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D.J. and the Speckles

I love my community!

Yesterday I wrote about a bird’s nest and her speckled eggs, sheltering on a client’s patio.  I didn’t have a photo of Mama Bird, but knew she was ‘brown.’  Not much to go on, was it?  After a futile Google search, I asked for help identifying the eggs.

My friend Sheila forwarded the photos to Larry Jordan of The Birders Report to see if he could help. Larry quickly identified the probable bird as a Dark-eyed Junco.

Dark-eyed Juno

Mama Bird, aka D.J.

Dark-eyed Junco in a maple tree

“You’re still here with that camera, I see. Don’t you have better things to do?”

Dark-eyed Junco nest

Dark-eyed Junco nest

When I passed by the Pittosporum this afternoon, once again Mama Bird flew the nest. She kept her eye on me while I loaded the car, then posed for several photos. (Actually, I’m pretty sure she was just humoring me till I cleared out of there.)  My photos aren’t as sharp as the one on Larry’s site, but all the signs are there:  dark eyes, light brown feathers, orange beak.

I’m filled with joy knowing D.J. is still there and that she hasn’t been scared off from her nest. Mamas of all stripes are pretty fierce when it comes to protecting their young.  I’m happy to report she’s no exception.

One last detail that makes me smile whenever I look at this photo: a sweet, aging Black Labrador Retriever lives in the home.  It looks as though she’s made her own contribution to the lining of this nest.

Resources:

If you’re as fascinated with nests as I am, this site is for you.  Larry has an extensive photo library of bird eggs and nests with guidelines for identifying (without ever disturbing) the mama-bird and her clutch.

16 thoughts on “D.J. and the Speckles”

  4. Those are great photos! I love seeing them so close up. After my visit here and to Boomdeeadda’s, I feel like a fresh spring morning and ready to start a wonderful day. Happy Easter/Spring. Hugs mh

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  5. Ha, I laughed at your caption, “you’re still here….” because I think that’s exactly what she would be saying…giggle. You could assure her that it’s for the immense joy of your friends in blogland, and to put a morning smile on our faces. It’s sooooooo green there! Love it. What a special treat to find a mommy bird and her nest. Thank you for sharing this, it just makes me happy. xoK

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    • I’m glad you got a chuckle. I was desperate to capture her likeness on camera, so I’m so glad she obliged. I didn’t want to stay a minute longer though so she could relax. I wonder why she keeps flying out of the nest. Perhaps its a way to distract prey from the goods. A sort of ‘follow me…nothing to see over there’ mentality.

      It was a special treat. I’ve been thinking about the nest and how lucky I was to spot it.

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      • Ha, this is so silly, but now when I’m reading your message, I can see and hear you saying it too, I’m still on my Skype high!
        I think you’re right, she’s trying to distract you from her nest. Have you ever seen the limping/lame bird act? They’ll lead a predator away by looking like easy picking’s
        I hope they’ll hatch while you’re working there and you get another peek. So sweet, the eggs look so tiny too. I’ve heard too, some birds (cow birds they call them here) will go to a nest, kick out a couple of eggs and lay her own but not to hatch them. She fly’s away and lets the other bird hatch and feed them…talk about lazy. 😀

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