March 26
On March 26th, our family discovered a bird had built a nest behind the skull next to our front door. This began a time of wait, watch, and wonder for our family. Some of you have shared this experience through photos and my notes, as it unfolded. Here is the journey as a whole.
March 30 – Eggs in the nest behind our skull!
March 30
March 30 – And then there were three.
March 30
April 1 – And now, four…
April 1
April 12 – Look who just hatched! I checked this morning and there were four eggs. Came home just now to two baby chicks. I’m thinking we’ll wake up to two more.
April 12
April 13
April 14 – Sunday morning and everybody is sleeping in.
April 14
April 18 – Time for breakfast behind the skull.
April 18
April 21 – Babies are now sprouting tiny feathers. I learned they’re called pin feathers. This makes me think of my own nest.
April 21
April 23 – Bellying up to the bar behind the skull.
April 23
April 28 – The birds today. We can imagine it will be long now, before we go out to an empty nest. The front door is open and we hear a chorus of chirping when the mama bird feeds them.Â
April 28
April 30 – And then there was one. The other three took flight today. They don’t seem to go far yet and prefer to hang out on a nearby bush. This last one flew a little bit and came back to the nest behind the skull. This week there was quite a bit of discussion about the type of bird, whether house finch or sparrow. After a lively discussion among serious birders, I believe house finch was the consensus.
April 30
May 4 – The nest behind the skull sits empty now. When I look closely, I find it woven with strands from our mop, our dog’s hair, and horsehair from the nearby stable.
May 4
May 4 – The nest stands empty, and we wait …
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May 8, 2013 at 2:14 am
Hi Winkie! I struggle to keep up and hate getting on the computer at night, but love to hear from you! Let’s talk by phone sometime soon. Hope all is well. Hugs to Noe’ , kids and you! Love you, Nancy “yates’
Sent from my iPad
May 15, 2013 at 4:08 pm
Dear Nancy, Oh, thanks so much for getting on the computer at night to keep in touch! Yes, let’s talk on the phone again soon! Much love to you, Winkie
May 7, 2013 at 3:21 pm
What a powerful metaphor that unfolds here, Dawn. I will be chewing on this one all day. How a mother builds her nest, how the nest must hold together with its variety of threads and fibers, how fierce and acute the needs are when the nest is occupied, how quickly it becomes empty … a beautiful celebration of life, emotions and all.
May 15, 2013 at 4:07 pm
Dear Kate, I keep reading and re-reading what you wrote here. you express the essence of a mother’s life here with sheer power and poetry. Thank you and thank you.
May 7, 2013 at 1:23 am
I love this, Dawn! How lucky you are to witness their birth, growth and departure. I hope they come back to raise future generations. We had mourning doves at our last house. The papa is present and works w/mom to help the chick. I was fortunate once to see them encouraging a fledgling in flight. He teetered on a fence with baby fluff still clinging to his new feathers and the parents landed next to him and then flew to the rooftop as if to say, “Like this! Easy peasy.” Finally, he took off, his flight lopsided and dipping, but gaining courage, he followed them into the blue.
May 15, 2013 at 3:57 pm
Dear Sandra, What a gift to see a fledgling learning to fly! I wished we had a window looking out at the nest, so we might have glimpsed this. “Like this! Easy peasy.” 🙂 How beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing this image and experience. Abrazos, Dawn
May 6, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Dearest Dawn, Thank you for sharing this Spring Milagro! It lifts my heart this morning. Life is fragile, but it is also tenacious and so very brave. Mucho smooches, Jann
May 15, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Dearest Jann, A spring milagro! Leave it to you to come up with such a gorgeous expression for this experience. Fragile, tenacious, and very brave… Gorgeous. Huge hugs, Dawn
May 6, 2013 at 2:31 pm
Love it!! I have a curve billed thasher nesting in a nearby cholla and there are 4[on May 4]–up from 3[on May 3] eggs –blue with brown speckles, about an inch long. Fun! Liz
May 15, 2013 at 3:34 pm
Dear Liz – Oh, how gorgeous and in your cholla. Fun is right!! Beautiful. Big hugs, Dawn
May 6, 2013 at 4:31 am
This is just wonderful, Dawn! I have sent it to my 3 year old granddaughter. Love, Shirlee
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May 15, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Dear Shirlee, I hope your granddaughter enjoys!! Such a pleasure to share the journey. Love, Dawn
May 5, 2013 at 7:16 pm
Imagine how quickly those baby birds have to GET WITH THE PROGRAM — get rid of those pin feathers and emerge from the nest! I have a similar scene taking place on a rafter out my front door. The babies haven’t hatched yet, but the parents defend the nest every time I go out or come back home by strafing the top of my head with the determined sound of their fierce fluttering. They are tiny birds with huge hearts. I admire them greatly and ignore the messy droppings…
Your pictures really are wonderful!
XO
Liz
May 6, 2013 at 1:31 am
We have a similar experience founding two blue eggs….but mom never returned.
My two girls and their two girlfriends adopted them. We rush into the garage looking to the egg incubator I have long ago bought.
The 4 Moms, look very closely and after 4 days they hatch! My friends got into a local feeding store for bird formula and advice.
The 4 adoptive moms took turns feeding them bird formula with a dropper every 3 hours-including night shift- that was done by my kids because the incubator was there.
We took pictures we learn so much-including that for a good reason nature allows for one, maybe two moms, but 4 was way too much!
Unfortunately after almost two week they died.
It was too hard and painful to decide about the service arrangements. We have had several services and a particular part of the garden was dedicated to all of our animals that have passed away.
I discretely put the birds in the freezer waiting for a decision to be made. That never happen, it was too hard to handle. After a month I buried the two birds in the memorial garden.
May 15, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Dear Liz,
“Tiny birds with huge hearts.” Oh, I love this. So very true. These tiny beings brought such huge joy to our home. So glad that you’re experiencing this as well – yes, does make it easy to ignore their messing droppings.. 🙂 XOXO Dawn
May 5, 2013 at 2:11 pm
Dawn, what a fantastic, sequential story. How about a children’s book? I would buy it for myself 😀
May 5, 2013 at 3:34 pm
Hi Lindy, Oh, what a wonderful idea! Thank you for planting that seed…. hugs!
May 5, 2013 at 2:04 pm
what a great post! I loved seeing the process of the nest, the eggs, the chicks-
Best Wishes Dianne Blanche’s Place 1-719-630-0550 1-888-630-0446 WEB:Blanche’s Place NEWSLETTER: Sign up to receive notifications on new items and specials BLOG: Victorian Vintage Musings Like Us On FaceBook!!!!!!!!
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May 5, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Hi Dianne, So glad you enjoyed! Such a pleasure to share this rare gift of this experience. Thank you for taking the time to write.
May 5, 2013 at 1:49 pm
Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience. Observing such changes really gives you sence of passing time.
May 5, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Hi Anna, Oh, thank you for phrasing this in the sense of passing time, the seasons of life.
May 5, 2013 at 6:02 am
This was an interesting thing to walk through with you. A journey of beginings and perhaps even of ends.
May 5, 2013 at 3:32 pm
Chasity, Fascinating, wasn’t it? I thought so, too. A blessing to experience.
May 5, 2013 at 3:25 am
Hi Andi, This little nest and its inhabits became our focal point during these weeks. Amazing to experience up close. I loved the building materials, as well. “Inventiveness and imagination.” Love that. Opens all kinds of new understandings and wisdom. Thank you!
May 4, 2013 at 11:37 pm
Great.
May 5, 2013 at 3:31 pm
Thanks, Mom! xo
May 4, 2013 at 9:44 pm
Love this post, Dawn. What I find particularly amazing is the nest building materials–horsehair? MOP? That’s inventiveness & imagination for you.