yesterday right in front of God and everyone... no modesty, no propriety and certainly no regard for the politically correct, parochial, view of sex. I thought they both liked it and was please they didn't feel the need for a smoke afterword... a deadly habit don't 'cha know. I regret I didn't catch the event via camera to share the moment as well as satisfy any latent voyeurism.

The video I have today was taken this morning. In my minds eye I try to imagine what she is doing with her feet/legs. Sometimes I think she is stomping on the nesting material and other times I think it's more like combing the nest material with toes and mini-talons. So many questions and so few answers.

Note: On my computer this video does not enlarge when

the fullscreen option is clicked. If you like, you can watch

it on YouTube by clicking on the word "Tube" in the lower

right corner.

 

It is quite fun to watch the development of the nest and we are looking forward to eggs and chicks.

Still no sign of the interloper... must have given it up.

Whoohoo!

Webcam Bird Watching

My latest trick! I've taken my web cam and, with the help of some Velcro, attached it to the window blind aimed at the current item of interest, The House Finches Making a Nest.

The following video shows the beginning of courtship as mentioned in the previous post.

I've made two video's this morning. The one below shows the female finch building her nest (sans the hard hat). She is so busy measuring things with her wings and stomping around... she will finally sit, but only for a second, just long enough see if things are just right. Of course they must not be as she then repeats the whole repertoire of nest building activities and then off to find more materials.

No sighting of the interloper so far this morning.

I think this is going to be fun. Hope you enjoy these little snippets that are also going on in a nest near you.

Whoohoo!!

Lets Build a Bird NestPart 1

It turns out what I thought was a sparrow is actually a House Finch. They are very common across the US and you will probably see them at the next bird feeder you come across.

Female and male House Finch... (plagiarized pic from internet)

From their activity today it would appear they decided on the open air model of bird nests. Not surprising as there is a shortage of the ones with walls and a roof.

It's very entertaining to watch them come and go with nesting material. It was actually comical when the female tried and put some twigs of a tumble weed into her nest. The weed seems to act like Velcro and half of what she brought wound up on the ground after sticking to her soft under-feathers. They are very busy as I write this retrieving bits and pieces of grass, feathers, debris of unknown origin.

All this family bliss is not without it's challenges. There is an interloper!  A House Sparrow (not to be confused with the House Finch) has eyes on this nesting site also. The sparrow is a bit bigger than the finch but the finches seem to make more noise when the sparrow approaches. I have observed the sparrow actually sitting in the finch nest while they are foraging for nest material... maybe the sparrow is trying out the feel, like someone shopping for a new car.

When the finches return to find the sparrow they of course get all atwitter and so far the sparrow has not considered the site worth fighting over.

The picture to the right is the bird nest under construction. Hanging over the front-right of the nest is some the tumble weed I mentioned. I'm sure the nest will look quite different in a few hours if the number of trips the pair are making is any indication of progress.

I will try and post updates of my observations of the finch family and their home making and hopefully their new family.  As I write this I'm trying to figure out how to get my web cam positioned for more clandestine observations.

The following information is from Wikipedia about the house finch:

Nests are made in cavities, including openings in buildings, hanging plants, and other cup-shaped outdoor decorations. Sometimes nests abandoned by other birds are used. Nests may be re-used for subsequent broods or in following years. The nest is built by the female, sometimes in as little as two days. It is well made of twigs and debris, forming a cup shape, usually 1.8 to 2.7 m (5.9 to 8.9 ft) above the ground.

During courtship, the male will touch bills with the female. He may then present the female with choice bits of food, and if she mimics the behavior of a hungry chick, he may actually feed her. The male also feeds the female during the breeding and incubation of both eggs and young, and the male is the primary feeder of the fledgelings (who can be differentiated from the females by the pin feathers remaining on their heads).

The female lays clutches of eggs from February through August, two or more broods per year with 2 to 6 eggs per brood, most commonly 4 or 5. The egg laying usually takes place in the morning, at the rate of one egg per day. The eggs are a pale bluish green with few black spots and a smooth, somewhat glossy surface. In response to mite infestation, the mother finch may lay one gender of egg first, which increases the chances of the young finches' survival. The female incubates the eggs for 12 to 14 days. Shortly after hatching, she removes the empty eggshells from the nest. The hatchlings are pink with closed eyes and tufts of fluffy down. The female always feeds the young, and the male usually joins in. The young are silent for the first seven or eight days, and subsequently start peeping during feedings. Initially, the mother carries fecal sacs out of the nest, but when the young become older, she no longer carries them all away, allowing droppings to accumulate around the edge of the nest. Before flying, the young often climb into adjacent plants, and usually fledge at about 11 to 19 days after hatching. Dandelion seeds are among the preferred seeds fed to the young.

House Finches are aggressive enough to drive other birds away from places such as feeders.

Housing for the Birds

Do you remember the project last year where I was improving the french drain in the backyard? It was the post where I came across the huge salamander... no? Well, if you like click HERE and you can read the post.

What I'm working up to is there was a bunch of 4 inch PVC pipe fittings that were destined for the trash and I had an epiphany... Oh it so exciting to have one of those at my age. I decided to take one of the fittings and along with an old coffee filter (plastic and wire) make a bird nest the little creatures would just flock to possess.

So I cut the PVC and inserted the coffee filter securing everything to the trellis outside my computer room, man cave, closet, office thing.

I can sit at my computer and see the future home of sparrows or maybe humming birds. I have no idea who will be my first tenants but I would bet the odds are on the sparrows.

The reason I'm telling you about this now?  Just this morning we had a showing. The prospective tenants came over and tried it out.  The lady sparrow got in the filter and nestled around and then jumped out and then back in.  I thought she was going to wear herself out jumping in and out of the thing.  Her eyes were darting about as the potential father of her chicks stayed close... no doubt trying to get an idea if this was something that caught her fancy.

They did a few coming and goings and are currently in the gone phase. Maybe they rejected it.

In the mean time all the bird houses on the fence are occupied. These of course have a roof and 4 walls so I get more in rent for them.

I sure hope this housing venture sells...

Whoohoo