This previous Monday on the 21st I was walking through my back yard and I found a birds nest in the grass with two little eggs in it. I was surprised to find it and it looked like the nest was built there since the brown dead grass middle seemed to be, "hugged," by green live grass. My previous mower quit and I hadn't hired a new one yet, so the yard has been untouched for a few months, but I have two small dogs that roam it on a simi-regular basis. They are primarily indoor dogs, however. My yard is surrounded by a large wood privacy fence, so nothing larger than a chipmunk can visit.
Anyways, I showed my kid, but we left it untouched. We've peaked at it once a day and I've watched my dogs to make sure they don't notice it (they haven't), but we had left it alone for a few days. The way the nest is situated I could only see it after opening the door and walking outside. I have never seen any adult birds by it. I did decide to put a make-shift chicken wire fence around it yesterday with some open spaces near the bottom for the birds (as well as an open top) but the nest seems to be largely untouched. The eggs seemed pretty white when I first found it, but little brown specks have been appearing. They are pretty fine dots, like you see on most bird egg photos. They also seemed to have a bit of pink blush yesterday that wasn't there previously.
Yesterday I also remembered that I had a, "spy cam," in my dogs room that I could use to watch the nest. I set it up on my porch, so it's a good 8 or 9 feet from the nest. I watched it for quiet a few hours last night, 3 to 4 hours before I finally decided to go to bed. It has night vision. I had a pretty wide view due to the distance from the nest, but I didn't see any hint of parents. This morning when I woke up I looked at the Cam but no hint of parents. There were none when I opened the door to let the dogs out either. I haven't visited the nest yet today.
Since it's been 5 days with no signs of adults, is it safe to assume it's abandoned? It's not hurting anything so I can just leave it. I figure if they start to really rot the smell might attract the dogs and I can use that as a sign. My dogs are not the most attached to their wild instincts though, they will run by treats and not notice them.
I've been reading what I could find online of nesting behavior, but there doesn't seem to be much. Dropping two eggs and waiting 5 days to drop #3 seems a bit long. I did see some small birds flying around last night when I was setting up the camera on my porch, but they were at the back of my yard by the trees, no where near the nest (my yard is pretty large). I'll post some pics if that helps.
Weather: It's been really mild, average 60s during the day. I'm on the Northern Coast of Oregon, very close to the ocean.
The top-down NestInYard photo was the first one I took when I found it
I took the nest size photo with the quarter and the, "nestingrass," photo the next day.
The eggblush and the cage photo are both from yesterday.
Anyways, I showed my kid, but we left it untouched. We've peaked at it once a day and I've watched my dogs to make sure they don't notice it (they haven't), but we had left it alone for a few days. The way the nest is situated I could only see it after opening the door and walking outside. I have never seen any adult birds by it. I did decide to put a make-shift chicken wire fence around it yesterday with some open spaces near the bottom for the birds (as well as an open top) but the nest seems to be largely untouched. The eggs seemed pretty white when I first found it, but little brown specks have been appearing. They are pretty fine dots, like you see on most bird egg photos. They also seemed to have a bit of pink blush yesterday that wasn't there previously.
Yesterday I also remembered that I had a, "spy cam," in my dogs room that I could use to watch the nest. I set it up on my porch, so it's a good 8 or 9 feet from the nest. I watched it for quiet a few hours last night, 3 to 4 hours before I finally decided to go to bed. It has night vision. I had a pretty wide view due to the distance from the nest, but I didn't see any hint of parents. This morning when I woke up I looked at the Cam but no hint of parents. There were none when I opened the door to let the dogs out either. I haven't visited the nest yet today.
Since it's been 5 days with no signs of adults, is it safe to assume it's abandoned? It's not hurting anything so I can just leave it. I figure if they start to really rot the smell might attract the dogs and I can use that as a sign. My dogs are not the most attached to their wild instincts though, they will run by treats and not notice them.
I've been reading what I could find online of nesting behavior, but there doesn't seem to be much. Dropping two eggs and waiting 5 days to drop #3 seems a bit long. I did see some small birds flying around last night when I was setting up the camera on my porch, but they were at the back of my yard by the trees, no where near the nest (my yard is pretty large). I'll post some pics if that helps.
Weather: It's been really mild, average 60s during the day. I'm on the Northern Coast of Oregon, very close to the ocean.
The top-down NestInYard photo was the first one I took when I found it
I took the nest size photo with the quarter and the, "nestingrass," photo the next day.
The eggblush and the cage photo are both from yesterday.
