Shop Time w/T.W. Friends

Good morning and happy Easter everyone. Enjoy this day!

 

Good morning everyone.

Happy Easter if you’re so inclined.

In any case, I hope you have a pleasant Sunday.

 

Happy Easter all!

 

Happy Easter!

tip: count those eggs before you hide them!

 

55 degrees and dry today so I took a patrol around the estate. Found some blow down.

A little work for the old Ford to shove off the trail next time I'm out that way.



About 10" across, it broke about 12 feet up.

 

This is the bottom view of the trail I have been cleaning up with the Makita 18 volt chainsaw. It is savagely steep, the photo makes is seem like less of a climb.



I wheezed my way to the top, this is looking back down the same trail. You get a bit better perspective of the steepness of the hill here.




Here I have turned just over 90 degrees, this is easy walking, still a climb but much less.

The trail is roughly a rectangle around the property, This would be the top of the long side. There is a very steep drop to the left of the photo, I blow the leaves over the edge with the mower.

 

Back closer to the house I found this little bird nest about 6-1/2 feet off the ground.



Birds are smart, the closed side faces South - that is the direction the wind always comes from here.



The light was in front of me so a good photo of the open side was tough.
I'm pretty much holding the phone up and snapping, I can't see the screen outdoors either...



Seeing it with my glasses it looks like a cat face in there.
The inside of the nest isn't that big, larger than an egg but smaller than an apple.



Being just a Wrenchman I have no idea what kind of bird the builder is - I'm confident we should have an answer soon from one of our outdoorsmen.

 

@Cooldood
Got any idea?

 

The inside is larger than an egg, smaller than an apple.

I'd go with....medium

 

I would say oriole too. Often they are just hanging from one branch like a little hammock. I saw one like Rusty's the other day on a branch that had blown down.

 

congrats, you're now old!

 

Type and size screams oriole to me (bullocks, orchard, baltimore - all build nests like that; not hooded though), but without knowing where it was (which state) and cross-referencing other taxa, I can't say for 100%.

 

I've found some 3-4' off the ground. More often higher, but they can nest lower too.

 

Northern Pennsylvania

 

I've been stalking some new snow boots for a while now and just pulled the trigger on these for $50.12 for "used - like new" instead of $162.64. Couldn't pass that deal up.



I am a little concerned that they might be a bit too warm since they're rated to -72°.

 

I was never indifferent to "birds", at least the British meaning of the word.

 

I think the guys who drive Dodge trucks buy them...

Spoiler

After they walk home the first few times warm boots become a priority.

 

You got Baltimore and orchard orioles, both which build nests like that. Their habitats overlap and per the photos, both species are possible, but Baltimore are more common in your state. Like CD said, vireos (and some warbler and flycatcher species can make similar type nests) but I'm fairly confident with the size of that nest, it is an oriole (i.e., I'm not aware of another large songbird species in your state that build nests like that). That said, my focus is on the opposite side of the country.