Sunday, August 16, 2009

New life!

Every Spring for the past few years, a bird of some kind (it varies from year to year) decides to build a nest on one of our bedroom window sills. Always the same window (we have two) and always the same end of the sill. Why this particular spot is so popular is beyond me--it's not nearly a big enough space to actually build a nest! We've watched momma birds very carefully intertwine twigs, leaves, blades of grass, etc. over the course of a week or two, only to have their new home roll off of the ledge and land on our front porch, a result of even the weakest breeze. This usually happens three or four times before the nest decides to stay put; what the bird does differently at this point, I don't know. And why she doesn't learn after the first time and take up residence somewhere else is a mystery to me, too! Nevertheless, once she is sure that the nest is secure, she sits......and sits.....and sits......and after a few weeks, we see the fruits of her labor! There are usually one or two eggs--and more often than not, one of them tends to roll out of the nest onto our porch before it has a chance to hatch. :( This year, though, our momma dove (who only laid one egg), rarely left the nest and hovered over her new offspring until it was able to fly on its own. I kept forgetting to snap a picture of the eggs, but I did get a few of the baby bird with it's mom! Oh, and everyday when we'd get home from school/work, the boys raced upstairs to tap on the window and say "Hi" to "Mommy Bird." Tyler was actually the first to notice that the egg had hatched, which he was, of course, very proud of! ;)
You can see the baby's head peaking out from behind Mom on the right side.
What was left of the egg after it hatched.

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