The bird nest at Folklife
Today at Folklife there was an unusual amount of birdsong, so I wandered back and forth to see where it was all coming from. This is the answer: some bird has built a nest above the boardwalk, just between the Gabriola Library and the Jeremy Maude Studio and Gallery.
Any idea what kind of bird built this nest?
Filed in Gabriola Island,birds 8 Comments so far
8 Responses to “The bird nest at Folklife”
cheryl on 25 Jun 2009 at 7:10 pm #
Do you know what kind of material the nest is made from? From your picture looks like mushrooms, of course it’s not, but that’s what it looks like. I know swallows make their nest from mud but that’s usually quite dark.
Gabriolan on 26 Jun 2009 at 10:23 am #
I have no idea what the nest is made out of.
Andrea on 26 Jun 2009 at 12:20 pm #
Yes, that looks like a barn swallow nest. We have one in our barn (baby swallows hatched last week, very cute) and the mud has dried that colour. I guess it could be cliff swallows, they build a mud nest also but the shape looks more like barn swallows to me.
Gabriolan on 27 Jun 2009 at 10:22 am #
Thanks, Andrea! I googled barn swallows to see what the birds and nests look like.
One of the things I came across is artificial barn swallow nests. Who knew? And at Youtube there’s a video of baby swallows being fed – quite fun for the first minute or so, though I didn’t have the patience to watch more than that.
Of course, you have your own barn and your own barn swallows, so you don’t need to go poking around on Youtube to see cute baby barn swallows, but I do.
Andrea on 30 Jun 2009 at 4:05 pm #
Check out today’s Daily Photo over at Snapper’s blog. Same nest?
Gabriolan on 02 Jul 2009 at 7:47 pm #
Hello, Andrea! Same birds, but not quite same nest. The nest I photographed is on the side of the building. The photo Snapper took is a few feet away. (I think; I haven’t asked Mr Snapper.)
The other day I went back to the nest I photographed, and noticed that there was lots of birdsong, but no activity in the nest itself. Hmm. And then I saw them: the chicks! They were nestled under the roof above the boardwalk, a few feet from the nest I’d noticed before.
I took a bunch of photos, of the chicks, but the quality wasn’t up to much. My camera isn’t advanced enough for that kind of photo, I guess. I was about to post one anyway, with a request for some better photographer to go take a proper picture… and then Mr Snapper beat me to the punch! He’s a way better photographer than I am, and he’s got serious cameras, too.
Andrea on 12 Aug 2009 at 9:04 am #
Big news in our barn is a 2nd brood of barn swallows have just hatched out. We’ve been seeing the babies from the 1st batch swooping around catching bugs for the past couple of weeks. Noticed the parents spending more time inside the barn this past week, and now I know why. Big outburst of birds cheeping again, and little heads poking up over the nest when the parents come in. Glad to see the stable flies are doing someone some good! Are you seeing 2nd broods at any of your local nests?
Gabriolan on 15 Aug 2009 at 6:33 pm #
Andrea, that must be fun to watch! I haven’t noticed any second broods here. The nesting site at Folklife seems to be quiet these days.