Purple Finch – Mars, PA June 2017
Brilliant Bird Banter.
Rise early.
Sing a joyful tune.
Share with your friends.
Spread your wings and soar.
Spend time in the woods.
Make a cozy nest.
(This is just one of the many beautiful purple finches that visit our backyard. He’s enjoying a sunflower seed from a feeder that hangs on our deck. We so enjoy sharing our woods and yard with our bird friends, and we can learn a lot from them too!)
Cheers & Chirps,
Jodi
The circle of life goes on.
Monday was one of the saddest days I’ve had since I began blogging.
But at the same time we experienced a great loss in our family, we also have the joy of watching this sweet little family that built their nest right outside our bedroom window.
Don’t you love the teamwork?! (I hope you enlarge to watch this “riveting” video in full screen).
Baby cardinal was 8 days old here. When Momma didn’t have anything for her to eat….
Poppa to the rescue! What do you think that green thing is???
And did you see how quickly it went through Baby? LOL!
How many more days till Baby flies the coop?
As you might have noticed, Baby is an only child. There is still a lonely little egg in the nest that just doesn’t seem like it is going to hatch.
The circle of life.
It is a beautiful, sad, happy, joy-filled experience.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Baby Cardinal – 3 days old
Dreaming of the places
her wings will take her
when she learns how to fly.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
The wait is over!
Remember I shared with you that we had a Momma Cardinal building a nest and then laying eggs right outside of our bedroom window?
Well – right on time – on Mother’s Day afternoon – the first baby cardinal was born.
You can barely make the little bugger out above, and he/she isn’t quite what you might call “cute” yet, but oh what a thrill!
And I wasn’t home when it happened!
My Mother’s Day started out with a trip to the gym in the morning with my youngest son, Nick. When we got back home, I was surprised to find my oldest son, Jake and his wife, Colleen in the kitchen with hubby, Marty preparing a beautiful surprise Mother’s Day brunch. What a sweet way to start the day – eh? It began with a Mother’s day toast of orange pineapple mimosas, homemade chocolate-covered strawberries, pastries, bacon-wrapped filet Mignon, cheesy potatoes and luscious miniature spinach and brie quiches. And as if that wasn’t enough, there was fresh flowers, cards, and a bunch of fun watercolor art supplies. Am I the luckiest or what?!?
After stuffing ourselves and relaxing and visiting a bit, the kids asked if I wanted to go play tennis (which I haven’t done for years!), so off we went, leaving Marty and Mikey home to enjoy some much deserved and coveted quiet R&R time. After about two hours of sunshine and tiring, sweaty, but oh so joyous running around the court and hitting the ball to racket a few times, I got a text from Marty with this photo:
We had been watching diligently as this was Day 12 after Momma laid her eggs, so this little baby can’t be more than two hours old here, and likely less.
As the day grew dark, still only one baby and one egg remain, and Momma is keeping them both warm.
Is that the icing on the cake for my Mother’s Day or what?
Happy Monday friends.
Wishing you joy in cherished moments.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
PS – I thought this photo would be a perfect submission for this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Forces of Nature. What greater display of nature than this?! A brand new birth – the most extraordinary force of nature.
Please click to enlarge photo
Momma Cardinal has been working for days right outside of our bedroom window in the rhododendron bush building this beautiful new home.
It is sure to add value to the neighborhood! Don’t you think?
I have never been more fascinated watching such diligence and perseverance as she flies in one tiny stick at a time, places it on the pile, then shakes her tail feathers to form the “cup” shape.
The new home has been under construction for about three days now. I cannot believe our good fortune to have such a view of this little miracle of nature. I can’t wait to see the eggs and then baby cardinals! Can you imagine how awesome that will be to watch!?!
According to Wikipedia, cardinals mate for life and stay together year-round. Isn’t that romantic?! Mated pairs sometimes sing together before nesting. During courtship they may also participate in a bonding behavior where the male collects food and brings it to the female, feeding her beak-to-beak. If the mating is successful, this mate-feeding may continue throughout the period of incubation.
The nest typically takes three to nine days to build, and cardinals do not usually use their nests more than once. The eggs are laid one to six days following the completion of the nest. Three or four eggs are laid in each clutch. The female generally incubates the eggs, which takes 12 to 13 days. And then, the young cardinals fledge 10 to 11 days after hatching.
Camera and tripod are set up, and I’ve taken about 50 kabillion photos already.
I love this one of her shakin’ her little tail feathers and looking at me while she prepares to nest.
Hope to share more soon.
Happy Friday Early Birds!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
My friend Janet spotted and called this abandoned home amongst the brilliant Fall foliage to my attention on our walk at #ChristmasintheWoods yesterday. More to come later on our fun day, but thought I’d share this for my daily #wwMc (Walk with My Camera) photo today. Happy Sunday!
the creative life in between 