birds nesting

Last week we had a pair of mourning dove appear on our windowsill next to my desk where the promptly build a nest and began laying eggs!

first one egg appeared...

next afternoon a second egg...

I tried my best to keep the blinds closed and leave them in peace but it was an ill fated spot for many reasons. Not long after this photo the mate was devoured by a hawk which Keith saw as he was coming home one afternoon. That evening we listened as the survivor called but got no familiar reply... and eventually abandoned the nest and it's two white eggs. 

In the following days we watched for the lone dove out the windows. Out back I found that it found a new partner who was very attentive, they preened together in the cedar trees. 

Then they started a new nest in the tree about ten feet from the old nest still holding the eggs abandoned and undisturbed. 

It's close but not easy to photograph, the drama continues in that area each day. I took a short video of them early in the process of building that new nest. 

In the backyard I hung the usual house wren house for the wrens I heard singing it's mating call back in early April. Now that house is full of twigs and when I went out to sit in the garden I noticed a mate has joined the male bird who built the nest and began adding her own grassy bed on top of the twigs. 

Look closely you will see she has a fine sprig of grass in her beak and the big twigs hang out the bottom thru the air vents at the base of the house.

Behind me in the choke cherry tree which is beginning to flower another nest! This year, lets hope the cats or raccoons don't attack it, on a branch another dove is nesting and keeping a watchful eye on me in the garden. 

It was a great spot that some robins built in last spring and raised a brood of three orange breasted babies. 

Now all we need is a bunch of tent caterpillars to spin their nests in the native choke cherry tree to provide food to these babies that will soon arrive looking extremely hungry! 

Mid summer birds report

Bluejay practices it's songs overhead in the choke cherry tree 

This morning as I was getting my things ready to go out into the garden I heard a familiar sound on the porch roof. Garbled notes and squawks, all mixed up, I wondered what was making the noise. I went to the window as I heard the sound moving towards the roof's edge where I saw a blue jay swoop down into the garden and land on my chair. Then with camera, book and coffee in hand, I took my usual time in the garden to write and photograph the flowers and birds. The the choke cherry tree is beginning to drop it's ripe red-maroon berries that many birds flock to eat. It seems after a few years of watching that many young birds spend a lot of time dining in our tree.

They dart and dangle around a lot so it's hard to get a good photo of them. Today the blue jay came and perched on a low branch and started practicing it's songs. Lots of other noises in the garden this morning but I recorded a short video to share the blue jay's rehearsal. I learned yesterday that it takes about a year for a fledgeling bird to learn the adult songs but they practice and mimic the adults until they master the sounds.

ripening choke cherry 

Earlier this summer I saw a family of blue jays in my garden briefly. They occasionally  stop by for a few choke cherries, sometimes a bath or drink from the bird baths and then off they go to the huge Oak tree down the alley. Their cries are so distinctive it's easy to pick them out. Usually blue jay songs are very bold and memorable once you know the tunes. It's color is so spectacular making it a back yard favorite. Back in 2001, the West Nile Virus arrived in DC transmitted by mosquitos that infected birds blood, the large population of crows and bluejays was nearly wiped out. It's nice to see them making a come back.

Blue jay on the compost searching for food 

fledgeling blue jay in choke cherry tree 

A few days ago I discovered a family of Mourning doves out my bedroom window in the white cedar trees as I was rushing to leave for an art history lecture. There were three of them sitting on a limb so close I couldn't resist grabbing my camera and catching a few shots. The very next morning as I was going out to write with my coffee camera and book when I opened the door to the stairway down I got a shock. Nearly spilled all my coffee as there was a dove out there flapping against the window to try and get away. I quickly closed the door trying to collect myself and clean up the mess I made. I decided to skip going out for that day then watched to see if the bird figured out how to escape. It sat there on the railing looking out the window that doesn't open all day and I assume it had been there all night roosting. A second night and the next morning it was still there. It was clear after about 36 hours this mourning dove wasn't clever enough to realize or discover that going down the stair well would free it to go drink eat and live. I got worried it would die of dehydration or starve so it was time to muster some courage and go help it get out. Towel in hand I wet straight out and it flew to the lower corner of the big windows I finally got hold of some part and swung it over the rail and down the stairs where it quickly saw the light and escaped to the garden. My heart was beating fast but I am sure it wasn't as fast as the dove's little heart. I realized now that it was a fledgeling not quilt mature and a few of it's tail feathers came out in the struggle. I arranged them on the antique foot stool for a document of the incident. It wasn't possible to make images of this story on my own but I have the earlier images to help.

The dove survived as far as I can tell it is hiding now in the low shrubs along our fences. 

Meanwhile the house wrens are working hard showing off all the insects they catch as they come and go to feed the babies growing in the green A framed birdhouse. This image of the adult about to deliver a big bug is pretty exciting to have caught. They feed them all sorts of little creatures every minute or three bringing in a new delight from the garden to the waiting peeps.

Summer begins: flowers, fireworks, birds and quilt labels

The time is flying by as are new birds and blooming sections of the garden this year. It has been pretty mild for the beginning of the summer. July 4th in my memory is always miserably humid, hot and hazy with the threat of thunder storms looming off in the distance. This year it was cool 75ºF and very low humidity with clear skies and a great view of the Washington DC National Fireworks display. Keith and I took it in with our friend Meron from Ethiopia for another first American experience. We were all impressed with the crowd and the show in the sky. The half moon was out in the sky just up to the left in my photos below.

 

Today I am enjoying the day lilies, bee balm and summer phlox among other flowers as well as the fledgling birds in our garden. We had a clutch of House Wren's last month leave the brown bird house and now it looks like the green A frame bird house has a new set of House Wrens laying eggs and singing their bold songs.

We have blue bird and starling fledgelings who pose while eyeing the big guy at the garden table with the camera reluctant but unsure if I represent danger, they are learning slowly.

a fledgling blue jay has a very short tail and does a lot of crying for food.

The birds flock to our yard to eat the bitter sour choke cherries that hang high in the old tree at the corner of our yard. It's mostly bigger birds like blue jay, starling, cardinals, catbirds, grackles and mocking birds that eat the berries. I got a few shots of these tiny choke cherries look like high over head. I find the pits all over the bird baths and garden where new trees spout every year. As a native tree it's clearly connected to the raising of babies an important food source for those local birds and bugs like the tent caterpillars who often take up residence to eat the first flush of new leaves. Birds eat them too so I don't do anything to remove them as they are native moths in the making. It's all connected. You can see that the second batch of leaves sustain the tree after the caterpillars eat their fill. 

Adult birds are here too and the blue jay was skipping around our compost pile this morning. The robins love digging out the worms from that same pile but I haven't seen the blue jay catch on yet. 

They Blue Jay can be rather bold. There was one yesterday at the bird bath while I was at the table ten feet away. 

Now for a few of the flowers in our garden I am enjoying and wanted to share... 

The red crepe myrtle survived the cold winter snows and freezing to bloom brightly.

Then there is the quilting. I enjoyed several DC Modern Quilt Guild meetings and a class-workshop that taught me how to take apart, lubricate and clean my antique Singer Featherweight sewing machine. 

My current quilt projects are progressing slowly. I have a new one ready to reveal but the  first label failed because the embroidery floss doesn't show up very well. I am creating a second version that will be completed soon. 

the first label failed to be easily readable

This label is looking much better.