Surprises In The Fields

It has been a cool and moist spring here so far...but our meadow-bird protection group continues working in the fields when there were small windows of opportunity in the weather.

We have several farms scattered over our area. Today's story is about something that happened in the fields of the newest farmer participating in our conservation scheme.

We had spotted some birds out in a patch of bare ground where corn will come. Some seemed to be nesting and the others were walking around.

One of the target nests had a sitting bird on it with its tail facing us, way at the edge of the field. It was not possible to see for sure what sort of bird it was at that angle. We began walking slowly in the direction of the sitting bird. At one point it flew-up and it was an oystercatcher.

There was another nest in that area but it turned out that the nest in question was closest to me, so I was able to see it first.
What I saw, and you are seeing is a nest in a "bare-soil-field" with eggs from two sorts of birds in it.


They are eggs from the Godwit and the Oystercather.
Both are largish birds who normally nest in two totally different places. The Godwit nests in high-grass fields and the Oystercatcher indeed nests on open ground.

This was a surprising sight, but the problem was how to administratively record the aberrantcy.

Well, it was something that I had never seen. I know that Coo-coo's purposely lay their eggs in the nest of other, smaller birds and eventually kick the host's chicks out and are brought up by the parents.

Later on, another nest was found--the nest of a Godwit. Here in theis first foto you can see how difficult it is to see the nest in the expanse of an area of two football fields.


Here is the nest from close by--a full nest. The usual maximum of what Godwits lay here in this area is 4 eggs.


When the grass is taller the Godwit weaves the ends of the grass blades over it and it is then it is almost impossible to see them. Only when one learns to look for the slight angulation variance of the grass is it possible to see them.

Here is an aerial view of the fields of the farmer. You can see how the various nests are spread out. The circled one is the Godwit's nest.


Why am I going on about this Godwit nest? Well, for one to illustrate how difficult it is to find one. You can perhaps see how the ends of the grass have already been pulled inwards.

I also wanted to show you this foto.


Folks who know about these wild birds will immediately appreciate how unlikely this foto is. These Godwits are usually so shy that you cannot get within 50 meters of them before they leave the nest.

This brooder was what we call, "nestvast". That means that she will sit on the nest without flying away until the very last possible moment. This bird did not even fly then!
I wanted to record how many eggs or chicks were in the nest ...but when I pulled back the grass to look, I had the daylights shocked out of me! There was a bird on the nest and it was not about to move.

I took a quick foto and left the bird in peace. I wonder if when I go back to check in 10 days or so if the chicks will be out and fledged. We shall see.

 

Very nice story and very informative. Just like being in bird watching class. Loved the story too!

 

Very educational. Love the photo of the mom sitting on her nest.

 

Glad that you liked the posting this time, CAPT'N--These pics are a side benefit to bird conservation.

Thanks for your comments, TONI--I enjoyed reading about the nesting wrens and doves. I hope that they are successful.

I know, EILEEN--It was just amazing about that two-in-one nest. I was equally amazed by the fact that this shy bird tolerated my presence and was so brave as to stay on the nest. I am not sure that, "brave"is the right word...but the important thing was that she did not bolt and leave the nest, as the weather was not optimal.

Hiya FRANK-- The word, "nestvast" has not entered the language in a slang or in a colloquial sense as far as I know.
You would pronounce it as--"nest-fast". The "-fast" being pronounced like the"-fast" in Belfast.
I am happy that you liked this posting.

Thanks CHERYL-- That was a special moment. She was quite a lovely thing to see up close.

 

That is a beautiful story. The eggs and the bird are beautiful. I just love it and the respect you are giving them.

Thank you and I am sure they would too. :-D

 

Loved your story Sjoerd.

I took an ornithology class in university. I loved it. Part of the class was field work, observing and taking notes on species, how many, their activities and whatnot. We had to keep a journal on all of that.

A few summers ago, some Bewick's wrens were nesting in my living room window by my AC unit [which I have since removed], and I got a nice picture of the nest. It was small like a demitasse on its side, and made of moss. The mother bird raised about 6 babies in each brood, 2 or 3 times per summer. If my cats were outdoors, she would fly around my house until she saw me in the window, and would call frantically to come and get my cats back indoors. They loved to jump at that window when she would feed her babies. Apparently, she knew they could not get her from indoors.



( photo / image / picture from AAnightowl's Garden )


I have at least 35 species of birds in or near my yard that visit regularly. A family of black capped chickadees is nesting in one of my birdhouses. I think a family of Eastern bluebirds is nesting in the bluebird house at the moment. The hummingbirds are fighting over nesting sites and territory this week.

This morning, I found two mud turtles in my garden near my compost heap, and one was upside down closed into his shell. I guess the lovers had a mishap. I put him back on his stomach, and when I checked later, they were gone into the yard someplace. A few summers ago, I got a picture of a female turtle laying her eggs, but I never saw evidence of them hatching out.

 

WARETROP--I'm really pleased that you enjoyed the posting.Your words were quite kind.

AANIGHTOWL--Thanks for your nice comments and experiences of birds and turtles near your home. I found the turtle story pretty interesting. The pic of the wren's nest was very interesting to see. One sees a wren's nest of eggs so infrequently.

 

This reminds me of my ongoing struggle with the Kildeer in my garden, the speckled eggs even look the same! I hope the farmer is able to get his fields planted before it's too late!

 

NETTY-- I believe that the kildeer also have nesting in the open. We have that bird here as well.
Good luck with your kildeer. Do you watch your kildeer nest and make notations of developments? I can imagine that that would be fun and interesting to do.

Yes FRANK...that is one way to say it. One can also tie something "vast" to something else....vastbinden, or to nail or bolt something "vast" to say, a pole. If something is "vast" then it cannot come loose.

--or to be stuck so that you can no longer move...or to be doing a crossword puzzle and not be able to go any further...then "zit je vast".
Vast can also mean "definitely".

There are lots of little ways of using the word.

 

Thanks Sjoerd that was a great post.

 

Very interesting sjoerd! I am surprized to see all the eggs out in the open like that. Here we have crows, ravens and hawks that rob eggs in any nest that isn't covered up with straw, weeds, etc...

This is a really good thing you all are doing for the birds.