A few weeks ago, friends were over and pointed out that a nest was in my wreath. My first reaction was to pull out the random straws in the wreath. I was thinking of bird poop and obnoxious chirping. Then I changed my mind. Oh, what the heck.
Honestly, I’d forgotten about it until I noticed an increased frequency of bird traffic around my front door. Something was going on. I pulled out a step stool and took a peek. Indeed. Four little light blue eggs were laying in the nest. Beautiful.
I quickly closed the door, put up signage to warn others to enter and exit with care, and began to get excited. I’d get to see baby birds grow this spring!!!
I checked every now and then, and to my surprise the other evening, the first baby was born. It’s little black eyes and odd baby bird body squirmed and stretched over his fellow egg-mates.
Over the next few days, I got to see the other babies emerge from their shells. One by one, they broke from their shells embracing new life on my very own stoop. Never having seen life so fresh except for when I had my own babies, I was stunned by the beauty and magnitude, and felt for that new mom with the responsibility of protecting her young.
I began to only take peeks at the nest from afar. I did a little research and learned that frequent traffic around a nest can alert predators. I got even more concerned when I noticed a neighborhood cat beginning to prowl around my front door. I ran out of my house like a crazy lady screaming at the poor thing. Apparently, my maternal instinct had kicked in for my baby birds.
It’d been over a day since I’d checked in on my birds and was awaiting the hatching of the fourth and last baby bird, when just moments ago, I peered into the nest to find it completely empty. My heart sank.
I quickly jumped on the all-knowing Google, to find out what happens when a nest has been cleared out. Obviously, the hatchlings were too young to fly. Had the momma made a new nest and somehow relocated them? Alas, this is not the case. My baby bird family did not survive.
Whether it was a cat, hawk, crow or other predator, something came to the nest and snatched them. I noticed a lot of movement and shadows in my front yard when I was working in the office earlier, and I suspect a large bird got them.
I know this is the course of nature, but you can’t help but hate whatever it is that ended up getting those baby birds. I feel for that momma bird who has been working tirelessly for the last few weeks to sustain these eggs and hatchlings. I feel for papa bird who has been relentlessly squawking at everyone who approached my door these last few days.
I’m just flat out sad. I was looking forward to seeing these little birds grow and learn to fly.
Awww..how sad. My mom has bird that’s made a nest in her old grill. My sister has been keeping a close eye on it. I’m thankful that hole to get in and out of it is too small for larger birds and especially a cat because we would be heartbroken if anything happened to them. It’s just amazing how attached we’ve all become to that mama bird and her little eggs.
I totally felt like Mom 2. When I saw that empty nest I almost cried. Better luck to your little birdies!
Awwww, sad to hear – totally get the circle of life thing though – at least you gave them a shot!
I know. Thanks for pointing the nest out to me. It really was a lot of fun once I found the eggs.