How can I find my old pictures?

[The Dogmother]

We had a mystery nest appear in the gap in the stonework around the boiler flue vent (of all places!) after a couple of days of not seeing any action, a bird flew out in my face as I walked past on Saturday - the vent is around 4ft off the ground. I tried to keep watch from a distance over the weekend, and spotted a yellow wagtail flying off, but she appeared to be spending a lot of time off the nest, and we're worried that the eggs are getting cold.

 

Now, I am assuming that the eggs are recently laid, and wonder if wild bird eggs are like chicken ones in that they can be left cold very early on in the incubation process, but must be consistently warm in the later stages... does anyone know any more about this? The nest is right beside a gate which we use a lot, so we are trying to go out via a different route while she is sitting.

 

I sneaked a photo with a telephoto lens, from a distance, and the eggs are really teeny, and look to be a sort of khaki brown.

 

 

Any ideas about the sitting habits of wild birds?

[Luvachicken]

Lovely photo Dogmother

 

The blue tits and great tits in my 2 boxes - with cameras - only started incubating the eggs once they had finished laying them.

 

They both laid 9 eggs and the great tits have hatched already - last Thursday - so teeny.

 

I hope the wagtails make it. They are such sweet little birds bobbing their tails up and down.

[The Dogmother]

Thanks, perhaps that't the case, and she will lay more eggs.

 

I see on the RSPB site that they are declining in numbers, so I hope that we get lots of the little birds; they are very funny to watch.

[Daphne]

I don't know the answer to your incubation question DM, sorry. But I did see a male wagtail pursuing a female on the ground with his chest puffed up and wings spread, just like a pigeon, so it's certainly that time of year again

[Daphne]

Shortly after writing this I went outside and saw a very large female eygyptian grasshopper waving her egg laying apparatus around, I spent 15 mins on the ground about 6 inches away from her, failing to capture the moment on camera. They have little 'shovels' on the end of their egg laying bits - you could hear them s"Ooops, word censored!"ing on the patio. They are meant to be used to excavate soil to bury the eggs apparently. Sorry for the digression but I was fascinated, and it certainly reinforces the fact that it's that time of year

 

On a related note, I would imagine if any parent bird came across said eggs, they would make a tasty snack

[Luvachicken]

Here is a bit more info for you

 

Yellow wagtail - Motacilla flava

 

Breeds on lowland pastures, water meadows, marshes or on cultivated land, often near water, or on open moorland with short herbage. Nest on the ground in a hollow, or in thick herbage, or under leaf or low growing plant.

 

NEST - a cup built into a hollow, of grasses, plant stems and roots, thickly lined with hair, and occasionally fur or wool. Built by female.

 

BREEDING SEASON - Begins mid May. Single or double brooded.

 

EGGS - Usually 5-6, rarely 7. Subelliptical. Smooth and glossy. Ground colour pale buff or greyish, heavily and finely speckled with yellowish buff and appearing uniform, or mottled with buffish brown. Often a dark hair streak present.

19 x 14 mm

 

INCUBATION - Chiefly by the female, beginning with the last egg. 11 - 14 days.

 

NESTLING - Altrical and downy. Down fairly long and thick; on head and back. Sandy buff or buffish white. Mouth reddish orange. Some populations may show two brown spots at base of tongue. Gape flanges pale yellow.

 

NESTLING PERIOD - Young tended by both parents. Leave nest at 10 - 13 days, fly at around 17 days.

[The Dogmother]

I had a lovely email back from the chap at RSPB; seems that they are Grey Wagtails, albeit with plenty of yellow. OH's place is right on the river, so that figures as well.

 

I am fairly certain that these will be Grey Wagtails rather than Yellow (although Grey Wagtails are more Yellow than the Yellow ones!) as Yellow Wags always nest on the ground in grass or arable areas, and Grey's love to nest near running water. Still very nice to have them nesting at your home. As the birds have built the nest where it is it's unlikely that they will be put off by your coming and going - often in these situations the bird may leave the nest briefly when you pass but will quickly return. The female doesn't start incubating until all the eggs have been laid (so they all hatch synchronously) and it may be that she has not started sitting yet, which is why you haven't seen her at the nest. Another possibility though is that the nest has been abandoned, this sometimes happens if the weather turns bad or one of the adults is killed. My advice would be to carry on as normal and keep an eye on the nest. From the start of incubation to hatching is around two weeks so if the eggs are still there much longer than this they will have been abandoned, it's very likely though in any case that the pair will re-nest somewhere close by and they can have two-three clutches in a season.

 

OH reports that she was sat tight last night I will check her at the weekend, and report back.

[Daphne]

So now we know, that's very helpful for future ref I have seen a grey wagtail running about on rocks in the local stream, now I know why

[The Dogmother]

Weeellll, last Friday, Mrs Wagtail hatched her clutch of babies, and we can't quite see how many little gaping mouths there are, amid all that down that they're bedded in, but I have seen 4 beaks wide open

 

[Luvachicken]

Awwww how sweet and it looks like their eyes are almost open too

 

Our 8 great tit babies left the nest yesterday and I have seen at least 6 in the garden today .

 

Such a hard life they have though dodging the local cats and magpies etc.

[dancing cloud]

Gorgeous !

 

Our assorted garden birds are eating me out of house and home on suet and seed at the moment, which hopefully means there are lots of littlies being well fed

[mullethunter]