Wanted to share this story with folks.
This morning Alison Kondler was riding her bike in Bear Creek Lake
Park (BCLP) and discovered a Blue Grosbeak nest. She emailed me from
her cell phone between 9:30 and 10:00 A.M. sending a description of
the location and a picture of the shrub and nest. The shrub turned
out to be a lone small maple clump in shortgrass prairie and
approximately 40 yards from any of the surrounding box elder
thickets. She indicated she thought the two youngsters in the nest
were ready to fledge within a day or two. I received the message
about 10:30 A.M., and decided I had better go check things out and
complete an atlas card.
Arrived about 11:15 A.M. (stayed about 30 minutes). Stood in the
shade of a boxelder about 40 yards away and watched. Almost
immediately the female Blue Grosbeak showed up with food
(grasshopper???) and landed on the north side of the nest bush just a
little lower than the nest in the middle of the bush (really a small
maple clump). As she moved to the nest, one of the young flew
awkwardly straight from the nest to the grove of trees (box elder
thicket) to the west and landed on the ground in thick cover. The
female then flew to the area, landed on a branch a few feet above the
ground, and seemed to coax the youngster to join her. Eventually the
fledgling did fly up landing on a branch above and to the right, and
then Mom flew up and perched next to the youngster. With the female
and youngster hanging out together on a branch, I decided to check the
nest. There was still one youngster in the nest and as I got close,
this little one flew out only about 20 yards and landed in the grass
surrounding the bush. This youngster then made his way on the ground
through the grass to some shrubs near the road where his mother joined
him. To my surprise and relief (because it didn't fly well on the
initial attempt), after a few minutes this youngster took a wobbly
flight to the same woods as the first one had done (about 70 -75
yards) and Mom followed him. I left with the Mother tending to the
young fledglings as they navigated between the cover of the box elder
thicket and the shortgrass prairie to the west of the nest. She
certainly has her hands full! The little ones are so vulnerable at
this point in their lives.
I have seen Blue Grosbeaks in BCLP during the breeding season before,
but never have found a nest or made a confirmation for the Atlas
Block. What fun to watch the youngsters leave the nest! The latest
date for fledged young from the first Atlas is August 22, the same
date as today. Some folks surmise that Blue Grosbeaks inclination to
dine on grasshoppers (which become more prevalent as summer
progresses), encourages them to nest relatively late in the season.
How fortunate that Alison discovered the nest - how lucky I was to go
when I did - and what a wonderful experience to share.
Mike Henwood
Morrison
BCLP
Jefferson county
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