The birds are so active. I have discovered several nests. One is in the oak tree at the country house. It’s way up high. I can see the bird’s head and the tip of her tail feathers through the binoculars. I think it’s a mockingbird. I also found, laying on the ground by the garden, both halves of a hatched dove egg. It was no where near a tree. I guess the nearly constant wind blew it away. I looked in the closest trees but couldn’t find the nest. The cardinal never returned to rebuild her nest in the shrub by the house after the wind blew it down. But, last weekend, the wrens were back! The wrens are one of my favorite birds. Last year, a pair built a nest on the sill of my kitchen window in the city. I was so lucky to be able to watch them brood and feed the babies and then watch as the fledglings gathered their courage and fluttered away.
The fearsome mockingbird.
Here in the city, when we arrived back for the work week, as soon as I let Emma (the cat) out of the truck she was set upon by two mockingbirds. They have been terrorizing her all week. The other day while I was in the shop with the door open, she came flying in with a mockingbird hot on her tail and I mean that literally. We have a sink about six feet from the door of the shop and that bird perched on the edge of the sink making it’s screeing danger call fluttering up and down. Emma was sitting just inside the door keeping her eye on it. I was sure that bird was going to fly into the shop after her but, alas, it’s courage gave out and it flew away. It was in the yesterday, today and tomorrow (one of those old fashioned blooming shrubs) beside the porch yesterday evening giving her hell and all she was trying to do was to get up on the porch and into the house. I haven’t been able to locate it’s nest yet but I did spy a mourning dove nest in one of the lower branches of the pecan. And I think there is a blue jay nest nearby as well.
Spring is so entertaining.
Poor kitty! Our cat used to endure that same taunting. She would go out into the garden and lie down with her ears flat to her head. When the blue jays came to peck her on the head she would role to her back and snag them out of the air with a scramble of open claws. The birds would have been far better off just to have left her be.
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of birds, but no nests anywhere. There's a huge holly hedge at the bottom of our garden, so that seems to attract lots of sparrows and blackbirds, which sound delightful in the morning.
ReplyDeleteWow, so much going on and you see it! Thanks for haring!
ReplyDeleteWelcome Minka.
ReplyDeleteButternut, years ago we had a different cat who was beset upon by blue jays and all they did was attract his attention TO their nest. Once, he was laying on the walk when a jay dove at him. That cat leapt up about two feet straight up off the ground and missed the jay by a hair. They left him alone after that.
How lucky you are to have so many birds and nests so close. We were so fortunate to have watched a robins nest from start to finish last year. Maybe the Mockingbird has a nest nearby.
ReplyDeleteHello Lover, yes I'm sure of it but we have yet to locate it. We think it might be in one of the small trees in my daughter's yard next door.
ReplyDeleteAnd Madame, there are probably nests in the holly hedge but so deep that you can't see them.