Common Murres. Also known as "turrs" in Newfoundland. On Bird Island, Witless Bay. There is a much more uncommon "razor bill" among the murres. See large.

Granville Island, afternoon fog. Vancouver.

A pair of cormorants nesting in a tree above the Silver River in Silver Springs State Park near Ocala Florida.

Puffins at Reynisfjara, south coast of Iceland.

adirondack park

last year saw no babies on the lake, and this season wasn't looking so good either... until today..

Long-tailed Tit - Aegithalos Caudatus

The long-tailed tit is globally widespread throughout temperate northern Europe and Asia, into boreal Scandinavia and south into the Mediterranean zone. It inhabits deciduous and mixed woodland with a well-developed shrub layer, favouring edge habitats. It can also be found in scrub, heathland with scattered trees, bushes and hedges, in farmland and riverine woodland, parks and gardens. The bird's year-round diet of insects and social foraging bias habitat choice in winter towards deciduous woodland, typically of oak, ash and locally sycamore species. For nesting, strong preference is shown towards scrub areas. The nest is often built in thorny bushes less than 3 metres above the ground.

The nest of the long-tailed tit is constructed from four materials - lichen, feathers, spider egg cocoons and moss, with over 6,000 pieces used for a typical nest. The nest is a flexible sac with a small, round entrance on top, suspended either low in a gorse or bramble bush or high up in the forks of tree branches. The structural stability of the nest is provided by a mesh of moss and spider silk. The tiny leaves of the moss act as hooks and the spider silk of egg cocoons provides the loops; thus forming a natural form of velcro. The tit lines the outside with hundreds of flakes of pale lichens - this provides camouflage. Inside, it lines the nest with more than 2,000 downy feathers to insulate the nest. Nests suffer a high rate of predation with only 17% success.

Outside the breeding season they form compact flocks of 6 to 17 birds, composed of family parties (parents and offspring) from the previous breeding season, together with any extra adults that helped to raise a brood. These flocks will occupy and defend territories against neighbouring flocks. The driving force behind the flocking behaviour is thought to be that of winter roosting, being susceptible to cold; huddling increases survival through cold nights.

From July to February, the non-breeding season, long-tailed tits form flocks of relatives and non-relatives, roosting communally. When the breeding season begins, the flocks break up, and the birds attempt to breed in monogamous pairs. Males remain within the winter territory, while females have a tendency to wander to neighbouring territories.

Pairs whose nests fail have three choices: try again, abandon nesting for the season or help at a neighbouring nest. It has been shown that failed pairs split and help at the nests of male relatives, recognition being established vocally. The helped nests have greater success due to higher provisioning rates and better nest defence. At the end of the breeding season, in June–July, the birds reform the winter flocks in their winter territory.

Population:

UK breeding:

340,000 territories

Kayenta Neighborhood, Ivins, Utah

I'm not positive if this is mom or dad but from what I've read it's more common for the male mourning dove to tend to the nest during the day.

These parents set up their nest on a shelf in our back yard that is right along the walkway to the back gate which means when you walk by they are within arms reach. I stop and speak softly to them whenever I pass by and they don't seem to get alarmed by our presence. Hopefully their 2 eggs will hatch successfully and I will be able to get some baby photos.

Both male and female have been feeding all day today

I am wondering how many as the last count was 11 eggs.

We watched one of them having another quick bath.

Around the end of the 19th Century, hunters killed large numbers of these magnificent birds so that their plumes, known as "aigrettes", could be used to decorate ladies' hats. Because of conservation measures, they are now commonly found in our wetlands. Cypress Wetlands, Port Royal, South Carolina

Herons lit by the early morning sun.

Nesting box @ peckham rye park being used by 2 tits..lovely nature at its best..

Carmine Bee-eaters nesting on the banks of the Luangwa River, South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.

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.... all tucked up and cosy

The male storks arrived a few months back and looks like the chirping of tiny beaks may be in prospect.

Belvoir Castle can be seen in the distance.

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I watched this female red-winged blackbird gathering material to build her nest.

Motherly instincts. I have been seeing this coot at this exact spot, sitting calmly for more than a week now. It is a lot of dedication and love.

Since we lost our breeding pair of swans a couple of years ago, we've been without new cygnets each spring, which is something I have missed. The young swan who has taken the territory along this stretch of the Union Canal now has a mate, and a friend alerted me to the fact they had made a nest and it looks like there are eggs in it, so perhaps this spring we will have cygnets again!

Sadly being young and inexperienced, they have chosen a less than ideal location - in a busy area, right against the canal wall by some apartments, meaning locals cats, foxes and others can see down into the nest. Hopefully the large swans will be a deterrent to any would be predators and we get some hatchlings...

Delighted to see them building up the nest this evening as I walked home from work.

(Platycercus elegans adelaidae), South Australia

20240912_5378_R62-600 Nesting material

A Little Pied Shag arrives back with some just obtained nest building material.

#15991

This is from a friends farm where they have horses. You can see all the different color horse hairs throughout along with small sticks.

Thanks for all the faves and kind comments!

Red-necked grebe

Some ladies like flowers - others prefer something different........

A mid flight capture yesterday of a Cattle Egret (in breeding flush) returning to it's perch with a freshly collected addition to the nest!!

Captured during a session at Hunter Wetlands Centre (Shortland, NSW; Australia).

Hope you like the details here.

Thanks for any comments, views or favorites -always much appreciated!!

Have a wonderful day!!

I took these photos a couple of days ago outside out house. These trees don't belong to us, but to the community. But they're right beside our house, so they're practically ours right? ;D

I just love the golden color they turn in the fall. I HAD to take a doll photo with one of these trees. I was worried about what the neighbors might think of me being stooped over INSIDE of one of these trees LOL

Its very cold here this week - to all my New England buddies, stay warm!

Thank you for visiting!!

Notice the little fledglings in the center of the nest. It will have 2 siblings soon..

Nesting information:

NEST PLACEMENT

Nest Tree -Great Blue Herons nest mainly in trees, but will also nest on the ground, on bushes, in mangroves, and on structures such as duck blinds, channel markers, or artificial nest platforms. Males arrive at the colony and settle on nest sites; from there, they court passing females. Colonies can consist of 500 or more individual nests, with multiple nests per tree built 100 or more feet off the ground.

NEST DESCRIPTION

Male Great Blue Herons collect much of the nest material, gathering sticks from the ground and nearby shrubs and trees, and from unguarded and abandoned nests, and presenting them to the female. She weaves a platform and a saucer-shaped nest cup, lining it with pine needles, moss, reeds, dry grass, mangrove leaves, or small twigs. Nest building can take from 3 days up to 2 weeks; the finished nest can range from a simple platform measuring 20 inches across to more elaborate structures used over multiple years, reaching 4 feet across and nearly 3.5 feet deep. Ground-nesting herons use vegetation such as salt grass to form the nest.

Source: Cornell Lab of Orinthology

Female Bluebird gathering her nesting material!

This Roseate Spoonbill was bringing back some late season nesting material this May in Florida. This one's from the first week of the long trip. I still have a good deal of sorting and editing to do before I really get down to posting from the trip. Good thing life has slowed down a lot since getting back. (Okay, yeah sometimes sarcasm doesn't really come through in print…. It may be a while. It's a good busy…mostly.)

The female of this pair of nesting osprey is noticeably larger. Both parents are sitting near the nest to protect it. Couldn't see any young. I believe she is still incubating. Taken at Fort Pickens , Florida.

Our beautiful world, pass it on.

Seen at Silver, Portugal nesting on a derelict building

Castello di Racconigi (CN), la Margaria.

A pair of these has returned to this nesting site for 16 years. Photographed at a location near Kentucky Dam.

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Good Stewards of Nature

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Mallards start to pair up with potential mates in October and November, and begin nesting in march. The female will generally make her nest in a place that’s hidden by vegetation or in a natural hole in a tree. Most importantly though, they’ll look for somewhere near open water where the food is plentiful. This can sometimes however, result in a less than perfect choice of nest site, particularly in towns.

In the past, nests have been found in boathouses, wood piles, old crow’s nests, hay stacks, roof gardens, enclosed courtyards and even in large flowerpots in balconies several floors up!

Town ponds are a very popular nesting place for mallards and can often attract more ducks than are able to fit close by to the water. In these situations, many female mallards will nest well away from the pond to avoid competition and clashes from the others

This eagle flew into the nest with a fish. A few seconds later, the other eagle in the nest flew off to hunt, and this one stayed. I believe the sparrow is building or has a nest in the eagle nest.