I have often wished my birdfeeders would get chosen as the spot for the National Tree Creepers Association Meeting, but it never has. I suppose it would help if the National Tree Creepers Association actually existed, but that is beside the point. However, this year our yard has apparently become the #1 cool hangout spot for baby nuthatches, and you couldn't ask for a better honor than that.
It started a couple months ago, when we noticed a mother nuthatch, a faithful customer of ours, trailing her beautiful little daughter along with her. Little Miss Nuthatch was extremely shy, and would sit on top of our feeders, her little wings quivering, waiting for her mom to feed her. After awhile, she started learning to eat on her own. She was kind of a little Rachel when it came to trying new things--it took her half a day to get up her courage to land on the feeder, let alone eat from it. I bonded with her immediately, and loved watching her grow and get more and more confidence. She had a tiny little voice, and she would squeak quietly as she went from tree to tree. Once she learned how to get peanuts out of the feeder, that was the only feeder she would visit, and she would sit there for minutes at a time, pounding away, until she got the peanut she wanted. Unlike most birds, who keep trying various peanuts until one comes out, she would always get the one she started, no matter how long it took. If something scary like a chickadee came out and startled her away, she would always return to the exact same peanut.
As Little Miss Nuthatch grew, so did her confidence in exploring other parts of our yard. Her mother was usually with her, often sitting on the roof, quietly encouraging her in her food-gathering exploits. She discovered the pond on the side of the house, and enjoyed bathing and drinking there. Unfortunately, one tragic day, after drinking from the pond, she crashed into our window and died. We ran out to try to rescue her, but she was too far gone. So we buried her under a fruit tree and we mourn her loss still.
I thought our feeders would never appeal to nuthatches again, after that sweet little creature died on our property, but fortunately, I was wrong. I guess this has been a good year for nuthatches, because baby nuthatches are cropping up everywhere. A lot of them turned up when I was gone in Wisconsin last week, and Andrew said they were kind of taking over the world, which was exciting.
Today, as I was taking a load of laundry back into our room, I looked up, and there were not one, not two, but three baby nuthatches on one feeder!
Another flew into the scene and got overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and left. She came back eventually, though.
4 Red Breasted Nuthatches at once!
4 Red Breasted Nuthatches at once!I don't know if they all belong to the same parents or if it's a couple of broods worth. Two are fat, and two are skinny, and one of the skinny ones is definitely the runt and gets bullied around by the others, poor thing. The fattest one is also the most immature (he still waggles his little wings and opens his mouth to be fed), and he has decided he owns the peanut feeder. Unfortunately, he has yet to figure out how to actually get a peanut out of it.
They are so precious! I can't believe we got this lucky!
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