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Master Weaver Final Show
- 1. Master weaver A masked weaver bird has been busy building nests in our garden all summer. Join me to see his progress and dedication. © WiaKotzé 2010
- 2. The beginning… When I noticed the bird for the first time he was almost finished with the second nest. I then learnt that they keep at it all summer and may build more than 25 nests on average per season. Well this one ended up with about 40 nests! Lets look at some of them!
- 3. Let’s call him “Mr Weaver”
- 4. The female weaver bird – much less colourful than the male
- 5. Mr Weaver building another nest next to the older one Adding some finishing touches to the entrance More building material to add to the top
- 6. Good balance is important…
- 7. Then Mrs. Weaver came to see what’s up and do an inspection…
- 8. He first looked at the older nest as if considering some renovations but then decided to demolish the newer nest
- 10. Only the old nest remaining and more leaves removed from the twigs.Contrary to what I believed it is not the female that breaks up the nest. In this instance the male did ALL the demolishing.
- 11. Early on an overcast morning he started the next nest. Note the long threads and loops to secure the building material to the cleaned twig…Later that morning he already made some considerable progress
- 12. This process continued and at some stage there were four nests in various stages of completion.Right at the bottom you can see part of the oldest nest and Mrs Weaver watching. . .
- 13. Mr Weaver trying his level best and the Missus looking on sitting next to the older nest.
- 14. Conflict!! Mrs. Weaver checking the progress and Mr. Weaver taking off agitated!
- 15. Maybe more secure and wider at the top and a better entrance may please her better?
- 16. Well, she did not like that either. . . A clean start for the next round and the old nest still intact. . .
- 17. This older nest stayed on for more than a week and the female often went in and sometimes stayed put for quite a while.The nest had since dried out considerably too.Eventually it was demolished as well
- 18. Another male paid a visit a few times too but Mr Weaver did not seem to be upset by the intrusion
- 19. The work continued from sunrise to sunset. . .
- 20. Taking a break. . .
- 21. And there were some visitors too. . .
- 22. Decisions, decisions. . .
- 23. Drat!! Here she comes again and I am not finished yet!
- 24. Another nest half finished
- 25. Mrs. Weaver wants to see what’s up!
- 26. Can’t you wait till I am finished? There is not enough room for both of us!!
- 27. Buzz off!!
- 28. I have to fix something inside! OK then!! Have a look!
- 29. It’s hard work when she interferes all the time. . .
- 30. I need more building material!! My goodness! She is back again!!
- 31. …and so he continued day after day, building, waiting for her inspection and sometimes calling her, then mostly demolishing again and starting from scratch – day in and day out – throughout the season over a period of about 5 months building more than 40 nests
- 32. Adding some final touches once again. . .
- 33. Diligently and patiently building, building, building . . .
- 34. Often doing a little dance while calling her . . .
- 35. …and then at the end of summer it was all in vain…and now the tree is growing new leaves again and he will wait till next summer… even his bright red mask is fading as winter approaches…
- 36. The end