Sharing Our Space

Every year I have a pair of house finches that nest right outside my dining room window, where the downspout takes a bend.  DH always worries about bird poop on his deck from them, but it never happens.  Instead, while Mrs. Finch sits and broods the eggs, Mr. Finch sits on the deck railing and serenades her.  He sings very sweetly, and I enjoy listening to him.

the downspout, right outside my dining room

the house finch nest

Mr. Finch

For several years, robins have built nests under my back deck.  I don't mind them, either, although they do tend to yell at me every time I go out the basement door for the few weeks that they have babies in the nest.

This year, for the first time ever, I have barn swallows building a nest on the house.  This makes me very happy. DH is, of course, less than enthused.  (Really, a little bird poop is not that big of a deal, especially when you think of how many mosquitoes a swallow eats every day. I'll take a little poop on the deck in exchange for thousands fewer mosquitoes.)

the back of the house

there are actually two bird nests in this picture

Let's zoom in a little, shall we, and find those nests.

look up, toward the soffit

the swallow nest, built on the edge of the sewing room east window

a close-up of the swallow nest as they were building it

 Now for the robin nest.  We'll cut right to the chase.  It sits on top of the beam under the deck, right where a post meets the beam.  The decking (floor boards) make a roof over the nest, keeping it nice and cozy dry.

four little robins peeking over the edge, 

waiting for mom and dad to bring food

robin parent dutifully gathering worms for its hungry young

the next day, only two little robins were in the nest

Mama Robin sat in the tree, coaxing them out

brave baby robin in the grass, 

where it landed after it's first flight from the nest

 To be able to watch this cycle year after year, to be able to hear Mr. Finch sing every morning, to have have fewer bugs to bother me when I want to sit on my deck, I'll gladly share my space with the birds.