Many of the nests around our house have already produced babies that are now unruly teenagers spreading their wings in the big wide world. The thrush family reared two babies successfully although one I had to rescue after it fell into the cattle-stop and was unable to fly out. The parent birds are often in the bottom of the cattle-stop catching worms so perhaps it flew in there on purpose.
The Blackbird below reared just one chick (strangely enough I had to rescue this baby from the cattle-stop also!) When the nest was vacated and no longer in use it was plundered by a fantail who stole bits of straw for its own nest.
This goldfinch is nesting in the same tree about fifteen feet from our front door. I don't think the chicks have hatched yet so I'll keep an eye on this family with interest. When the birds have finished with the nest I'll be stealing it for sure!
The fantail family had a bit of a disaster with its first nest of the season. They had built a lovely nest in the Sheoak tree in the next door paddock and we came home one day to find the farmer had felled a lot of trees including the one the fantails were calling home. Rather than mope over their loss they got right down to building themselves a new one, collecting wood shavings from the recently chopped down trees. When life gives you lemons ...make lemonade!
