Valentine's Day

It was a gray misty first day of 2016 at Discovery Park in Seattle, Washington.  My two volunteer assistants, Zach and Ashley, and I met at 10AM to see if we could find flocks and banded birds.  We also checked some of last year's nests to see how they had faired over the winter.

We, of course, found no bushtits in our 2.5 hour ramble. Even though it was disappointing, it's not unexpected since this time of the year bushtits are hanging out in large flocks.  And since their home ranges are so large, running into those flocks is just luck.  And we didn't have any.

But we did check a few of last year's nests.  Most were just sodden hanging clumps of nesting material.  It would have been hard to identify them as having been bushtit nests at all.  A few were gone entirely.

But two 2015 nests stand out. The first was "condo nest:" last year's weirdest nest.

After losing their first nest to crows while they were feeding nestlings, BRRX(male) and XPLY (female) began building in a blackberry bush nearby.  Rather than building together, they each began separate nests about 6 inches from each other.  BRRX built only at his nest and XPLY at hers.  It was the strangest thing I have ever seen.  Because each was acting alone, progress on both nests was very, very slow. This silliness went on for several days and was great fun to watch.  Eventually XPLY seemed to win the battle and BRRX abandoned his nest and they completed hers together.

When we checked the "condo nest" today, surprisingly, both nests were still there.  The BRRX nest was a hanging cup with no hood -- about 4 inches long -- and intact, although soggy.  The finished nest was complete with hood -- also a soggy mess.  It was fun to see them still there together hanging in the leafless brambles.

The second odd nest revisit was one of my favorites last year.  It was beautifully made and easy to watch.  But it was odd.  The male (YYXP) and female (XGLR) were still building when we found them early in the season, but the nest was pretty complete-looking.  At some point, another male joined (unbanded) and, while YYXP and XGLR continued to build at the nest, he was madly courting XGLR both at the nest (with his beak filled with nesting material) and away while they foraged.  I had great hopes that he would be a third bird at the nest.  But after a few days of this trio, not a bird was to be seen around the nest.  Weeks went by with no activity and we assumed the nest had been abandoned.  I went back for one last watch late in May and.......YYXP and XGLR were back and still building!   There was no sign, however, of the third bird.

That was last year.  The remarkable thing about this year is that the nest looks completely re-usable. It's in fine shape after a long winter.  Every other nest I've ever seen is a sodden mess or gone.  This one looks like it was built yesterday.  And it is completely dry on the inside.  Only the "squashed" condition of the entrance hole tells me that it's inactive.  I have only ever had one nest reused the following year in AZ and that was not by the original occupants, but by a young first-year pair who at first had tried to takeover or join at some other nests.

The sad thing about this nest is that YYXP was found dead by a local resident this winter.  So the original male is no longer with us.  But perhaps his widow will still reuse the nest.  Or maybe a young pair looking for a fixer-upper.  Regardless........a nest surviving the winter in such remarkable shape is a first.

Epilogue:  Of course, after Zach and Ashley had left for the day, I did find a flock of bushtits at the other end of the park.  It was large -- at least 25 birds -- but all were unbanded.  Near the end of my observations a small group had gathered in a leafy tree and were preening and huddling together on and off. Exceptionally cute.

Bushtit Blog --- Take 2

It is now 2016.

Last year's attempt to keep a blog on the bushtits of Discovery Park, Seattle, Washington was a total failure. As usual, when it comes to bushtits, we were too busy and engaged with the little fellows to take the time to keep a blog.

But this year will be different (I hope).

Tomorrow....Valentine's Day......I return to Discovery Park to see if I can find the 21 birds I marked individually with color-bands last year.  I will be joined by two UW graduates and, possibly, an Evergreen student who will be assisting part-time.  Names after I get their permission.

Recap of last year to follow soon.  

A bit from last year: Nestlings and a peculiar nest

Just a taste of 2015 as we move into 2016:

Well, this isn't exactly the beginning....not by a long shot.  The beginning of my work on bushtits was spring of 1986 in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona.  But that's a long story.

That's not what this blog is about anyway.  This blog is about the 2015 season in Discovery Park and the daily ups and downs of studying the cutest and one of the most interesting birds in the world:  the American Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus).

It's late and I'm starting this on a whim, so I will simply recap today's adventures and fill you in on the last 3 weeks in future entries.

Yesterday I was watching a nest in a beautiful flowering crabapple tree right on the edge of the parking lot at the visitor's center.  The male and the female at this nest have always been pretty vocal with their "spit-spitting" but yesterday was a little different.  I had thought they were incubating and when bushtits incubate the mom and dad take turns sitting in the nest (more about the nests later....spectacular).  But these two weren't doing that.  They were both foraging and spitting (what I call their contact calls) loudly as they flitted about, hanging upside-down and eating micro bugs from the branch tips as they are wont to do.

Every once in awhile the female would slip away to the nest for 5-10 minutes and the male and I would be left alone to keep each other company.  I'd think  "Ah!  she's back on the nest!"  But then she'd show up again to forage with her mate some more.  He also made some brief forays to the nest. Puzzling.

It wasn't until I got home that I realized how stupid I was being.  Of course, they must be feeding nestlings.  And the bugs they are bringing are so small we can't even see them.  That's typical on hatch day.  Bushtits are small (about the weight of an American quarter) and their eggs are tiny.  The itty bitty naked nestling that hatches is about the size of a pencil eraser and has a silly topknot of fuzz and can only eat tiny gnat-sized bugs.

I was unprepared for nestlings this early, but thinking (and counting) back, I realized that we saw mating at several nests just over 2 weeks ago.  Six days to lay a clutch and 12-13 days to incubate and.....nestlings.

So this morning I was anxious to get out to see if I was right.  Long story short:  yes.  I clearly saw a small green caterpillar in the female's beak as she entered the nest.  And they were each staying inside for 10 minutes or so.   Young nestlings that still needed some warmth from mom and dad.

The next nest we checked (so-called "toilet paper" because the birds have managed to incorporate a great deal of toilet paper into the bottom of the nest --- which is not smart as toilet paper dissolves in rain) was also now feeding nestlings.

So, the game is afoot!  I wasn't sure I'd be here long enough to see feeding nests.  But I am.  And feeding nests are likely to have helpers.  IF there are helpers this far north.  No one yet knows and perhaps I'll find that out this year.

So two nests are feeding nestlings.   By the way, we have found 25 active nests so far in the park this year.  Most are incubating or so we think.