Running a bit late this morning as we were sitting on the sofa in the living room and I noticed a bird flying back and forth. I thought he was going to the birdbath but then I realized that he was building a nest in this:
Do you remember Don placing this way up high in a niche in the maple? It’s meant to be used for a nest. It was there all last year with no activity, but this year? I think we have potential tenants. I say ‘potential’ because nothing is happening at the moment. Were they scared off by our excited voices inside the house? I took this with my big girl camera but before that I had only my phone and if you look closely at this blurry photo below, you can see the bird either coming in or out of the opening.
I hope they stay!
Still no activity. I can see the little trailer right outside the den window as I write this. I can’t tell exactly what kind of bird it was – there was no time to capture it digitally. Maybe a wren?
Anyway, we got very excited by the prospect of some neighbors. Fingers crossed!
As to numbering the posts, I’m still not sure. We’ll hit our two-week mark on April 14th. But, you’re right, the pandemic continues. On one hand, after 13 years of writing a post every day, I always find it rather a pain to come up with any post title, so the numbering has been a nice break from all of that. On the other hand, I don’t want it to continue for months. I’ll simply wait and see how I feel. Thanks so much for weighing in!
We ended up pruning the burning bush yesterday, which was time consuming and tiring, as it’s quite tall. I started raking out some of the big garden bed and taking loads of debris to the pile by the shed. Today, I’m going to go a little easier and simply pot the pansies. The weather has been glorious – highs of 70 degrees and abundant sunshine.
Stay safe.
Happy Thursday.
At least you are counting forward and not counting down. What would happen when you reached “1”, then zero? LOL
Ha!
Stay safe, Tana!
such an exciting possibility to have new neighbors in that sweet birdhouse! i hope someone is moving in!!!
potting pansies sounds a whole lot easier than what you’ve already done. glad you have something easier and enjoyable to do today.
we had a nice rain late yesterday and i loved it, what i saw of it. conked out early and that’s good. needed that sleep, needed that rain.
and i expect to get my taxes done tomorrow (friday!) that will feel good, too.
hope you all have a nice day and stay safe.
kathy in iowa
It’s a lovely day – 73 degrees. That won’t last as it’s going to get cooler, but that’s okay.
Stay safe, Kathy.
Hi,
How wonderful to have new neighbors . I believe today is day I put out the birdhouse that wrens chose to move into last year.
Have a lovely day,
Kaye
Park City, UT
I haven’t seen the bird at all since this morning!
Stay safe, Kaye.
Oh, I hope new tenants settle in! It’s a cute bird house — it deserves a nest!
I did raking yesterday and planted my strawberries. I’ll put in the other two new thyme plants today, which is a bit cooler but lovely. Then maybe a few springy things in the house as the bunnies have gone to rest for another year. Potting pansies is a perfect task for today.
Post naming is hard — I hate coming up with new names, too. This has worked pretty well but does it get distressing, too? Maybe setting an end date — 500 posts or something. No one says you have to stick to it but it’s about three months or so till you’re there. Who knows what it will be like then? I am both optimistic and (because I live in Michigan) pessimistic!
Oh Jeanie, that made me laugh! I live in west Michigan and I feel the same.
I understand. I am, too. My sister lives in Florida with all the anti-maskers. Need I say more?
Stay safe, Jeanie.
I am lucky
Been here a month and have not seen one person without masks until I got gas. College kids from Illinois…ludicrous…in Indiana every time I went down for mail or out to trash they didn’t mask. Must be the area of the state…
They live in the Tampa/St. Pete area. It’s also bad in Miami. You’re lucky, but believe me, that is not the norm for Florida.
Stay safe.
I live in Palm Harbor/Clearwater/St Pete area…I have been lucky.
Son moved from Texas to WV to Cleveland to Miami to California to Washington to Tampa (office there) to San Fran and now works out of San Fran but kept home here near Tampa. I have been lucky I guess…not seeing the unmasked…thankfully…I have moved 31 times and son has me beat. I guess after seeing those in Indy who refused to mask, it has been better here for me in Palm Harbor. My son works from home and doesn’t have place in San Fran anymore. He bought house here on Gulf few years ago and then this condo for mom…I love it here…of course, have been coming to Florida all my life…that and South Carolina beaches. Love love love your blog…keep writing and keep counting…it is focusing for some of us.
Palm Harbor is right near my sister. Keep in mind that she travels all over that area – including Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Pete treating children – she’s an occupational therapist. So she sees a LOT of Floridians on a daily basis.
Oh, how fun. I do hope the ‘new people’ decide to stay and build a nest. Think of all the great pictures you’ll be able to take.
We have a leucistic robin building a nest in an evergreen right by our front porch. We’ll probably have to stop using our front door once the eggs are laid.
It finally rained last night….we are thankful, as it has been extremely dry around here. Have fun putzing in the garden! ;)
I love pansies but I never plant them. I don’t know why, really. I think I will this year. A pot on the porch, perhaps.
I hope your tenants stay, they will be fun to watch.
I didn’t plant them until about 3 years ago and now I love them.
Stay safe, Marilyn!
We’ve been through that. Tip toeing around so as not to disturb the babies.
Stay safe, Donna!
Such a cute birdhouse! Hope they move in! We have had a robin pecking at our kitchen windows and we think it is going to build a nest on top of the back porch light. A precarious location! Guess it is that time of year…
Stay safe!
I stayed in an apt while working in Wisconsin and there was a robins nest on top of the porch light. They did just fine and I got to watch all the babies hatch and fledge. It was wonderful!
Stay safe, Ellen!
Our birdhouses are out and minor repairs have been done from last year’s tenants. We usually have a couple of Wrens who nest and one house that is filled with Sparrow nests from early spring through late summer. The Mourning Doves nest in crazy places! It always amazes me where they choose to bring up their babies. But, I have to say, they are excellent parents.
We finally got some rain overnight and then again this morning. It is really needed. And our temps are back to a more normal range in the upper 50’s to low 60’s. The upper 70’s were kind of crazy so early.
Have fun planting those pansies! You will be so happy seeing their happy faces out your windows. Take care.
We’ve seen mourning dove nests on the window will on our shed! They’re also seemingly assembled in a haphazard manner, though I’m sure they’re strong. I haven’t seen any mourning doves so far this year, which always makes me sad. They’re my favorite bird.
Stay safe, Chris.
you are so. lucky to be in the 70s. We are in the 50s if we are lucky, and rain. I have some herbs to put in pots and would love to but some outside where I like to see the bees and butterflies when they bloom. they attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Like to see that everyday.
Really nice to hear of your better weather, and I love when your Midwest/East Coast readers speak of lilacs in their midst! And isn’t it fun to think you’ll have nesting neighbors! What a good idea, for you and Don to provide the birds with a little help. This will be fun for you to share and I look forward to more descriptions and photos.
I used to live in a really old neighborhood with houses from the 1920s and 1930s. We had an ancient telephone pole which had a whole bunch of holes in it, pecked at by woodpeckers, so bright in their black and white and red coloring, who’d sit on nests in these small holes, ‘way up high in the sky. I would watch them for great lengths of time; was fascinating! I felt sorry for them when the power company replaced that pole because those birds had gone to a lot of work over a lot of years to carve out that space for their eggs. I read once that the male actually sometimes sits on the eggs so that the female can go somewhere else and rest for awhile. I thought that was a really interesting dynamic; the shared responsibility. I otherwise don’t know a whole lot about birds in the yard although my mom sure did; she had a field book, would sit by the window, and identify all kinds of diff species at the feeders and birdbaths.
I’m a little worried about my one remaining outdoor/semi-feral cat of age 13. He lost his mommy, with whom he was heavily bonded, last Fall and I wondered if he’d survive without her because he’d never not had feline companionship. I can well understand his grieving and I’ve really tried to research the subject. I’ve also tried to trudge on for him with the outdoor shelters, the daily feeding, always fresh water. But, increasingly, he’s hardly around; the food hasn’t been touched day after day (I can’t do this forever; I feed him expensive food since there’s so little else I can do for him since he’s a creature more of the wild than not; is not a situation of hands-on human [these aren’t stray cats or alley cats; they’re feral; there’s a difference; they’re born in the ‘bush’ and live in the ‘bush’ over several acres of very little disturbance by humans]; it’s a waste of food and I’m on a budget nor do I want to start attracting other wildlife like the raccoons).
We have spottings of him, randomly (so I know he’s still alive; hope he’s still alive), and I think what maybe has happened is that he’s sought the companionship of other cats somewhere else in the neighborhood (these cats come down into ‘civilization’, straddling both ‘worlds’; some sort of telepathy about where to find food [where are ‘the cat ladies’!!]; someone who is cat-friendly and who’s put out food, enough for all). I’ve never been able to get close to him in proximity; these cats always keep their distance of several feet; but, in recent weeks, he sees me and runs the other direction (hurts my feelings!!), so I don’t know too if, at his age, he’s suffering from some senility, which is not uncommon in elderly/senior cats. I just didn’t want it to end this way because I’ll always worry about him. When he was humanely trapped for neutering as a baby, he was so little that the vet assistant could hold him on his back in just her one hand. We have a long history, this kitty-his mom-and me, yet I’ve always had so little control over the situation. Is another thing making me sad, so I’m about to do what I always do; go sniff my roses. My goodness, they are so beeuuutiful this year!
glad you have the roses. hope you get happy surprises with your cat, the son.
really nice of you to help him and his mama before him. thank you for that, too, vicki.
kathy in iowa
…thank you, kathy, for your kindness; I’ve just scrolled back and have seen your comment 3 days later but I always appreciate your thoughtfulness when I ‘spill’…and it’s equally kind that Claudia lets us ‘talk’ here…I hope you’re having a nice weekend (btw, he came to feed last night and I talked to him for a long time; he closed his little eyes to the sound of my voice, which made me feel a little better, and he stayed put, didn’t run away; my husband doesn’t feel the cat is losing weight, so that’s a good sign)…
I hope the birds choose your little trailer to raise their brood! Baby birds would be so sweet. The robins love to nest in our cherry tree. The mourning doves seem to think three sticks make a nest. Sometimes that works, sometimes it’s a fail. One special year the chickadees used a birdhouse my older son made in cub scouts decades ago. If I could choose one bird to use our birdhouse though, it would be the linnets who have the sweetest song of all, imho. I really guess I should customize a dwelling to their specifications!
The weather is warming quickly here. I can hear chickadees each morning. Robins come for a delicious worm dinner whenever I water the lawn. The tulips have started blooming. I’m busily pruning roses, cleaning away old leaves off perennials, dividing rhubarb and inspecting the peonies as they send up new shoots. I love Spring! New life, new hope, fresh start!
Enjoy each day!
They’re back and they continue to build the nest!
I love Spring, as well!
Stay safe, Roxie.
How wonderful the birds have chosen the RV lifestyle! I hope they make a happy family there. We’ve put up bird houses over the years, but so far the only tenants we’ve had are squirrels who eat their way into entrances to fit them. I love them, too.
This, it turns out, is the perfect size opening for a wee bird like a wren. He’s back today and we’re thrilled.
Stay safe, Nora.