Monday, May 23, 2011

Shrike Mania--Part II

Remember the shrike nests we found and marked? When we checked on them two weeks later, the ones with eggs had either been raided or abandoned--sad.

However, we did find more nests. 

This one was built in a fence and had fledglings. 
When one of them got spooked and left the nest, we decided to not get any closer.



This nest was built on a power line. 
Apparently this family didn't mind the constant buzzing of electricity.



And our most exciting find was this nest, built in a creosote, with 3 babies!
Obviously they were hungry and wanted us to feed them...


...even though one still had the tail of a long-tailed brush lizard hanging out of its mouth.


We put a trail camera on this nest (courtesy of AZ Fish & Game) and checked it over the next week. Out of several hundreds of photos, we got a handful of interesting ones where either one or both of the parents came to feed the babies.





 No Flat-tailed Horned Lizards were identifiable as prey as far as we could see.

No comments: