{"id":1453,"date":"2013-05-15T09:17:37","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T13:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/?p=1453"},"modified":"2025-05-22T11:54:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:54:02","slug":"out-limb-who-nests-lakeside-park-mississauga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/out-limb-who-nests-lakeside-park-mississauga\/","title":{"rendered":"Out on a Limb: Look Who\u2019s Nesting in Lakeside Park, Mississauga"},"content":{"rendered":"

In May 2013, I watched a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers dive bombing a Cowbird<\/strong><\/a> at a park by Lake Ontario near Toronto. I wondered if that meant they were either nesting or building a nest. (Cowbirds often lay their eggs in other birds\u2019 nests.) So today I went back to Lakeside Park to see if I could find a nest.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the female Gnatcatcher pausing for a second from her very active hunting.<\/em><\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Gnatcatchers, the tree branch they had been considering nesting on had fallen in a strong windstorm. The birds themselves, though, were actively calling and showing themselves in about the same part of the park.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

The nest is almost at the end of the branch on the right side of the photo.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fairly soon after I arrived, I noticed a nest almost at the end of a very long tree limb. It was a surprisingly large nest, about the size of 2 tuna cans stacked up. I took a few photos of it out of interest, but dismissed it as the nest of a larger bird. In particular, I never saw anything flying to land on the nest so I thought it wasn\u2019t in use yet.<\/p>\n

Imagine my surprise when I checked the photos at home. Not only was the nest occupied in each photo I took (over a 30 minute interval) but it was being tended by a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher! The \u201cbirds\u201d I kept seeing were solo while their partner was sitting on the nest.<\/p>\n

I learned something else from this too. The male Blue Gray Gnatcatcher helps incubate the eggs or chicks.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

This appears to be the male Gnatcatcher keeping on top of things.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Cornell University website<\/strong><\/a> confirmed that this bird likes to build its nest \u201cfar out from the trunk\u201d on a branch. It says that 3-6 eggs are common. That means if the Cowbirds haven\u2019t managed to dump some of their eggs into the nest, there may soon be a flock of little Gnatcatchers for me to admire.<\/p>\n

Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n