Nesting season

One of the things I love most about April is watching the family life of birds as a new nesting season unfolds. Our feeders have been busy with mated pairs of birds stuffing themselves with seed and suet. We've seen pairs of doves, bluebirds, chickadees, northern cardinals, goldfinches, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, house finches, house sparrows, and titmice. The addition of the suet feeders, and a birdbath that is kept clean and full, seem to have made the most difference in attracting a more diverse group this year. We've seen several of these birds gathering nesting material and even mating in the past few weeks, and so I'm sure that there are eggs and hatchlings all around by now. Soon little fledglings will be following their parents to the feeders which is always very entertaining! Nothing is cuter than a baby bird!



Mockingbird eggs. This photo
was taken several years ago.
 

Speaking of eggs, a friend of Gregg's gave us almost 5 dozen fresh eggs last week! It's an eccentric old plumber guy that keeps chickens as a serious hobby. Apparently the hens are laying lots of extra eggs right now, and they are wonderfully rich with golden-orange yolks. Fresh eggs are another great thing about nesting season!

Nesting season

We have two pairs of nesting birds living in our yard this year. One is a pair of mockingbirds. They have a nest in a big camellia bush, and I am sure there are probably eggs in it, but I don't want to upset mom and dad by trying to peek.

I have a picture of a mockingbird nest from a few years ago that I would like to share. It was taken in the backyard of an apartment we lived in before getting married. I had to sneak in and snap a picture quickly before the parents tried to dive bomb me! Mockingbirds are very protective parents!