During the spring of 2010, I saw my first Bullock's Oriole. It was at TRNWR and I got some pretty good looks as it harvested spider nests off the visitor's center. It would gather and then fly off into the giant Oaks only to return a few minutes later. I saw it one more time at the very top of one of the Oaks a few weeks later.Back on June 29th of this year, I saw both a female, like last year, and a male in the Oaks. They were very active and I noticed that they were focused on one area. After some careful observation, I finally found the nest they were tending. The lighting was difficult, the birds somewhat elusive and I was out of time so the pictures I got were just average. I returned a couple of days later and saw them again briefly, but was shut out of any pictures. What with all my travel, I never did get a chance to take advantage of this find, but I learned from one of the staff there that they have been nesting there for seven years now, so maybe I'll get another chance next year.Anyway, notice the interesting variety of yarn and string woven in the nest.
This post may be a little controversial. One of the bird ethics guidelines is to not disturb a bird's nest. I violated that guideline to get these pictures. I was very still and calm as I took the pictures and I wasn't as close as the pictures look as I was using a powerful telephoto lens, but none-the-less, the parents were obviously stressed.I justified it, in this case, because they are Killdeers. Killdeers build their nest on the ground, in the open, with no protection other than great camouflage and an interesting behavior in which they fake being injured to draw potential predators away. So in a way, they are used to this.
I first noticed a Killdeer near the service road as I walked at Fernhill Wetlands Sunday morning. It called out its familiar cry it uses when it is on alert. Then I noticed another Killdeer raise up off the ground a walk off. This tipped me off that I stumbled upon a breeding pair and their nest. I knew where the nest was only because I saw one of the pair raise from it, so it didn't take long to locate the eggs even though they are well camouflaged.
It seemed that it was only one of the parents that stuck close by the nest using its broken wing technique in an attempt to draw me off. Then, it changed its strategy and began charging me, still on the ground. I assume it was exhibiting the behavior described on Cornell's All About Birds site, "The Killdeer’s broken-wing act leads predators away from a nest, but doesn’t keep cows or horses from stepping on eggs. To guard against large hoofed animals, the Killdeer uses a quite different display, fluffing itself up, displaying its tail over its head, and running at the beast to attempt to make it change its path."
That behavior was what made me decide it was time to leave. As I walked off, the two parents flew out ahead of me, alternating flying and crying out, leading me away from their nest.I hope no one is offended.
During the spring of 2010, I saw my first Bullock's Oriole. It was at TRNWR and I got some pretty good looks as it harvested spider nests off the visitor's center. It would gather and then fly off into the giant Oaks only to return a few minutes later. I saw it one more time at the very top of one of the Oaks a few weeks later.
