Hi all,
A final update for those who have been following the fortunes of the
White-browed Scrubwrens that nested in the jasmine on the front wall
of my house.
As I wrote on 30th September, the young had hatched on 24th September
when I first noted an adult bird bringing food to the nest. Feeding
continued for the next three weeks with the frequency of feeding
gradually increasing as the young no doubt grew bigger.
Late on 14th October (about the time I figured they were due to
fledge) I noticed the female was still bringing food, but when the
male visited all he did was sit outside the nest calling while
plaintive begging calls could be heard from inside! I guess he
figured it was time the young came out and started learning to get
their own food!
On the 15th, there was no sign of any of the scrubwrens in or around
the nest. As the nest was still perfectly intact, they (or it) had
obviously fledged, exactly 21 days after hatching.
Unfortunately I was then away from home for the next 4-5 days so was
unable to watch for the fledglings. Since I then I haven't seen them
at all, so I'll never know how many young fledged and I still don't
know whether any have survived until now. Today I climbed up to
locate the actual nest in amongst the dense twining foliage and was
able to find the perfect little empty chamber 3 metres above the
ground.
At least the young fledged - that I'm sure of. Which means the nest
was a success, no mean feat for small birds in an urban area.
Cheers
Carol
Carol Probets
Katoomba
Blue Mountains NSW
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