I love birds.
From my aviary, which my husband lovingly built for me to house my canaries and finches, to the many different birds that visit my garden.
I especially love spring, when I find different types of birds busily building their nests (many which return year after year to the same spot).
Each year I have a pair of nuthatches that build their nest in a very protected corner of my roofline.
And each year English sparrows return to build their nest in an old birdhouse we found years ago.
But this year I was blessed with something I’ve never seen in my garden – a pair of Dark Eyed juncos.
As I was gardening near my office one day, I knew there must be a nest nearby as they kept flying close to me, softly chirping their warnings to ‘SCRAM!’ I searched and searched but couldn’t find a nest anywhere. And I’m usually pretty good at finding nests.
Then one day I was watering the ivy growing out of my grandfather’s minnow bucket and a bird flew out of it right at me, scaring both of us to death.
A Ha! As I peeked inside the pot, I finally found their nest.
It is the cutest little nest, with the cutest little eggs!
The next day I went back to peek on the eggs and found this!
But what I really love is the routine mama bird goes through before entering her nest. Every. Single. Time. She first hops on this one specific branch of my old rosebush.
Then she hops over to this little wire basket to continue scouting for any lurking danger.
Then she hops onto the metal branch before making the mad dash back into her nest.
I can’t tell you what joy it brings me to hear these babies chirp for food while I’m working in my office.
It’s the little things in life that often bring the most joy, wouldn’t you agree?
9 Comments
I love this post – the pictures are wonderful. My Mother loved birds so much and I know her love and awe of birds transferred to me. When I was a little girl, a bird flew into our living room and slammed against the big window thinking she could get outside. She hurt herself and broke a wing. My Mom took her to the vets in a shoe box and came home with this bird with it’s wing in some sort of splint. I am sure it was pretty costly because my father was not too happy about the whole deal. My mom had taken so many stray animals of all kinds to the vets I am sure he got used to it at some point.
I can’t believe I missed this post. What a wonderful little nest! We have Dark-eyed Juncos everywhere here. One is completely in love with his own reflection, and is either tapping on the front door wreath hanger (that’s a shiny brass), or staring at himself in the side-view mirror of my truck! For as many as we have though, as for as many fledglings as I’ve seen this spring, I’ve never found one of their nests. We do have Pacific-slope flycatchers nesting this spring on our porch-light, that I expect to hatch in the next few days. I hope they hatch. Your hatchling Juncos are adorable!
Cuteness! I love how you used yellow arrows to show us the bird’s movements—like Family Circle when the kids are running around the neighborhood.
Very cool Rebecca. I have doves that come back to my front porch every year, but they aren’t too bright and are poor nest builders. Half the time the nest (such as it is) falls from the beam, breaking the egg/eggs. I don’t pester them as they’ve always been fairly clean guests aside from the twigs and grass laying around when construction is going on. One year they nested in a hanging pot outside my kitchen window. Was a great place to watch the chicks grow and earn their wings.
Is that the same bird that dive bombed me a while back when I walked under you rose arbor?
Very cool that you found the nest.
Animals are so amazing to watch. One of my cats takes the same circuitous route around the couch to go down stairs every single time.
Those tiny eggs were so cute! I’m jealous, no bird has ever made a nest in any of my pots!
Oh, I absolutely agree! How exciting. Hope they come back next year.