I don’t know whose nursery this was just weeks ago. By its size, 1 3/4 inches across the opening, it was someone very small. A hummingbird perhaps?
We walked this beautiful forest trail in the Santee Coastal Preserve this morning, immersed in the foliage colors, followed by a flock of little birds that teased us, flitting from one side of the trail to the other and back again, challenging us to figure out who they were.
Ruby crowned kinglets, chipping sparrows, chickadee, nuthatch, perhaps a pine warbler — a glimpse here and there was all they allowed.
On our way back to the car I lagged behind alone and came upon an object that had not been there 20 minutes before: on the trail, a perfect tiny bird nest. I picked it up, so light I hardly felt it was there.
In my mind I heard one of the little teases in the trees above me say, “This is for you. I know you’ll like it and I don’t need it anymore.”
I carried the nest back to the car and placed it gently in The Writer’s hands. Together we admired the beautiful workmanship, imagined it with jelly-bean size eggs, gaping mouths open for feeding, tiny bird feet perched on the lip for first flight.
What an exquisite gift, what a Delight!
You have to admire the "workmanship" of birds and their nest building.
ReplyDeleteThere is a large magpie nest in a gum street near my bus stop and it is
used every year by the pair of magies. How it has survived the storms
is amazing. The pair have raised chicks in it for the last 4 years.
Cheers
Colin
The delight is in coming up with a story that goes along with the nest. Nests are a little easier to find once the leaves have dropped.
ReplyDeleteAmazing how beautiful their houses are, they are indeed special our birds.
ReplyDeleteWe have a nest in the roses must see if it's still there as the birds have flown..
Take care.
Beautiful, a treasure indeed.
ReplyDeleteWhen you can still experience the sheer joy of a bird's nest, your neurons are all firing in the right direction, Cynthia. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteWe had a little bird nest in my knockout roses under the living room window. I thought there was a nest there because I heard one or maybe two batches of baby birds through the summer, and their mom and dad in and out of the roses all day. They were birds that looked like tiny sparrows, but I believe it was the male, who would just sing and sing throughout the day. They weren't wrens. I knew the nest was in there and finally saw it one day after some of the roses dropped their petals. A couple of weeks later a terrible wind came through the area and my husband spied the little nest on the ground about to blow away. He picked it up and brought it in to me and thankfully I put in a ziplock plastic bag. It didn't have any tree twigs or mud in it, but had a few little thin rose bush branches that didn't have thorns on them and woven round and round the tiny little dried rose branches were dried chives that I had watched those little birds pluck from the last year's dried golden growth from the edge of my chive plant pots. I imagine those little birds must like having a fragrant nest in a rose bush. As I held the zip lock bag in my hand, I noticed a whole bunch of tiny little bugs crawling out of the nest and out into the bag. I feared the ziplock may come unsealed, so I put it back outside. I hope my little Rose Chive Chirpers come back in Spring and build another nest in the roses. They were such sweet little birds.
ReplyDelete