Tuesday, June 8, 2004

If you wait long enough...

For a couple years in a row, a bird tried to build a nest on the outside light by my front door.  My grandpa would come over every day and take away all the grass that the bird had put there the previous day.  I just couldn't see having a nest there right where we open the door.
Two years ago, the bird never did get the message, and laid her eggs there even though her nest was gone.
I felt so terrible.  I swore that, the next time I saw a bird's nest, I didn't care where it was, no one was removing it.
I changed lights so the birds would no longer have a platform to be tempted by, and I waited to see if they would pick another place on my porch.
Last year, the birds didn't come, and I figured they were traumatized by the mean human living here, and they would never come back.
So early this year, when they started building a nest on the opposite side of my door, on the outside of the porch overhang, we were thrilled!
We waited, and waited, and waited.  There was a perfect little nest there.  We could only see grass hanging down from the porch...you had to go to the yard to see the nest from the outside. It's the perfect place!
After a while, both the mommy and the daddy bird were sitting on the nest all the time.  I didn't know both of them did that.  They were so valiant!
Then they stopped sitting on the nest all the time, and I was confused.  Where did they go?  Did that mean the eggs were not going to hatch?  For a couple weeks I was sure that the baby watch was over and something bad must have happened.
But yesterday, another mom from down the street came over yesterday to collect her child and said, "Did you know your babies were born?".
Yes!
I ran out to the yard, and, behold, I saw four little baby bird heads popping up out of the nest.  It was dinnertime and the mom (or was it the dad?) were flying back and forth, fetching them dinner.
Whew!  I'm glad all that pacing and worrying is over...
Oh wait!  It's when they leave the nest that the worrying really starts, right?

7 comments:

  1. i'm so glad you finally had a nest of eggs that hatched!  it won't take them long to fledge and fly away.  but you may actually get a second nestful later in the summer.  they are probably either sparrows or house finches,  both of these nest clost to humans and are not afraid of them. i used to get housefinches nesting in hanging baskets all the time when we lived on Cape Cod and i had lots of hanging plants.  makes watering a real puzzle!  we had a nest of three baby robins right outside the living room window this spring, they grew by leaps and bounds every day.  now they're gone and we have - an empty nest!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE THIS STORY!  it's so wonderful, michelle!  i wish you could take a pic of them and post it here in your j!  oh those sweet little babies.  now a family!  smiling.  thank you for the heart touching way you started my day today!!!  hug and kiss!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cute entry!!  On the house next door to us birds always make a nest underneath the roofing or now they have actually made a hole they go into on the eve of the house...it's right outside my window and i love watching them feed the babies every day.  I don't dare say a word to our neighbors...cuz I don't wanna see them plug up the hole!!!  lol.  Have a great day!!  Julie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Michelle!

    On my Grandparents' back deck, they have this little flower pot hanging from the roof.  A family of birds have moved in!!  The baby birds hatched a few weeks ago, and my kids just love watching them.  The plant is hanging right in front of the sliding glass door, just beautiful!

    Jan

    ReplyDelete
  5. This was such a beautiful entry! I'm glad the birdies came back and made another nest on the opposite side! about 9 years ago a bird had built it's nest on a friend of mines porch light, same as yours. My friend and i had gone out for the evening and when we came back, her apartment had caught fire. The fire started in her porch light b/c of the birdies nest! My friend lost ALOT in the fire. Now, When i see a bird is starting her family nest in my light, i now remove them too. But hooray for the proud new birdie parents (and you,giggle)!
    Angel

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awww, I wish you had pictures to show of the new hatchlings!  What an exciting event.  Birth is amazing, isn't it?  Doesn't fail to inspire awe.

    Where are the birdies now?  Have they flown out on their own yet?

    ReplyDelete
  7. The babies are still there, but much bigger now than they were.  And much louder!  They went from cute, barely audible, 'Peep peeps', to very loud, demanding, 'PEEP I'M HUNGRY PEEPS!'.  I'll miss them so much when they go away, but Windmills is keeping my spirits up with her comments that we may get more later on!

    I'm not sure if I'll be able to get pictures in here, but I'll definitely try!

    ReplyDelete