I've Seen Everything Now

My son and husband called to me and told me to bring my camera.

I had no idea what they were going to have me take a picture of.

Picture One - My son's 1989 Ford F-150. He doesn't drive it often, but it comes in handy when he has to haul stuff. It had been sitting down next to our building for a week or so. We were loading stuff on it to take back to Lowes. Before leaving, he put up the hood to check the oil. It is a good thing he did.

Picture Two - Seems the inside of his engine is a little messy. I wonder what Charley is looking at.

Picture Three - He is pointing to a bird nest. Can you believe a robin has built a nest under the hood of my son's truck!!!

Picture Four - There are five eggs! I have never seen five eggs in a robin's nest before.
WHY and HOW a robin built a nest in his engine for, I would love to know.
She sure didn't want anyone to find this nest.

Robins never cease  to amaze me as to where they will build their nest.

But, I have to admit, this is the first time I have seen them build one inside a truck engine.

As I said in the title of my post - I've Seen Everything Now!

How about you?

Where is the weirdest place you have seen a bird build their nest?

Posted by Janet Smart  on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Uses for a Mop

I think we need to get a new mop.

Ours has been taken over by a needy robin.

I think I will peek from behind, to see if anyone is watching

 

the coast is clear

 

I think I can...I think I can

Of to my nest, with supplies in mouth

My son told me the other day that the birds were using our mop for nesting supplies.

He was right!

Posted by Janet F.  Smart at Writing in the Blackberry Patch

©Janet F. Smart

What to do

I have been busy with things and I haven't been posting a lot. I am tired of posting about snow.

But what do you do when the snow will not disappear?

Right now I am watching a herd of deer in the field in front of my house. They are scuffing their hooves through the snow and nibbling at whatever they can find beneath the fluffy white stuff. They look beautiful standing in the white backdrop of the snow.

this picture was taken a few days ago, we are now covered with snow again

Our bird population grows and grows. I think they have spread the word about the people who buy the suet and the 50lb bags of birdseed.

I think this year we are having a winter to tell our grandchildren about. Our grandparents don't have anything over on us. We now have snow stories that will match the ones they told us.

When I was young we sledded on everything imaginable. Of course, there was the standard wooden sled. But we also used large pieces of cardboard and hoods of cars!

We stood around large bonfires lit to keep the hands and feet of sledding children warm.

We had snowball fights, we built snowmen, we flung backwards on the snow and made snow angels.

Of course, we did all of this after our moms bundled us in layers and layers of clothes, hats, gloves, coats and boots.

What a mess we made at the front door when we ventured back in from the cold and snow! Mountains of wet boots, outerwear, coats, hats and gloves piled on the floor. We ran to the heaters and our mothers made cups of hot cocoa to warm our insides.

I love the titmouses. . .


the cardinals. . .


the juncos, the woodpeckers, the chickadees, the wrens and the finches, but I am looking forward to seeing the first robin of spring.

Nest Building 101

I guess I didn't have anything better to do this morning than to watch a robin teach me how to build a bird nest.

I watched through my kitchen window.

She sits on the branches surveying the land.
Her house has to be in a good neighborhood, you know.

She hunts for building materials. As you can see, there are plenty of free building supplies in
our yard. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see a twig in her mouth.

In the building process.

Looking right at me.

Again, click on these to see a larger picture.
Here is the back of her with her tail feathers up,
trying to make an indent in the nest as she goes along.

Pulling up some of the falling structure, getting it just right.
It looks like some of my old Iris leaves.

She'd get on the nest and wiggle her butt and tail feathers around, trying to make it comfy.

Giving the almost completed nest a try.

Looking over the area from her side porch.

The almost finished nest.
A little messy, but it will be her home sweet home.

I wish I had a video of this. It was amazing. She'd go get material, come back and tuck it in her nest, then she'd sit and wiggle around making an indent in the middle. I watched for the longest time. It's hard to get good pictures through the kitchen window, tho.

Again, it will just take a second, if you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you will be able to see the robin much better.

And I have a sad note to add to this post.

I don't know for sure what happened, but I noticed yesterday that the mourning dove wasn't sitting on her nest. We checked it out and found two baby birds on the ground below. They were lifeless, but didn't look like they had been harmed in any way. We had a hard frost that morning, do you think the birds could have frozen and the mother then put them out of her nest? We never bothered the nest, the doves were very diligent and sat on it both night and day. I was so sad, but unfortunately, in nature, things like this happen.