Plume de Ville

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1st April

At 6:40 she goes out. It is dark and grey and it is still full night.

A small branch is next to the nest box and she finds that the perch suits her.

She remains there, sleepy.

He comes and sings nearby. She remained so until 7 am and returned to bed in the nest box for ten minutes. He insist and eventually she leaves for good.



A half-hour later a great construction activity began. First a bit of grass. Mmm! Seen as here, will not pass ...

Serviceable this perch.

Then the moss

If I push and that the body goes, the rest should follow. Isn't?

Well...almost.

It is always a bit difficult to enter these big beakfuls. A little bit remains hung at the entrance. A moment later a small head goes out and gets it.

She will spend about two hours to complete the nest, moss after moss.

Then she passes regularly to pack everything, keeping always uncovered a small patch in the centre located just where the sun enters at noon. Chance? Maybe not, as in previous years I have noticed that position.

Even if she slept in the nest box for over a month, her nest remains perfectly clean.

Saw for the first time a mating this morning.

The couple of great tits pass. Which makes us to attend to an air pursuit, two great tits pursued by two small blue lightning turning full speed around obstacles and thus toured the balcony. It looks like a game to be the most agile. But it is a defence of the territory and he is not happy at all, our friend.

The chap greenfinch passes twice to sing at the top of the poplar.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

2^nd April

Him this morning, which is beginning to lose patience. Having roused the whole neighbourhood he comes to see it more closely. It is 7 a.m. and it is there for a half-hour waiting and singing. It will eventually go for a flight.

She will go out, wait outside, he is not there.

When he comes dashing, she turns her back and returns to bed! Yeah. Rough.

He must wait until 7:15 to join her.

Very busy all day. She puts all she's got in it.

Second mating observed on the balcony.

Still another big one. She will lose a good deal.

I picked up the clump of moss and place it in the cotton dispenser (white).

In his next voyage she sees it immediately and takes it to the nest box.

A little gift. The picture is not very good. It looks like a spider.
He hunts for her, insects which are necessary at the beginning of the breeding season.
He brings his gift and she accepts the delicacy with appetite.

Her and Him. Just after. (Failed to take the feeding, quickly swallowed the bug).

She is not there. He would like to see what happens inside the nest box. He hesitates, looks, gets on tiptoe but he did not enters.

She works all day. Late in the day, she starts to bring soft things. The centre is completed; you don't see the wood anymore.

The feverish activity today, the flow of "soft" and mating sawn, suggest that by the end of the week, there may well be the beginning of the laying.
(I may be wrong, we'll see).

He's here my friend European greenfinch. Or rather, I think it is SHE's here.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

6 April

The female continued to build the nest bringing occasionally still moss. No start of laying. She is right because the weather is again cold, windy and rainy.

The feathered alarm clock rings still very early (he is here at 6:15).

At morn he looks forward to ...

...The morning encounter in a joyful mish-mash of feathers.

Day of dry grass. The nest overflows.
Some feathers.

During the day she arranges the nest bowl, in the centre, but at night she prefers to sleep in his favourite corner. The entrance to the nest box is at right of the photo. Since the beginning she likes to sleep against the opposite wall.

She relocates at the centre.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

7 April

2°C this morning and...  snow. Not enough to ski. A (small) event, it is increasingly rare in Paris.

At right, the interior garden. At left the wood pigeons flowerpot.
Too much vegetation on the terrace, the snow does not hold, then no snowy terrace.

Always straw and dry grass. She just reinstalled the bowl at the centre of the nest.




This noon. Curious object that she brought  (photo at right). A leaf, a petal?

Afternoon. It is 17:30, no visit to the nest box since 14h.

He just comes to defend its territory from time to time, grumbling me because after weathering a little cleanup was needed and snow or not, I wanted to take out the plants that have spent the winter sheltered and which are looking for the light of spring.

Gardening is done in laps of fifteen minutes. Between each stage I leave his territory some time. His bird-friend is not here. Curious.

His belle returned to bed at 20:15.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

8 avril

Clair and quiet day. Still cold, 2 °C this morning. 9 °C in the afternoon.

6:50 Morning meeting.























Day dedied to white today.

Watch VIDEO   (1154ko 24s)








The little yellow feather? No, no alien on the balcony, but feathers of my parakeets in full moulting, large reserve of feathers. But she does not find the large ones soft enough.

She does not like the hard part of the shaft and she shears them to keep only the barbs.

Here, this is fairly soft. Still you must take a bit.

Unmatched acrobats, for difficult jobs they are better upside down.