Hi all,
There is an old jasmine growing up the front wall of my house. As it
hasn't been cut for years it forms a large dense mass against the
upper half of the wall, half covering one of the windows.
This morning I've been watching a female White-browed Scrubwren very
industriously carrying nest material into the mass of foliage. If I
stand inside the window I can get very close views of her entering
the clump without her being aware of me. The nest itself is extremely
difficult to see from any angle. Most of the material she brings
seems to be dry leaves from my garden mulch, but she is also bringing
quite a lot of moss. Her visits average every 60 seconds or so, and
she has been keeping this up for a large part of the day so far, only
stopping for an extended time when a neighbour's cat walked along the
street. The male is usually nearby and he occasionally brings her a
moth or a grub which she devours in between searching for suitable
nest material. She seems quite fussy in her choice of leaves, picking
up many and discarding them before settling on just the right one.
The interesting thing is that this nest is at least 2.5 metres above
the ground. Previously I've only ever seen White-browed Scrubwrens
nesting on or very close to the ground and I can't find any reference
to them ever building a nest this high.
I'll certainly be keeping track of their efforts and will report on progress.
Cheers,
Carol
28th August 2004
Carol Probets
Katoomba
Blue Mountains NSW
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