Mockingbirdlets

I discovered a mockingbird nest in the lower limbs of the Chinese pistache planted in our back yard. I had been hearing odd chirps coming at fairly regular intervals over the preceding few days, but didn’t really think anything about it until Saturday afternoon when I noticed some unusually persistent mockingbird presence around the tree. 

I took a chance (the last time we had a mockingbird nest in our yard, I had to wear a motorcycle helmet to protect myself while mowing the lawn) and took a quick glance inside the foliage. Sure enough, there was a typical crudely built nest holding two sleeping mockingbirdlets. The parents weren’t happy about the intrusion, but they exhibited remarkable restraint and I was able to back away unscathed.

I thought you might enjoy seeing a little nature in action, so I made the following video from footage taken on Saturday with a GoPro camera on the end of a monopod, and some additional footage from a Canon video camera that I shot this evening, as a sort of follow-up to the tale. (Note: If you watched this video on Sunday via my Vimeo account, you might want to take another look, as I’ve replaced that movie with this slightly extended version that details some slightly troubling developments.)

Toward the end of the footage shot this evening, one of the adults did take a dive at me, but I think it was just a warning shot out of habit, given that the nest is empty. I’d really like to know what happened to the second baby, but it was starting to rain and I didn’t have a chance to take a good look at all the potential hiding places in our back yard.