Last week, I mentioned a late nest of chipping sparrows in a small tree near our parking area. Now I have some pictures. You can see how tiny the tree is in the photo below. The nest is about two-thirds of the way up the tree. Soft-hearted Jerry put up the fence to protect the nest from busy human and cow activity in this spot. The little speck off the the left is one of the parents scolding us.
The chipping sparrow nests are much more delicate than those of house wrens. They’re woven into perfect rounds from pine needles and other fine materials. This one is so low, we can easily watch activity through the open top.
Here are the young ones a few days after hatching. The eggs were a beautiful blue with some gray splotches.
This one barely lifted its head but opened wide just in case we had a bug to offer.
Coming soon: a report on a hatch of much larger (and very noisy) birds that are impossible to photograph.
I would think that such a tiny tree wouldn’t be a great place for a nest. Maybe there aren’t any cats around? I know some birds nest successfully on the ground – usually with their nests well hidden amongst brambles. I think that can even work in house-cat country, but am not sure.
They are so cute!
I agree. It doesn’t look like a great place for a nest but from what I’ve read chipping sparrows do tend to nest fairly low to the ground. I’d have to do some more research to understand why. There are certainly no housecats around (and we don’t intend to get any precisely because of what they do to songbirds), but there are probably bobcats, weasels, cougars, coyotes, and all sorts of other wild predators. Yet, so far the nest seems undisturbed. The ways of nature are intriguing, aren’t they?