Disturbed blackbird nest :-(

JudeandRoy · #1 (**permalink**) 10-04-2010, 09:57 AM

I have been clearing out some dead bushes in my garden and found a blackbird's nest, too late to cover it up! There are no eggs in it, but we have been feeding a blackbird recently that has become quite tame, unfortunately the nest is now quite exposed and I feel really bad!
Any suggestions, I can't imagine it will return to it now, and it is among a load of dead branches.
Jude

posie · #2 (**permalink**) 10-04-2010, 10:17 AM

Hello Jude, I'm not a bird expert, but there are lots of them on here and someone will come back to you soon I'm sure. Are you sure it is a new nest? and would it perhaps be possible to lean the stuff you've moved back up against the nest area to see if they carry on with the nest, if it is a new one? and Welcome to WAB...Posie..

aeshna5 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-04-2010, 12:28 PM

Maybe last year's nest. I would have expected eggs or young by now.

During the week I saw a female Blackbird feeding a fully fledged bird as big as her!

valleyforge · #4 (**permalink**) 10-04-2010, 05:46 PM

Hi JudeandRoy and a warm welcome to the WAB forum (to both of you?).

This is unfortunate, but since there are no eggs in the nest, then there's no lasting harm been done.

As aeshna5 has said, if you live in the south of England then chances are that a current nest might aleady have had eggs or nestlings.

If you live much further north ... like I do ... then it could be this year's nest that was still in the process of construction ... we don't have any blackbirds even nest building here yet, but that's not too surprising given that just last week we were still under 2 feet of snow!

In any case, if you have unfortunately disturbed a current nest, it is still very early in the season, and the birds will have ample chance to rebuild again elsewhere.

Leisha · #5 (**permalink**) 12-04-2010, 07:46 PM

Hi there,

I'm new to bird watching having just moved into a house with a lovely garden that the birds seem to love. I was doing some gardening and discovered a black bird in a nest with a female roosting in it. I think I might have scared her off because I was very close without realising it. I went to check on the nest when I was watering the plants this evening and she was gone and it looks like there are chicks there. Is it normal for the mother to leave her young for periods at a time? I didn't get close enough to see how big they were but I saw fluff. It just seems awfully cold outside tonight and I'm worried about them.

Any advice welcome.

SheffieldLass · #6 (**permalink**) 12-04-2010, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leisha

Hi there,

I'm new to bird watching having just moved into a house with a lovely garden that the birds seem to love. I was doing some gardening and discovered a black bird in a nest with a female roosting in it. I think I might have scared her off because I was very close without realising it. I went to check on the nest when I was watering the plants this evening and she was gone and it looks like there are chicks there. Is it normal for the mother to leave her young for periods at a time? I didn't get close enough to see how big they were but I saw fluff. It just seems awfully cold outside tonight and I'm worried about them.

Any advice welcome.

Yes she does leave them to feed herself, have a wash and brush up, and to look for food for them, though probably the male is doing more of the feeding of the young. If they've got young it takes quite a bit before they desert the nest. But do avoid peering at the nest too much, she needs her peace and quiet.

I've got a blackbird nesting in a conifer right now. Hadn't realised she was there, thought she was in the laurel across the road, as the male's song post looks that way too. I did some gardening underneath and that didn't bother her. I even pulled some bramble out of the conifer, and that didn't bother her. It was only when I started to remove a metal pole that was caught deep in the bush that she emerged from the bush, and I realised she had a nest there. The conifer is so dense that I haven't a chance of seeing the nest though, so I haven't looked for it.

My neighbours have been busy doing building work, breaking up concrete, digging foundations etc for the last two weeks, just a few feet from the nest, and that doesn't seem to have bothered her either. Our birds are very tame though. But they don't seem to see us as predators, just rather large creatures that bumble around and get a bit close at times.

Leisha · #7 (**permalink**) 13-04-2010, 09:20 AM

I had a peek from a distance with some binoculars this morning and she was back in the nest.

I was so worried about the poor little things last night.

JudeandRoy · #8 (**permalink**) 15-04-2010, 12:58 PM

Well, first of all I'd like to thank you all for your responses. My neighbour says the blackbird is building a nest in her hedge, so that's good. He hasn't fallen out with us completely, cos he came and gathered all the worms up when I was digging and then came and asked to be fed later on in the day.