the nest

It was full.

                                                             And now it is empty.

It seemed a little quiet out on the front patio. So, I reached my arm up and snapped a photo of the nest. And sadly, it was empty. Something got in there and stole the babies. As Chuck replied when I texted him the news..."how do any of these birds ever survive?" It's a sad thing. The last time we had baby cardinals, I saw a roadrunner snag one in its beak and take off over the fence. Snakes, giant rats, roadrunners...leave the baby birds alone!

Ironically, the day I found the nest empty was the day we were packing up Leah to move back up to her college town. She is taking some summer classes and we found her a cute little apartment. No more dorm life !

Rachel is splitting her time between here and her school apartment. She is working part time close to our house and working on an internship with her professor at school. 

So, as the bird nest was empty, so is ours... again.  Partially.

while mama and dad were away

the little ones were napping.

They are growing.
Their feathers are starting to sprout.
Cute.

baby chirps

In the nest.

My sister commented on my last post that even though I said I would stay away from the cardinal nest... I just couldn't help myself. Well, today it got the best of me too! I could hear little tiny chirping from the nest, all day, as I have been walking to and fro from the house to the garage. This afternoon, as I could see that both the mama and papa cardinal were away, I stretched my arm up and snapped a photo. I didn't know what I would see as I viewed the picture on my camera but, just like the surprise of the six little blue eggs...today there are five newly hatched baby cardinals. One more egg still tucked in underneath them. So fresh, so bald, so open mouthed waiting for their next meal. I put a tray of seed out on the patio this morning hoping the cardinals would like a treat.

Perhaps if they do, it will be a peace offering for taking a sneak peek!

bird update

I told you the birds are everywhere right now. This plant sits near the back patio door. The shelves get used for pool towels, sunscreen and a variety of other things. My point being, this is not a very secluded spot and yet....

A quail burst out of the plant yesterday, scaring my ever-loving-wits, only to have me discover a little pile of eggs. I watered around them and noticed the mama is there again this morning. Perhaps when I look again there will be an egg or two more in there. This is a great spot for quail watching. However, based on the time we watched the little babies kamikaze themselves out of the potted plant on the front patio, I have to wonder why they lay their eggs so high up. Oh ya, to keep the ground dwelling predator's from stealing their eggs.

The quail just lay their eggs wherever. They don't build a nest at all. No pre-nesting for these mama birds. I've even seen them plop their eggs into empty clay flower pots in our open potting shed.

And here, right next to the plant she is laying her eggs in right now, is an old empty cardinal's nest from last summer.  The mama quail had an empty nest just inches from where she is laying her eggs. Ha!

Speaking of cardinals. This morning we were out front sweeping, trimming and watering. Both the male and female cardinal flew away from the rose bush. 

            So, I decided to get my camera. See the nest all tucked away in the branches?

I stepped in a little closer and stretched my arm in and snapped a quick photo.

When I viewed the picture back I could see these little beauties inside the nest! Aren't they pretty? It is interesting that there are three speckled and three solid blue eggs. I wonder if they are female and male eggs? Like the adult birds, the males being more showy than the females.

It will be nice to keep a casual eye on these two nests.

hey there cardinal

It's all about the birds right now. The quail are nesting anywhere they can. The dove are making their haphazard nests on anything as high as possible. We have seen a couple of orioles up in the palm and magnolia trees presumably building their unique nests. Their songs and chirps and chatter are very enjoyable to listen to.

The cardinals are tough birds to photograph. They are flighty and like to hide their nests deep in the foliage. But, I have seen this one, and his female companion, darting out from the rose bush on the front  patio. I took a peek the other day and sure enough...a little nest is hiding inside. The cardinals really watch over their nests. They take turns sitting on it and the male, being so bright and conspicuous, does a tap-dance of sorts before flying into the nest. He lands on first one tree branch, then another, then another plant until he finally scoots into the thick coverage of the rose bush. I guess he is trying to fool you as to where the nest is really at. I'm not getting close enough to see if there are eggs. I sure don't want to give away his secret. So, I will just keep my ears listening for some little peeps and hope to see some little heads from a distance.

I love hearing all of these birds, most especially the song birds singing their little hearts out. It makes me happy to wake up to the sound of them in my left ear.

Hey birdie.

To all the Moms I know

                                                                Happy Mother's day!

To my three kiddos , thanks for letting me be your mom!

I sure do love you best.      

hoser poser

Here is a hose. 

Here is a sprinkler not attached to the hose.

                  Here is the sprinkler not attached to the hose... not attached to the snake.

                                      That was a snake pretending to be a hose.

                                                     Lesson over.

just peachy...shhh

This is our little peach tree.

I've been reluctant to take any pictures or say anything about the fact that it actually has some pretty decent peaches on it this year. Because, I figure once I pay any attention to it, then every other creature around here will take notice. Last year we had a few tiny little peaches, but the birds made a few meals out them and that was the end of the fruit excitement.

                                                Behold!  A beautiful fuzzy peach.

                                                             Two lovely peaches.

                                      And here, a cluster of three sweet little peaches.

                                         Hmmm....I'm not sure what happened here.

                                         It's a little tree. But hopefully it will be mighty.

                                        Let's hope I haven't drawn too much attention to it.

                                                    Fresh peaches with vanilla ice cream.

                                                                 Yes please.

may first

                       
                                             Happy May Day !