Mockingbird redux
Jul. 9th, 2005 04:44 pmIt's been a week and the feeping for food hasn't ceased. I went out into the light drizzle yesterday to get more photos and discovered the 'original' peep has a sibling.
They're also starting to look more like mockingbirds, but the cute speckling and fluffiness hasn't gone away yet.
At this point, they're quite capable of flying around and following Dad wherever he goes although still thoroughly lacking in the grace the adults have. The male sings constantly, even while feeding/guarding, but vey quietly, almost as if whispering to himself. Camilla discovered this 'whisper song' is well documented. Another curiosity is that he doesn't repeat phrases (as one expects from a mockingbird) in the whisper song; he sounds just like a very quiet catbird. The female has apparently already moved on to renest as I haven't seen or heard her at all the past few days, also apparently typical behavior. The male and peeps have been sticking to his territory, which seems to be centered right on our house.
The remnants of TS Cindy finished moving through yesterday and today is bright and sunny; perfect weather. The peeps were making noise earlier but when I went out to get some more pictures they were being quiet. I spotted one of them purely by chance, asleep in the honey locust out front. If he can't see me, I suppose I can't see him either :-)
Interestingly, the camera managed to do a much better job in *very* strong sunlight than on the cloudy day (the first two photos are heavily processed with lots of blue removed. The last picture is cropped but otherwise unaltered). No serious blue/purple fringing. This suggests its optics lack any real UV filtering.
As an aside, I also saw lots of house sparrows feeding their young (almost impossible to tell apart unless one is flutter-begging), but I can't really get all that excited about an invasive specie that's eradicated so many native birds.
They're also starting to look more like mockingbirds, but the cute speckling and fluffiness hasn't gone away yet.
At this point, they're quite capable of flying around and following Dad wherever he goes although still thoroughly lacking in the grace the adults have. The male sings constantly, even while feeding/guarding, but vey quietly, almost as if whispering to himself. Camilla discovered this 'whisper song' is well documented. Another curiosity is that he doesn't repeat phrases (as one expects from a mockingbird) in the whisper song; he sounds just like a very quiet catbird. The female has apparently already moved on to renest as I haven't seen or heard her at all the past few days, also apparently typical behavior. The male and peeps have been sticking to his territory, which seems to be centered right on our house.
The remnants of TS Cindy finished moving through yesterday and today is bright and sunny; perfect weather. The peeps were making noise earlier but when I went out to get some more pictures they were being quiet. I spotted one of them purely by chance, asleep in the honey locust out front. If he can't see me, I suppose I can't see him either :-)
Interestingly, the camera managed to do a much better job in *very* strong sunlight than on the cloudy day (the first two photos are heavily processed with lots of blue removed. The last picture is cropped but otherwise unaltered). No serious blue/purple fringing. This suggests its optics lack any real UV filtering.
As an aside, I also saw lots of house sparrows feeding their young (almost impossible to tell apart unless one is flutter-begging), but I can't really get all that excited about an invasive specie that's eradicated so many native birds.
