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Baby White Storks are hatched in huge nests across parts of Europe right now, and I love to watch them live online. Every year there is some drama - an egg falls out of the nest and humans come to rescue, a strange stork is attacking the mama when the father is out looking for food, or the youngest and weakest gets abandon and left to die by their parents, the flying lessons - successes and failures etc.
I watch them every year as they come back, often to their own nests.
Many nests have cult following with a forum where people watch them and share their observations.
There are many websites online, but i like to pick one nest with a best close-up view from this one: https://www.worldcam.pl/kamery/tematyka/bociany
A stork is a monogamous breeder, and both members of the pair build a large stick nest, which may be used for several years. Each year the female can lay one clutch of usually four eggs, which hatch asynchronously 33–34 days after being laid.
Stork nests can be huge, more than 9 feet deep and 6 feet wide and weight 500+ lb.
A 1.5 tonne (over 3300 lb!) stork nest found in Poland is a contender to win contest for Europe’s biggest. https://notesfrompoland.com/2022/07/...ropes-biggest/
The white stork is a long-distance migrant, they're wintering in southern Africa and India. Then come back to Europe to breed.
The mama lay 4-5 eggs and both parents take turns incubating the eggs and both feed the young.
It's quite fascinating to watch.
This morning two Canadian geese were at our pond. This has become a brief springtime stop over for them. Usually just a couple/several mornings at this time of year. They swim and waddle around the perimeter of the pond and drive our dog crazy (if he's in the yard). We wonder if it's the same two geese. We also wonder if they are waiting for the rest of the flock to arrive back up north here.
Spring has sprung in N NV. I have an interestin gang of birds hanging out. I thought they were just more sparrows at first but after a close look I don't know what they are. They have black and white masks and more distinct body color. My usual Red Tails hawks are guarding their nest and thanks to a very wet winter the jack rabbits are exploding. Which means the coyotes will also go boom. But more tolerable predators will get a boost too, like bobcats foxes and of course raptors.
Last few summers the jacks have been pretty scarce. Not unusual in such horribly hot dry conditions as we've been in. We've warmed up into the 80s already this year but the late Spring pattern will be popping up big T storms with all the warm and cold mixing and the extra humidity. They could get pretty wild. This is a BIG warmup really fast.
All I can say with certainty is the critters are diggin' it
Spring has sprung in N NV. I have an interestin gang of birds hanging out. I thought they were just more sparrows at first but after a close look I don't know what they are. They have black and white masks and more distinct body color.
Without a photo who knows...are they terrestrial or arboreal? Some ideas off the top of my head:
horned lark
Lapland longspur or another longspur species
shorebirds? Semipalmated plover etc.
Yesterday there were two crows attacking some type of snake that they got from a recently cleared off lot. They were in the street and apparently the snake was striking at them which would make the crows jump.
He is leucistic, not albino. An albino wouldn't have red patches. I can't see his eyes but assume they're dark, not pink.
Thanks for schooling me Never saw a Cardinal or other eastern birds until moving here! It's really been a treat.
The (or "a") leucistic bird has ben hanging around after being gone for a while. Only one. Maybe a male assisting mama, or mama herself on some eggs? Hope so. Lots of places to make a good nest around here.
Thanks for schooling me Never saw a Cardinal or other eastern birds until moving here! It's really been a treat.
The (or "a") leucistic bird has ben hanging around after being gone for a while. Only one. Maybe a male assisting mama, or mama herself on some eggs? Hope so. Lots of places to make a good nest around here.
You're welcome! It's important to share what we know! I had a male cardinal here from late fall through 10 days ago. Unfortunately, the female he sang for didn't show up. It's unusual to have them here, but I was hopeful. It was nice to see him at the feeder all winter.
His location is NW Nevada, so I doubt it's a shorebird.
Lapland longspur seems like a good possibility, but it could also be a Lark sparrow or Black-throated sparrow.
As for shorebirds, many species migrate through or breed on inland freshwater wetlands across the arid SW. In spring you'll see them stopping over on smaller seasonal wetlands doomed to dry up later. Semipalms are widespread and pretty common. They are just one of 44 "shorebird" species listed for NV.
Last edited by Parnassia; 04-30-2023 at 04:22 PM..
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Hope so. Lots of places to make a good nest around here.
