ML487431431
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult Female - 1
- Behaviors
- Flying; Nest building
Media notes
Carrying ocotillo leaves.
Observation details
Nest #5: No activity noted (8:45-8:50). Young presumed fledged. Nest #6: Female was in the nest cavity when I arrived (8:55). I retreated to a shady spot about 30-40m away. Male and female flew around me several times to check me out as I set up my gear. 2 other female-plumaged birds came to the general area as well. After a while the resident pair seemed to go back to their regular routine. I saw the female make what I assumed to be a feeding visit to the cavity, just once. I waited, hoping to see another visit, but they mostly stayed away from the nest so I started to scope the cavity at 09:40. This nest is a difficult angle and it took me 15-20 minutes and a couple of adjustments to ascertain that there were at least 7 eggs in the nest! And lots of plant material, including Jatropha leaves, Calliandra seed pods, and what looked to be dried oak or jojoba leaves. While I worked on the nest, I was mobbed by 1 male and 2 female-plumaged birds. I departed at 10:05. Nest #1: Observed 10:40-10:50. At first I didn’t see any activity but since the cavity is low to the ground and does not require a lot of setup I decided to scope it. Did not find any evidence of eggs or nestlings; also noted no mites. (This is the nest that had a heavy load of nest mites last year.) After I was finished the male flew in low and began to call loudly, soon attracting a female-plumaged bird as well. They only spent a minute or two checking me out and then drifted farther away.
Technical information
- Model
- OM-1
- Lens
- OLYMPUS M.300mm F4.0
- ISO
- 1000
- Focal length
- 300 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/2000 sec
- Dimensions
- 1800 pixels x 1200 pixels
- Original file size
- 110.54 KB