Second Towhee Nest!

Today Adam decided that if GOAN (one of our most prolific breeders last year) has a nest, then OBAN (another prolific breeder) must have a nest by now. So we decided to search for OBAN’s nest today. We found OBAN and his female (- - A-, probably PORA from last year) near the fenceline in X13. We thought they were still near the fenceline, so we waited there for a bit. Two towhees flew out of a large bush in the backyard next to the fenceline and into the park. They had somehow evaded us and been in the backyard when we thought they were in the park! OBAN stayed near the fenceline, but - - A- disappeared a bit farther north. We waited around and - - A- did not appear again. We decided she must be on the nest, and even though we didn’t really know where to look, we decided to walk around and hope to scare her off the nest. We were roughly in the area of her first nest last year, so we walked around there, and she popped out from a bush! Success! Adam found the nest in a very dense clump of vegetation. It had four eggs.

GOAN and GPAY’s nest was due to be checked today. It still had two eggs, so it turns out that was her completed clutch. Usually towhees lay three or four eggs.

We decided to try to catch that unbanded male in W5 that we had been unsuccessful with the day before yesterday. This time there was no response to the playback whatsoever. Adam walked west quite a ways, just playing the playback, but got no response. It probably didn’t help that there was some loud construction work taking place on the road next to the edge of the park.

We tried the playback in P8, L9, and J9, but got no response. We tried it in R15, approximately where I had seen an unbanded pair, and we immediately got a response. At first the male was singing ever so softly, barely opening his bill, but Adam immediately paused the playback as soon as the towhee arrived. Then the towhee pumped up his volume, apparently a little more confident since he didn’t hear the intruder anymore. He sang in one spot for quite a while and Adam was even able to get some pictures. We’ll try to set up a net and capture him tomorrow.

Towards the end of the day we decided that if GOAN and OBAN have nests, then A-GP must have a nest, too. Last year A-GP’s nestlings were the first to fledge. I decided to look for A-GP and Adam went off to look for AY--. I had seen A-GP fly with another towhee towards K2, so I headed in that direction. I wandered around for a bit, seeing nothing, then out of the corner of my eye I saw a bird fly off of a stump, so I went to check it out. Lo and behold, there was a nest on the stump with four eggs, partially concealed by dead leaves and Oregon Grape. Unfortunately the owner had flown off the nest, and I wasn’t sure if it was a towhee or not. I decided to sit down and wait for the owner to come back. A minute or so later, a Hermit Thrush appeared about 15 feet from the nest, doing its characteristic wing-shrugging. It really wasn’t clear if the Hermit Thrush was trying to go back to the nest, but didn’t want to because I was too close, or if it was just an innocent passer-by. I decided to leave and come back after the owner returned. A bit later I returned with Adam and a Song Sparrow flew off the nest. Sigh.