Monday, April 30, 2007

Survival of the Fittest

This is the bird that built a nest in our tree:





This is the mother bird sitting on her eggs, honing her biological instincts; nurturing her babies and warming them to life:





This is the protective mother bird, shooting me the evil eye for getting in too close, even with my telephoto lens, but what was I supposed to do it kept focusing on those stupid white flowers no matter which angle I tried and it was making me crazy:





This is the precious cargo the mother bird is doing her best to bring to fruition, and don't worry, we didn't scare her off for good, she keeps coming back:





Unfortunately, this is the tree the very stupid bird selected in which to build her nest:



It sits right next to our garage door, and for the first two days, every time we opened or shut the door, she flew off, which leads me to believe she is way too skittish to be a mother. It's also next to the driveway, the sidewalk, and most unfortunate, is the occasional recipient of a stray soccer or basketball courtesy of the Escoe children and neighborhood kids.

I fear for the future of the eggs.

Over-easy, anyone?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

first one to post!
first one to post!
first one to post!

i just had to write and tell you that a momma bird decided to build a nest on top of my wreath that hangs on our front door.

our front door!

if i know ahead of time someone is coming i make them come through the garage to keep from scaring her! it has 5 eggs in it and i'm sure when the babies hatch they will be bird poop ALL OVER my front door and porch. oh, well.
it sure is cute now!

hope all is well with you and yours!

love and prayers,
kristy in WV

Anonymous said...

we have a duck that has a nest with 10 eggs in a bush outside our church doors. Do you know how hard it is to keep so many little hands from those eggs!? Some one practically has to stand guard the nest before and after church - the kids are so excited to see the eggs!

Kristina
Ohio

Anonymous said...

Do you remember my MIL story with the bird eggs? OH!!!!!!!!!! Yours are in better hands without a doubt.

Anonymous said...

this brought back a BAD memory of when we thought this year we were EARLY enough to move the next by the front door (envision bat-like attacks numerous times a day...) and the awful carnage still haunts me....
i am NOT signing my name, which i always do, but don't want any PETA rath....

Anonymous said...

Kristie, that is too funny. Last year, we had a bird build a nest in a metal basket hanging on our front door that was filled with fake flowers. It took me a while to figure out that there was actually a nest in there, but every time we opened the front door, mama bird flew away. The 4 little eggs hatched, and two weeks later, one by one, the little birdies flew away. And left me with a door basket, fake flowers and even front door covered in bird poop. And for the record, Kristy in WV, bird poop is NOT easy to scrub off a front door!

Pam D said...

We had a bird nest in the honeysuckle vines on the fence a few weeks ago; it was a cardinal nest. 3 eggs, and they hatched. We told our son that sometimes the nest isn't big enough for all the babies; sure enough, next day there was a dead baby bird on the ground. Dear son was ready to massacre the other two birds for being so mean (only child; can you tell?). A week later, the nest was empty; I'm thinking that momma birds are a lot smarter than momma humans. A couple of weeks sitting on the eggs, a couple of weeks chewing up worms, and then they're done!

Leece said...

Oh wow you've done it again, I've spluttered the morning coffee. What beautiful eggs - what is the bird called? If it was over here (England) I'd say it looks like a black bird but I'm not sure they have blue eggs. Just curious. Love and prayers for all...especially the eggs!

Anonymous said...

Hopefully those eggs survive. How cool would it be to see them hatch and then to see the babies learn to fly. Have a great week.

kim-d said...

HAHAHAHA! Over-easy???? TOO FUNNY! I don't have any good bird nest stories, but I do have two squirrels that own my back yard. And they are BOLD! I call them the Pesky Little Scamps because they are always just having such a good ole time out there. In MY back yard. Chewing up the telephone lines. And what all this has to do with YOUR post, I'll never know...so, in conclusion, let me just say I loved the pictures!

Anonymous said...

Hi - Just came over from Amy's Random Thoughts to say hello. She's doing a scavenger hunt right now. Hope your little birds will be OK. I'm in Georgia too (Cumming).

Becky, in N. TX said...

Kristie, I have been lerking for quite sometime. I have sent you a couple of private e-mails though.

Anyhoo, this entry compelled me to sign up for an account and post.

First, for Lisa in England, they are Robin eggs.

Second, I have had LOTS of baby bird experiences. (My kids used to think I could save anything) If they happen to fall, blow, or get knocked off the nest, you can feed them cat food with tweezers. Yes, I HAVE done that and it works.

Third, LOVE your writing and can't wait to hear the 'rest of the story'.

God's Blessing to all.
In HIS grip,
Becky

Anonymous said...

Dear Kristie,
I love the pictures, it's nice to have wildlife close by! We have red squirrels living in our roof and pheasants in a wooded part of our garden (we live in central France)and sometimes they come and eat under the bird table!! Last year my daughter and I went over to our red & blackcurrant bushes to harvest some, we started picking and had noticed that many of the top branches had been stripped of fruit. Suddenly there was a noise and a male pheasant hopped out of the bushes right in front of us and ran away into the wood!!
For Lisa in England and Becky in Texas, the American Robin (it is of the thrush family) is not the same as the European Robin, they are not the same family. I think the American Robin is bigger and with a black head, they are very pretty and those blue eggs are a lovely colour! The European robin's eggs are white or pale blue with red/brown spots.
I hope they will hatch out! I don't know if American Robin's are like European Robins, very brave, bold, not easily frightened. That reminds me, one day a few years ago, I opened the kitchen door to let one of our cats go out, she walked out and a robin flew down at exactly the same moment and somehow landed in her mouth!!! She was standing there quite shocked I think with robin sticking out both sides of mouth!!! My daughter caught the cat and managed to prise open her mouth and the robin flew, unharmed away!!!
Take care,
Love Angela

Anonymous said...

Kristie:

We have a bird that has built a nest on our window sill outside my bedroom window. (I like to sleep with the curtain back and the window open - my husband just likes to sleep!!) Everytime I go into the room she flys away or in the morning when I close the window for sleeping beauty she flys away and now that the kids know that there are four eggs in there, she gets almost no peace at all. I'm sure that they have already picked out names for them if they ever hatch. I can just imagine what the sound is going to be like once the little guys do hatch and I still sleep with the window open!! (Might need to find a good divorce lawyer)

Mel - Ontario, Canada

Anonymous said...

Those are great pictures! Love seeing the eggs. Hope that they are doing ok.

DH and DS1 just saw a robin and her eggs in a nest at one of our schools. DS1 was so excited about them.

Anonymous said...

OK now my bird story...My husband is so big and tough but he CAN NOT stand it if anything bad happens to animals (hence the three dogs and three cats we have...) but, one day he called me at work to tell me that when he got home from taking Sam to school, he found one of our cats with a baby redbird in his mouth. He shooed the cat away and brought the baby bird inside. he put it in a dog kennel(we just happened to have inside for such events!) with some water and about 30 minutes later, he checked and the "little guy" was OK and hopping around the kennel and hopped on his finger"just so cute" He found the tree that the Mama was in...raising all kinds of HELL mind you, and he took the bird upstairs and put him outside the window next to the tree the mom was in. He said "the little guy" looked all around, ruffled his feathers, found his mom and took off flying...Chris patted himself on the back thinking..."Cool!" Just then the little guy flew into the street and was killed by a truck!!! My husband needed counseling but I thought it was the funniest thing I have ever heard!!!! Sorry this was so long but I HAD to tell it!!!

Meg from Americus

Unknown said...

wow.. your camera takes some beautiful pictures..


poor little tweety..