All this pics below are taken through our screen lanai about 30 feet away by my hubby who never even saw what they were upset with till the pics were reviewed after the fact.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
predators threaten nestlings
So it has been quite an exciting couple of days around here. Yesterday I came home to mama and papa cardinal going ballistic on a black snake slinking around their nest. Mama was fierce while papa took the backseat. Look at her, she looks like a raving maniac. That black snake could not get out quick enough. This morning, my husband tells me a squirrel is on our back deck. The squirrel has only been around a few weeks. Since our neighborhood is newly developed we had no trees for them for about 4 years. The oak trees the developer planted are now a good size and I guess they are starting to move in. I had read that squirrels will eat bird eggs but I had no idea they would eat nestlings! Sure enough as I grabbed my camera my husband sees him heading up the hibiscus tree trunk the nest is in! Hubby went flying out there and scared him away just in the nick of time. Makes me wonder if he has been there before and already has eaten some? Hubby went to see if he could see the babies because we have not since they were born. We haven't wanted to cause any unnecessary stress to mama and papa. As you can see, they have enough between predators and the rough grueling feeding schedule. But anyways, John went close and said papa was in the tree. Who knows when he was going to decide to react to the squirrel but hubby gave him no chance to have to. We were on it and quick! So now I am positioned so I can see the birds tree and as I type I am not even looking at the computer screen but out the window. The nestlings were born on the 25th. They are 6 days old now. I know there were at least 3 of them because I took a pic of the eggs. I didn't have a good view, there could have been more eggs in the deep nest. The baby from the previous brood has not been around since the babies were born. I read the parents probably gave him/her strict instructions to stay away. The fledgling was probably 4 weeks old though and was very independent already so hope to see him/her back when these new nestlings are old enough to allow sibling visits. Now I can see why their previous brood was only a family of 1, because of all these predators. Last year, all our 4 mocking bird babies lived through the fledgling stage when we lost track...not sure about the cardinals. Fingers crossed!
