Subject: Fledgling Junco
Date: Jun 26 16:32:07 2004
From: Guttman, Burt - GuttmanB at evergreen.edu


We have a small greenhouse room next to the kitchen that we usually keep
open during the warm weather. A couple of times, when we opened the door, a
little Oregon-type junco hopped in, and we had to gently shoo it out another
door. We suspected something going on, because it kept hanging around the
greenhouse. Then a few days ago we discovered that it has a nest in one of
the potted plants, with six eggs. Mama junco has been in and out, spending
much of her time incubating. (The Birder's Handbook says that females
incubate the eggs and that incubation lasts 12-13 days.) Today she was
still on the nest but raised up slightly, making me wonder if the eggs are
starting to hatch. We're looking forward to seeing a brood of young. I
think it is rather "clever" in a way, though one can't attribute cleverness
to such a bird, for her to have nested here; we have been told many times
that nests visited by humans often fall victim to predators. But the human
smells and other signs are already here, all around the house, making it
less likely, I think, for any predator to be able to find this nest. We're
giving her a wide berth.

Burt Guttman guttmanb at evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505 360-456-8447
Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S.E., Olympia 98503