Aww... Looks like I get a new familiy as neighbors!

**Whitehouse** · May-24-10, 10:17 AM

Looks like a pair of Starlings are building a nest right next to my window.

Awwww.

[[Gonna take pictures later.)

**Ray1936** · May-24-10, 11:18 AM

Enjoy, Whitehouse! There's nothing like the pleasure of watching the evolvement of young ones hatching and eventually leaving the nest. I had a mourning dove nest on my porch last year, and they were a joy. Well, a messy joy, but what the heck.

**Whitehouse** · May-24-10, 01:42 PM

View from the living room.

The bush with the nest.

Work in progress.

I will be away for a couple of days. Let's see if there is actually a bird nesting this weekend. I hope the cats will stay away...

**Whitehouse** · May-28-10, 01:21 PM

Bullseye!!

Just came back home after three days of absense and this is what I saw.

Looks like four chicks on the way. The nest was deserted when I came home.

Mum back on the nest a few moments later. A bit fuzzy, cause I did not want to disturb her too much.

**punky1** · May-29-10, 09:18 AM

Nice looking buildings, skylights. Where abouts are they located?

I have had robins and morning doves build nests and raise their babies on my front porch light. Even had mallard ducks a couple of years in a row try to hatch the eggs they laid in a wooden planter on the porch only to be destroyed by we think a cat. My son decided to do me a favor and swap out the porch light, but is not conducive to nest building. The birds showed up looking for their old spot for several days. I swear they were not happy birds because I came out one morning and there was bird poopie all over my car. I believe this was deliberate because in all the years I have lived here it is rare to have any poopie. I don't blame them. I really miss them too. They got so used to us coming out the door in the morning they didn't even leave the nest. And to see the little heads of the babies was a great way to start the day. I do miss them.

**punky1** · May-29-10, 09:25 AM

I just went back and took a closer look at the photo out of the window and noticed the license plate. Then I went and looked at your profile. I guess there is a reason why the buildings looked a bit european! Guess I will not be looking at them for a potential next residence. How the heck did you ever find detroityes?

**Whitehouse** · May-29-10, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by punky1

Nice looking buildings, skylights. Where abouts are they located?

Now zoom out.

How I got here? I guess google found this link sometime ago, and I stuck around.

**punky1** · May-29-10, 12:21 PM

So glad you found us. Many of us are pretty much stuck here on US websites...can only speak and read English. In 1980 I landed in Amsterdam, bussed to Oberammergau for the Passion Play and visited some other countries. That is the extent of my worldly travels. What I did see of the Netherlands was beautiful. What is it in the lower right corner of the satellite map? It looks like some kind of garden, planting area? http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour....256989,5.7763

**Whitehouse** · May-29-10, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by punky1

So glad you found us. Many of us are pretty much stuck here on US websites...can only speak and read English. In 1980 I landed in Amsterdam, bussed to Oberammergau for the Passion Play and visited some other countries. That is the extent of my worldly travels. What I did see of the Netherlands was beautiful. What is it in the lower right corner of the satellite map? It looks like some kind of garden, planting area? http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour....256989,5.7763

These are volkstuinen, and if you translate that literally it would mean people's gardens. These are community owned, who rent them out to some private organistation who in turn rent out plots to do some gardening. Really quite popular among senior citizens. I read these also sprout up in Detroit as urban gardens.

Here's a typical view of an urban garden, Dutch style.

I still live in a very open part of the provence. There's one major reason why this part of the country was not filled in with more housing. Well, there are more.
- Demand. We don't build big plots of houses where there's no demand for it. Makes sense.
- Nature. There will never be any houses build on that plot seen in the Google maps link. The view on the village of Britsum to the south east is protected.

View on Britsum with it's 12th century Church, the village where I grew up.

But the most important reason why there will be no major building in this area is the presence of Leeuwarden Airforce Base to the south west of this location. [[Zoom out and you'll find it.) Google took blurring that location a bit too serious. Bin on the other hand shows the features quite clear.

**punky1** · May-30-10, 08:53 AM

Bedankt voor de informatie.

**maxx** · May-30-10, 08:54 AM

I've had sparrows in my back porch light for years. They just kick out the top layer of fuzz and put in new down. I remember being told that you have to clean out a blue bird box every year. These birds don't care. The light has a roof so it's probably quite dry and warm. It hasn't worked for years and they stuffed it so full, the glass or plastic windows have cracked, so I just capitulated. Sparrows have also tried to nest in a front light in the past, but I guess there was too much activity there.

White House: Do you live on one of those manmade islands? Do they ever move? People's gardens? Sounds lak communism ta me!

**Whitehouse** · May-30-10, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by maxx

White House: Do you live on one of those manmade islands?

No, I live in low land but a few kilometers from me there was a sea barrier. It was a barrier to keep the land dry from overflowing from an inland sea arm, but that was back in the middle ages.

I think what you mean are the pieces of land gained by the sea in the 19th and 20th century. The last manmade lands were created in 1968. These days over 370.000 people call it their home. In 1986 these parts were given their own status as a province.

Read more.

To the west the land below the city of Den Helder, which is our equivalent of Norfolk Virginia as the main naval base, was a former island.

There's now a movent taking hold of recreating that island by giving land to the sea. So, the other way around. Virually all new created land has an agricultural use.

Originally Posted by maxx

White House: Do they ever move?

No these ilands don't move, but the islands along the seafront in the north tend to move to the east. And then we need to shift the sand back....

On the island of Terschelling there have been found traces of living dating back to about 850 AD. So there is movement but not that much.

**Whitehouse** · May-30-10, 10:42 AM

And an update to the nes: there's now a fifth egg.

**punky1** · June-01-10, 08:53 AM

Whitehouse and Maxx, after reading about the nests I am thinking I will have to find someone to build some kind of platform or whatever next to my porch light so I can get my birds back next year. Maybe the easiest is to just get another similar porch light that originally attracted them. Just have to put holes in the brick wall. It is such a perfect place. Has a roof and no squirrels or cats can get to it. Just have to rig some plastic on the porch underneath to catch the bird poopie. One year there was no bulb in the fixture, they built their nest and my son, brain switched off, flipped on the light, thought nothing more about it until he smelled smoke, determined it was coming from outside, opened the door, surprise, flames shooting from the fixture up at the roof. It could have been a major disaster if he had gone to sleep since he is a very deep sleeper. Fortunately no birds or eggs in it at the time. Good old grey duct tape went up on that switch. Can't wait to see your babies hatch.

**Jimaz** · June-01-10, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by punky1

I am thinking I will have to find someone to build some kind of platform or whatever next to my porch light so I can get my birds back next year. Maybe the easiest is to just get another similar porch light that originally attracted them....

Or you could just install a birdhouse. A cool trick is to make a custom birdhouse that looks like a miniature of your real house. It really gets people's attention.

**punky1** · June-01-10, 02:12 PM

That's a great idea and will not look weird.

**maxx** · June-05-10, 02:33 PM

RE: Concern for animals

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/c...paign=CrushAct

**Whitehouse** · June-10-10, 02:34 PM

Sweeeeeeet!!!

Four hatchlings! The fifth egg was laid a few days later. Can't see if that's a scale or a complete egg. For understandable reasons I did not poke around in the nest...

**maxx** · June-10-10, 05:16 PM

Aaaawwwww.

**Crystal** · June-10-10, 08:34 PM

The birds are not starlings, but what are they?

**punky1** · June-10-10, 10:17 PM

OMG, esp working today. Went online looking for how long it takes starlings eggs to hatch, then checked here and whadya know, they have arrived! How wonderful.

So what kind of birds are they if not starlings? They said starlings end up on the ground for awhile before they learn to fly. Hope they stay safe. Can't wait to see some feathers.

Stosh · June-10-10, 11:15 PM

I think that is a blackbird, Here's a sample of eggs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25873089@N00/3452397038

**Whitehouse** · June-11-10, 08:23 AM

I just saw Dad-bird for the first time. Flying in all kinds of insects to those hungry mouths and I have to say, you're absolutely right. In Dutch these birds are called Merels, and indeed, in English this is called a blackbird. Noteworthy, mother-bird is not black at all.

Other good news is that it looks like the fifth egg has also hatched.

**SCS_Scooter** · June-11-10, 11:30 PM

This nest is out my second story window. This is the second batch Mrs Dove Mamma has raised. She already had one set of twins and now she has another. I worried about them for weeks. They spent a lot of time on the ground before they left the area. Love that nature!!