It’s been awfully stormy around here lately. We’ve had quite a bit of rain and, unfortunately, lots of humidity. I noticed yesterday that the large brown patches of grass that I’ve been seeing everywhere have disappeared. It’s good for the garden, the grass and our well. But I know many of you are facing endless days of of hot, dry weather and my heart goes out to you with the wish that rain will come to you soon.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I love birds. I watch them, worry about them, give them water to drink and generally delight in their presence.
Recently, I had just finished mowing the lawn, which means I was pretty tired, and was in the process of putting the mower back into the shed. I often clear out the grass that has collected under the mower before I put it away. This time there was a lot of wet grass underneath that I pulled out in chunks.
The shed has two windows and two window boxes. After I had put the mower away, I noticed a lot of dry grass in the corner of one of the window boxes. Since I had grass on my brain, I grabbed the pile of grass and put it on the ground, wondering where it had come from.
A week or so later: same scenario, same discovery. I again pulled it out of the window box, wondering if the grass had fallen there somehow. (I know. You’re thinking: Uh, Claudia…just how would that happen?) It wasn’t until later that day that I realized it might be a nest. It was so loosely thrown together, with no real defined shape, that I thought it was simply a clump of grass.
I retrieved it from the ground, looked closely at it and saw a little scooped-out area. Oh. Definitely a bird nest. But no eggs. It clearly had been recently constructed.
I put it back. Here’s a photo of it, but believe me, when I first discovered it, I didn’t see anything other than grass.
Oh, I feel for you. In early May I had a robin`s nest in the cherry tree in our back garden. I took a few pictures (did`t touch it); there were 2 beautiful blue eggs in the nest at the time. The moma watched me and yelled at me the whole time. The next day I went back and there were three! I was so excited to go back the next day for more! Well, the next day the nest was empty … no sign of anything on the ground below. I was soooo sad. What happened to the eggs, where was moma? Like you, I`ll never know but it kept me up at night, Claudia.
S
xo
I’ve done similar in the past – pulled a clump of what I thought was debris from a bush only to find it was a half -built nest! I doubt they’ll return to a disturbed nest, BUT you never know, I’d leave it for a while just to be certain.
Love the pic of the reflection in the bird bath Claudia. We had a tremendous and quite dangerous storm Sat. evening and lost our power throughout the night – early bedtime for a change and reading with a book light!
Still hot here but that rain helped the garden a little, and filled the bird baths.
Happy week – hope things go well.
Hugs – Mary
I’m so happy you posted this today.
I have seen clumps of grass similar to yours and have never thought much about it….oh my, we have many doves around our house, usually on the telephone wires or in the grass eating fallen bird seed. Next time, we will leave those clumps for the birds :(
I would have felt exactly the same way, but those doves are quite resourceful in their nest building, so don’t be worried. Pretty soon you will see the doves again and they will let you know all is well. Ann
That’s too bad, but in a good way, if you can so easily discover the nest so could a predator. Maybe you saved them lots of grief.
We have what I thought were doves here, cooing….but my nephew said that they are only pidgeons…well aren’t they just doves also?
LOL.
Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams
Oh, Claudia, I would be going through the very same angst you are! It also sounds like something I would definitely do! I do hope Mama and Papa come back and try again! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Donna
Sometimes, we all act like ogres tramping through the natural world. I offer an apology to the universe whenever I realize I’ve done it. ~ Maureen
Maybe they’re done with building it and it will be awhile before they nest in it? Don’t worry. Birds are resourceful creatures.
Brenda
I don’t know if they’ll come back..Robins and bluebirds are relentless..They always come back..I guess to be safe, I’d leave it alone…
I had a landlord like you once… Relax, when it’s time to nest, it’s time to nest and maybe this year ‘your’ birds didn’t have time to put up yet another nest and they moved on. The important thing is you’ve learned and if you want to have birds there in the future you can learn a bit more and possibly attract a nice family next year. This is one of the reasons I blog – to tell the world the silly things I’ve done and to read about everyone else’s silliness (to misquote Jane Austen).
If it’s any comfort the doves probably left before that horrible storm hit. Take care.
They obviously like the spot…stay hopeful!
I LOVE the sky reflection in the water bird bath..just lovely … you have a keen eye
Mourning doves nest in strange places…often out in the open…in messy nests. I’m always amazed that the young aren’t taken by predators more often. I’m sure they just went somewhere else and constructed a new one!