On the way up the trail yesterday in a high wind, under cloudy skies and just after torrential rain, sleet and hail, I almost stepped on a ruffed grouse sitting quietly on her nest of nine creamy eggs in a stand of spiky scouring rushes and enfolded in deep leafy shadow. She was so perfectly camouflaged that I only noticed her when she looked up at me with a beady black eye, stirred and made a soft "pprrrrrpp" sound.
A few feet further along, a hermit thrush had made her nest In a wicked clump of junipers near one of the wild orchid colonies, and there were two tiny bright blue eggs in it - later there were three.
As I turned back toward the car later, I noticed a single yellow warbler's egg resting in a heap of soggy mucilaginous leaves, right in the middle of the path. It had probably been blown there by the high winds which were blowing the trees along the trail almost sideways yesterday.Closer to home, the house finches who have crafted their nest in the oak wreath on door of the little blue house in the village are busy feeding their brood these days - it will only be a week or so until the wee ones are fully fledged and ready to fly. For only a moment now and again, the wonderfully rosy male finch perches on top of the wreath, and we can see him through the Georgian fanlight window in the door. After weeks of song and cheerful "comings and goings" on our threshold, we are not looking forward to an empty nest and an untenanted wreath.
4 comments:
I so enjoyed this lovely description and the photos!
i love your blog. i just found it. i see that you like practical magic! i own the original spellbook from the movie and have posted it on my blog. if you want to see it go to my blog and click on witch collection in my side bar. hope you enjoy!
I loved walking along with you, if only for a minute or two...it was lovely...thank you!
we have 2 nests here, one in our woodland garden area within a birdhouse where babies make lots of cheeping noises. another is on the ground amidst a stack of old limbs and twig debris in an area set apart from view and from our gardens. it is a workspace area where mulch and gravel are stored. sometimes garden debris is stored here until waste pick-up occurs. a dark plastic bag was blown across the piling on a recent windy day. the mother sits on her nest peering out from the space between the top of the limbs and where the plastic begins. i want to move the plastic, but i dare not. when hubby first found this nest as he attempted to remove the debris there was only one egg. he stopped in his tracks. now there are 3 eggs. these are white/cream with brown speckles and appear to belong to an oregon junco (dark eyed junco). we are thrilled to have 2 active nests here.
i love the photos with this post! i hope you get as excited as we do when we see a nest. please keep us updated on the one outside your window!
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