Anyone for a swim? Forget it baby Blackbird
I had been planning on cleaning our swimming pool for some time, but other jobs kept getting in the way. The weather has been warming up quite suddenly in recent weeks here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. After a very cold winter with many frosts the warmer air is quite a pleasant change.
And so it is that our thoughts turn to swimming. We have a small in-ground swimming pool in our garden. It is a lovely spot to relax in or around after a hot summer’s day. The exercise is also very good for us. Over the winter months it has become somewhat neglected, to the point where it would be more aptly called “Le Swamp.” It’s green – very green and murky. Not good for swimming. Even the local ducks are now shunning it, though one did pay a visit yesterday.
Now to clean the pool I have to vacuum all the rubbish off the bottom; things like leaves and sticks blown in from nearby trees during winter storms. I use a flexible blue rubber hose attached to the pump which vacuums (or rather sucks) the debris off the floor of the pool.
Good theory.
I have a problem.
I can’t use the hose; someone has used it to make it their home. A Blackbird couple have moved into the pool pump shed and made a nest on top of the hose where I hang it up between uses. Now the nest has babies. And so I cannot begin to prepare the pool for swimming. It doesn’t matter; the forecast for next week is for quite cool weather.
Related Articles:
- Common Blackbirds – information about Balckbirds with many comments from my readers about their experiences with this species.
- Do Blackbirds Swoop? – How to deal with aggressive bird behaviour. Again there are many comments from my readers. This is currently my most popular article.
Common Blackbird nest
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It seems blackbirds are quite intent on stopping people from doing those put-off jobs, whether waiting for warmer or cooler weather.
I was waiting for a cooler day to get out and move a pile of old branches and get some slashing done. As I pulled out the last of the branches I found a nest coming with it with 3 little baby birds in it.
After numerous calls Cleland Wildlife park were able to inform me they were blackbirds!
Now I guess the slashing will have to wait until the birds have grown a little more. I hope that their nest being so close to the ground, and in a wood pile indicates there are no snakes around!
Welcome to my blog, Merrilyn. I find that the bird life around our home are a serious distraction from getting on with jobs around the house and garden. They often distract me from my writing. We have several bird baths just outside our sun room where we eat our meals. The passing parade of birds coming to drink, especially during hot weather, brings constant delight
We just found a baby blackbird in our pool. She was hanging out by the skimmer. We got her out with the net and now we are not sure how to care for her. I tried to feed her milk with bread and baby vitamin drops but she will not open her bill. Her feathers were all wet and when we tried to place her in the tree, the poor thing fell out. Now I placed her in a birdcage we purchased for such emergencies. Hope she survives!
Thanks for the comments Cathy. It is quite possible that the little Blackbird has become far too chilled by the water ie it has hypothermia. I fear it may actually die as a result of this exposure.
For caring for baby blackbirds try this web site in New Zealand:
http://homepages.win.co.nz/creation/birdie.
Hope all goes well.
I did get some of the “formula” (milk with baby vitamin drops) into her last night. She took about 3 droppers full! This AM she was not singing but she was alert, wide eye and flapping her wings. I took her out in the cage and opened the door but she didn’t go out. After 15 minutes, I just took the top of the cage out of the bottom, turned it upside down and carried her in the upside down cage to the tree. Finally she made a clucking sound and put one foot on a branch and let go. She hung out in the tree for a while clucking and then dropped to the ground. Her mother came by and started to feed her. It is such an awesome sight! She ate plenty as the mother kept coming and going bringing her food. Thanks for your response! I’ll send you her picture.
That is great news Cathy. Mothers always know what is best for their babies. Good to see the baby survived the dunking in the pool, too.
[…] Anyone for a swim – forget it baby blackbird […]
i found a baby black bird in the front of a punt n cambridge. it was on its own, looking pretty mellow. there was no mum to be found so we put it in a bailer, with some leaves and then we regurgitated some bread. it was very responsive. we then came across a mother black bird who was obviously looking for something, so we put the bailer by the water, and the baby black bird swam out. we felt happy, so we left. but can black baby burds actually swim?
Question After one successful hatching of 2 babies in our Jasmine, a second clutch of eggs were laid 4 eggs, but then the nest was abandoned and the curious thing is that the eggs disappeared. There was no disturbance to the Jasmine which grows over a flimsy frame, the nest is still perfect & no shell debri either in the Jasmine or on the ground. The eggs weren’t removed by a person. Does anyone has any suggestions as to where the eggs may have gone?
Hi Teresa,
There could be several reasons for the eggs to disappear. Chief suspects include currawongs, crows or ravens, magpies, butcher-birds, birds of prey (eagles, hawks, owls) and even lizards and snakes, all of which would delight in carrying off an egg – even foxes if they can reach the nest. It is a wild world out there and the disappearance of eggs and a high attrition rate for disappearing chicks in the nest means that many birds breed 2 or 3 times a season – sometimes even 4 times if conditions are right. In this way they are assured of one or two offspring reaching maturity.