Monday, July 14, 2008

I don't know if you ever knew this about me...

...but I suffer from....................................


Nest envy
Yep, I do.
Every time one of you proudly photographed your darling nests that some little bird family had graciously built for your viewing pleasure...


Every post exclaiming the comings and goings of the Mama & Papa birdie....


Every time you worried about winds, rains, cats and all sorts of imagined and real dangers...


I was right there with you...

I worried, celebrated, held my breath, and enjoyed right along with you...from afar..


I bought man-made nests just so I could feel a part f the "Nester's Club"...

I filled them with phony eggs....

I purchased teensy-weensy nests and used straight pins with pearls as eggs.


I bought tiny Mama birdies to perch on the nests...

All trying to find the joy, the excitement that a real nest could bring.


I contemplated writing to you , asking for tips on how to attract nesters...how to make my tree-less yard more attractive to the nest-house-hunters...


Then, when I was just about to give up (do birds just hatch in the spring??), Mr. B spotted a little hummingbird flitting around the grape arbor..maybe looking for a feeder??


So, Mr. B surprised me with a hummingbird feeder the very next day, all filled and proudly hung by the grapes..


We watched...
We waited...


No hummingbirds.

(insert heavy sigh and really sad, pitiful look here..)


Then yesterday, we spotted one...a fast & furious hummingbird! Not at the feeder, but flying around the wires overhead..


Then we saw her land...on the wire...which we thought was a little odd - nether of us had ever really seen one light on anything. We had seen them drinking out of feeders, all the while flapping their tiny wings furiously...but not still....sitting...watching...US!



Then Mr. B spotted the reason..

We have a nest!!!!


Yes, a teensy-weensy-tiny HUMMINGBIRD nest! It's only about the size of an egg cup - but it's there! I mean...here!






Perched where Mr. B had connected the outdoor hanging lights to the corner of the house.


Under the eaves...




Lulu sees it....


Safe.....we hope...high up...too high for cats...too high for me...well, unless I have my camera on zoom...


.....and I'm really , really, really quiet...



But..........

We have a nest!!

OK, breathe....(insert a big 'ol smile here...)


So the "watch" begins...


Stay tuned...


-me

6 comments:

Betty said...

This is so exciting! We have had a couple of nests on top of the shades we have for the patio. You will have such fun watching the progress and knowing you are contributing to bird life! Good for you!

This is one of the best I've seen with slow motion...enjoy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JAFN-8tKrbI

I think you have to copy and paste; for some reason, you can't just click on it.

Enjoy your nest. Love ya.

Jan said...

Aren't they the teensiest things???? Remember the post when my folks had a hummingbird nest at their house? I was fascinated! Just watch that mama when the eggs hatch. The one at their house left the babies and they didn't make it! :(
Can't wait to see how the ones at your house progress!
Jan

Anonymous said...

Hi, that's great. Now I have nest envy! I just found out I have bats in the attic...I don't suppose that counts?

Charmingdesigns said...

Why there?? out of all the places they could have built...it was built there to give you joy.Yipee! Laurie

Jean said...

Now I have nest envy! I have a few real nests but have never been able to spot a hummingbird nest. Too cool!

Little Penpen said...

Yay for you... you will have baby hummingbirds. How cool! I truly enjoyed my bird family this year, but was so happy to finally clean the door, where they left all their poop behind.

Wanna see what I've been up to ??

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