I was on the way to work one morning and as i stepped out the front door i noticed a common bronzewing loitering aroung my porch, i lent no more thought to it. The next day it was back again and when it saw me it wandered away from the front door but kept looking back at me. I reversed my car out of the drive and spotted the bird walking back to the front door with a stick in it's mouth, so i waited. It made sure i was nowhere near and jumped up into a lilly pilly pot plant we have at our front door that used to be beautifully hedged. It rustled around in the top of my pot plant and settled. Upon returning home from work i peeked in the top of the plant to see mum sitting in the nest. The next afternoon i had another peek and there was an egg in the nest but mum and dad were nowhere to be seen, every time i have looked after that there is always a parent there. My partner and i feel so priveledged to have the birds right there at the front door. We constantly walk straight past the spot and occasionally sneak a peak as we wait anxiously for the egg to hatch. Reading up on the common bronzewing it says incubation is 15 days of which i think we are a couple overdue so fingers crossed. I also spot two to three eagles flying around not far away from my house and am keen to identify those. To be continued.....
Hi Blair.
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How lucky are you?
Where are you located (generally speaking)?
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Incubation might not start until another egg is laid. It starts from the day that constant sitting (warmth) occurs, not necessarily from date the first egg is laid.
That is how birds with large clutches of eggs get all to hatch on the same day (or close to, anyway). If you think about chooks or ducks, which might lay 12 eggs, it would not work any other way - because once the chicks hatch, they need constant attention, and if some were still eggs and some half-grown chick it would be chaos - for the parents.
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Keep us posted on developments.
Cheers
Denis
Denis Wilson
www.peonyden.blogspot.com
Good on you Blair. Your house must be a lot quiter than mine.
See Yez
Trev
thanks guys, i live in busselton w.a. ever since the bronzewing nested at our house i seem to see them everywhere. Thanks for the info on the incubation denis, that makes sense now. what wonderful mechanisms for survival nature has hey. Still no chick but i feel sorry for the parents as the spot they are in gets the full brunt of the north westerly storms and this last week we've had some pretty hairy conditions- the hardiflex fence next door was blown to bits on thursday night but the nest is still standing.Our camera is out of action now but as soon as i get it sorted i'll try to post a photo or two. We have a huge wetland about 1 km from our house so we seem to see all manner of bird life which my partner and i are most grateful for. There's nothing like seeing the willy wag tails come in the arvo, pick the spiders off the fence for us and play hopscotch across the water lillies in our pond
Top stuff mate, half your luck.
bad news guys, i woke up this morning and the nest has partially moved down in the plant and there is a half shell in the top of the pot but no chick to be found. I could not see the parents but i could hear one of them calling and half an hour later the male was wandering around checking things out. My partner and i sre so disappointed.