Catching up on a backlog of notes

I've been paddling, but obviously I haven't been reporting. I have some paddling notes saved around here somewhere.

Birds seem busy today. A juvenile titmouse landed on the deck rail for a rest before fluttering off again.

I hope that reporting bird nesting activity doesn't jinx all birds the way it did for the robin in the dogwood tree. There are two active Carolina wren nests near my house. The one under the deck has five hatchlings, and their parents are busy feeding them, one bug at a time. A few days ago I discovered a wren nest in the carport, tucked into an otherwise empty fruit box. The female wren quickly learned to tolerate our activity near her nest. I could see at least four eggs in there when she was away.

The barred owls have been mostly heard but not seen, however I encountered one at the lake shore one morning earlier this week. At first I thought it might be napping, but when I returned from my (unreported) morning paddle around the lake I saw it on the ground, finishing a bite of breakfast. A very agitated ground squirrel squeaked non-stop nearby. Perhaps a clue about owl's breakfast menu?

Just now two ground squirrels scampered up and down the back steps near the deck. Those are the same steps one or more raccoons have been using to get to some outdoor trash and compost. Looks like I should get more securely closing metal containers for trash and compost.

Two nights ago a large Luna moth flapped around the carport for a while before settling on a car tire to rest. Although it seemed committed to spend the night there, it wasn't around the next morning. What a gorgeous creature!

(Luna moth photo from the Texas A&M Entomology Dept.)

Vacant nest, possibly an empty nest

Update: The female robin who was nesting in a dogwood tree has disappeared. I haven't seen her in the past two days. There was no indication that her eggs hatched. I have not been able to get close enough to the nest to check the condition of any remaining eggs.

According to this web site about robins and their nests, “the main predators of robin eggs are snakes, squirrels, blue jays, and crows.” All of those potential predators live here, although I have not seen any crows close to the nesting tree. I have seen blue jays in or near that tree, and squirrels roam everywhere. The adult female robin may have been attacked while foraging on the ground, too.

These things happen in the wild. I'm disappointed, though, because I was looking forward to watching and photographing fledgling robins from a nearby deck.