The nesting is over for most of the spring migratory birds. My old faithful birds, who I call the "usual suspects", have their chicks flying around like fighter pilots... that would be the chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches. Besides the ravens, the Red-breasted Nuthatches fledged early this spring and the juveniles are already eating sunflower seeds from my hand.
This morning, I probably took my last photo of the Chestnut-sided Warbler chick. I have been following mother chestnut since the early designing and building of her nest.
She picked up her first strand of dried grass and started her nest construction on June 1. It took her four days to finish her nest, it is constructed entirely out of dried grasses.
The nest was built in a low hazelnut shrub only 2 1/2 feet off the ground. It is completely hidden and surrounded by northern bush honeysuckle. During the first week in June, it was easier to see the nest, because the leaves had not fully matured. As time went by, the whole nest became engulfed in leaves and the nest was impossible to see.
I checked on the nest each day in June. I could walk up to the nest and take a long twig and move a leaf to see if mother chestnut was sitting on eggs. At times the nest was vacant, but she laid her eggs soon after the nest was built. I could never tell how many were in the nest, but I know there were at least three. I didn't want to intrude too often, so I checked the eggs only once.
One thing I have learned about birds, is that most respond differently to humans in the vicinity of their nests. The Hermit Thrush for instance, raises quite a ruckus when I check her nest. She "Peeps" and carries on, trying to draw me away from the area. The Winter Wren and the Indigo Bunting do the same thing. The Chestnut-sided Warbler, however, goes about her business as if I am not in the area. This is true while she is building the nest, feeding the chicks or when I walk up to the nest. I have found after watching the chestnut for years, this has never varied. When I am staked out on a photo shoot, she will fly a couple feet from me, picking up insects. I have had them fly directly at me and sit on a nearby branch resting and preening. I think they are the most social of the wood warblers that we have inhabiting our ridge. We usually have at least 22 species of warblers passing through here each spring.
Each day I stood in the same spot by a large patch of hazelnut bushes, watching the trips by both parents to the nest. I knew that the chicks had hatched. The minute I would arrive at my post, the male chestnut would fly into the bush and check me out. Mother chestnut knew who I was and never stopped or missed a beat. They basically could care less having me in the area.
The chicks left their nest on June 30, I know that because I had to chase a Pine Marten out of the area on that date. I had watched the chestnuts make many trips to the nest in the morning and in the afternoon the nest was empty. I sat on a log close to the nest area and waited for the parents to show up. It wasn't long before the mother chestnut flew in with an insect, landing in a small spruce. I carefully walked to the spruce, knelt and saw a tiny chestnut chick. I backed up far enough to use my 70-200mm lens; I wasn't more than three feet from the chick. Mother chestnut flew in with an insect as I wasn't there. She made countless trips back and forth feeding the chick in the spruce tree.
Eventually I found three chicks being fed. It became increasingly difficult to follow them in the deep woods. At times I would see one of the adult chestnuts flying into the brush and I would catch a glimpse of one of the fledglings. I am always amazed at how fast they grow.
It is always a relief for me to see the chestnuts hatch and safely leave their nest. This observation has become a yearly vigil for me and I will have the "empty nest syndrome" until next June. Until then I hope I get to see the fledglings in their full dress before the fall migration.
Jr. Chestnut-sided Warbler... July 11, 2009
