So far, I have had a bad time with birds and their nests. There was the
robin's nest horror, and then this week the wren's nest ordeal. While working out in the yard, Craig found a nest of baby wrens in a hole about knee high up in the side of our house where the AC wires go inside. Three little hungry mouths. I didn't see any sign of adult birds all afternoon and evening and thought about them all night wondering if they had been abandoned. The next day, out of fear, I resisted looking in on them until the afternoon. What I found was two dead babies. One was obviously taken by a predator. Unfortunately, many of our neighbors have outdoor cats, so this is the probable culprit. I am sure most people have no idea how many birds and other animals outdoor cats can kill.
The birds surely decided the nest location was too risky and left it and the babies to die. I had to pull them out by their little feet. Baby birds are the most helpless of creatures....at this age they have absolutely no chance without parents. I spent a long time looking at them. So delicate. A sad day.
I am certain I might be a bird nerd.
5" x 7"
oil on panel
$250, framed
7 comments:
Oh no! Poor little things...I just hate that they didn't make it. Life is so fragile and baby birds are the weakest of the weak.
Your bird painting is so beautiful and a loving tribute to those three lost babies.
Definitely a very sad day, Tracey, I'm sorry. It is a beautiful painting, however. And if being a "bird nerd" is what makes you care all the more for them, I commend you for it! - Ben
Heartbreaking Tracey. Perhaps next spring, with your aid, the birds around your new home will have a true protector.
We have a mother robin caring for her brood next to our house and a nesting pair of blue birds at the back of our yard. I enjoy when the baby blue birds watch me...they have a very delicate warble. Parents & babies will let me observe them, wish I had a better lens for my bigger camera as I want to use them as subjects for a stained glass window.
Bird Nerd? Hmmm. I think it suits you. :)
So very sad, Tracey!
-Dean
Welcome to the Bird Nerd club Tracey!
I know just how you feel; I can sit for hours watching these beautiful, fragile, clever creatures and never tire. In fact, there's a cardinal who is my alarm clock and wakes me every morning at 4:50am! LOL
If you want more, see what the Audubon Society has in your area; usually they have classes and such as well as nature reserves where you can go and bird watch. If you have an iPhone they also have an app that I use regularly to identify birds I see - it even has information about habitat, nesting, migration, mating, feeding, etc. as well as recordings of bird songs.
I love being able to learn this stuff because it deepens my love and appreciation for these darlings of the sky.
Finally, if you want a birdie treat, check out the BBC's Life DVD series. We just watched the Birds section last night which left me in tears at the beauty and wonder of these special creatures. Imagine a million flamingoes…..
Wishing you well in your new digs!
Leslie
I join you in the bird nerdism. Poor little babies, they are so fragile. We have birds that nest in our chimney every spring, and last year the babies fell out of their nest on the lip of the flue, and were in the fireplace. I freaked out and made my husband figure out how to put them back in the nest, while the mother flew around inside our house. A couple were already dead in the bottom of the fireplace, but the ones he put back survived!
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