March 12, 2026
Horned Grebe at the Celery Farm
My first ever here. And the spring arrivals are arriving! The grebe was No. 186 on my Celery Farm life…
Nature Done Wright
Incorporating the Celery Farm and Screech Owl Companion blogs
November 4, 2020
More Monday Mysteries Answered
It seems that I never answered a couple of October Mysteries.
Mystery One:
What bird built (and abandoned) this nest?
Know where I took the photo?
This is a Common raven nest — I photographed it at State Line Hawk Watch. (Karl Soehnlein ID'd it for me. Thanks, Karl!)
Mystery Two:
A fellow Bergen County bird lover wrote:
Can you explain why the sparrows in my yard are going into my birdhouses?
There are usually two of them, one enters the birdhouse and stays for up to one minute and then they both fly away.
I see this activity during the spring mating season, but now it’s mid-October ….
I said I had a theory, based on Eastern Bluebird behavior. What do you think?
My theory is that the sparrows are house-hunting for next spring, but Carol Flanagan wrote:
"My" sparrows are doing the same thing. They also come out of the birdhouses in the morning. I think they are checking out places to roost during the upcoming cold weather.
(I'll go with Carol's theory. Thanks, Carol!)
2 comments
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Sorry I wasn’t clear enough. The nest was at Stateline …
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i have looked at every single rock at the farm. shshsh. no nest?
The information stand us fabulous. Sparrows and Red Bellied are in and out in and out. I saw my first flock of Cedar Waxwings past the Dead Zone and two Kingfishers on Lake Appert. Bid day yesterday.
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2 comments
Jim Wright
Sorry I wasn’t clear enough. The nest was at Stateline …
sally
i have looked at every single rock at the farm. shshsh. no nest?
The information stand us fabulous. Sparrows and Red Bellied are in and out in and out. I saw my first flock of Cedar Waxwings past the Dead Zone and two Kingfishers on Lake Appert. Bid day yesterday.