I love this time of year on the mountain. The dark-eyed juncos are building their nests and laying their eggs. Chris and I always stop and try and find the nest when we flush a junco out. For those of you who are wondering what I am talking about, when you are walking down a trail and you have a bird fly up and out of the embankment, that is called flushing it out. Usually, if it is a junco, there is a nest close by. This time of year you see a lot of them. We like to watch them and see when the chicks hatch. I will keep you posted on this nest.
Here is a little more information on what the nests look like. This excerpt is from Wikipedia: "They usually nest in a cup-shaped depression on the ground, well hidden by vegetation or other material, although nests are sometimes found in the lower branches of a shrub or tree. The nests have an outer diameter of about 10 cm and are lined with fine grasses and hair. Normally two clutches of 4 eggs are laid during the breeding season. The slightly glossy eggs are grayish or pale bluish-white and heavily spotted (sometimes splotched) with various shades of brown, purple or gray. The spotting is concentrated at the large end of the egg. The eggs are incubated by the female for 12 to 13 days. Young leave nest between 11 and 14 days after hatching." The weather has been amazing. We hit 73 degrees yesterday. It is starting out to be another repeat of yesterday.
Randy
5/30/2011 02:44:45 am
tomk
5/30/2011 03:31:34 am
73F already? Seems hot early. Am I correct in that the temperature at LeConte has never exceeded 80F? What was the high and when? I get the feeling we are in the hunt for a record breaker . . .
Tony Ga
5/30/2011 04:49:42 am
Thanks Randy. Comments are closed.
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January 2025
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