BELL'S VIREO
birdfotos.com
BELL'S VIREO
*****************************************************
To learn more clickhere http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Bells_Vireo_dtl.html
Map & range not to any scale nor is it absolute.
*******************************************
After making many trips to the nest area
I see there are eggs once again in the nest.
I say "again" because in the beginning the nest was blown down with 3 eggs in it, storm I guess.
Second nest was very secure and well hidden behind the leafs of the three it was in. Some JERK pgotographers [ I know their name but it do any good to post them here ] snipped the leafs from in front of the nest area exposing the nest to any thing that might happen by. One Cowbird egg I guess was laid first in the nest, then a couple of Bells eggs. Then 2 more Bells eggs. Next week the Cowbird egg and one Bells egg were missing. This left only 3 Bells eggs to hatch. I really didn't think they would ever hatch, but on the 06/18/06 I found 3 chicks probbly no more than a day or 2 old. They did not have their eyes open yet.
*****************************************************************
New images as of 06/18/06 6:00 AM
Inasmuch as there are 29 images I believe I had better put them on a new page.
So CLICK HERE to view them
New images as of 06/05/06
In the following images you will that some of the leavs and or small twigs have been nipped thus leaving the nest exposed. I did not do this.
I sure wish I under stood that darker colored egg.
It may be a Cowbird egg, I don't know, as you can see it's about twice the size as the others.
*****************************************
Note the very small twigs just to the left of the bird's tail, you can see they have been cut.
**********************************
Let's see now, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, yep they are all still here.
*********************************
***********************************
The text books say both parent birds attend the nest.
*********************************
******************************
I don't believe this food because there's no bird to feed or chicks.
*************************************
The other parent bird would often perch in the branches just above the nest.
***********************************
********************************
************************************
***************************************
*********************************
*********************************
********************************
********************************
Always on the look out.
*******************************************
I think this may be the hen, it on the nest the most often and for the longest tme.
*****************************
************************************
Note it is singing.
*****************************************
*********************************
It was 112 degrees in the shade today. I have never seen a bird shade its eggs before.
*********************************
This seems to be the larger of the two and may be the male, but I am only guessing.
********************************
Here it is in the tree above the nest.
**************************************
It may be the way it's standing but I still think it is much larger than the other one.
**************************************
Below images taken at an earkier date
This bird stresses so easily I did not return to photograph the chicks in fear of the parent deserting the nest.
*******************************
*********************************
**********************************
*****************************
A second nest not to far away.
At first I thought more than one kind of a bird had laid eggs in this nest but
as you see both nest have the same type or colored eggs in them
*****************************************
You may contact me at birdfotos@aol.com