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Sitting on the porch swing, watching the birds

9 years ago

I like to grab my coffee and sit in the shade on the swing under the patio roof. The birds are chirping and working thru my gardens constantly. I have a Cardinal nest, and a Robin nest withing 8 feet of the swing.

I found out today if a Robin gets to close to the Cardinals they go a bit mental. The two Cardinals chased and HISSED at the Robin around and under many of my plants.. It went on quite awhile..

I don't know about that Robin, she makes questionable choices sometimes ..

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Comments (6)

hostahosta
9 years ago
NIce safe place for her babies!
hostanista
9 years ago
You've got a CACTUS in a hanging basket and THAT'S where she decides to build a nest??!! haha!

I took a pic of a fledgling robin yesterday - that nest is on a covered bridge, well protected. She let me get real close, I don't think she's developed a healthy fear of people yet. Or she just wasn't ready to take that first flight!
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esther_b
9 years ago
I don't have a porch from which to watch birds, but I am always unconsciously observing neighborhood birds in my travels. We have at least 3 red tailed hawks living on the college campus at the end of the block

Your robin is not crazy; nesting among all those thorns, in the midst of a hanging plant, is actually quite clever defensively. Hanging out in space is a strategy employed by many birds in building their nests, and should a predator manage to get to that hanging nest, there's the backup defense of the cactus spines. Quite a smart little bird!

An outstanding example of the hanging nest, with the only entrance on the side out in space, is that of the weaver bird:
User
9 years ago
We raised Carolina wrens in a pig flower pot which sat on the deck railing. They chose this pig with the tough thorned aloe vera plant for 3 years running. To sort of hide the nest from our movements, I located the tall pot of bougainvillea in front of it. The day the fledgelings flew, I always called it WHEN PIGS FLY. They are still hanging around our garden, fussing at us for trespassing, and I still call them the Pig Family.

Now we have the second pair of bluebirds in a nestbox in the hosta garden. They have babies in there and when I am close enough I hear them begging for food. I sure hope they fledge before the weather gets too too hot. Last year the pair abandoned the 2nd round of babies because it got too hot. This year I spray the area around noon to 2pm to cool it down. It helps a lot.

I also have out water bowls and birdbaths, but the favorite way to shower for all the birds seems to be rubbing on the wet leaves of the peach and camellia trees while the sprinkler is running. Or the doves bathe on top of the umbrellas; Water is a prime concern and I have containers of it out everywhere....which I refresh daily to avoid mosquitos.
esther_b
9 years ago
Awww, baby blue birds! So cute! And a welcome change from picking up the newspaper and reading grim news story after grim news story.
anniegolden
9 years ago
Here is a mourning dove nesting in my wisteria arbor (which also has a porch swing). She triple clutched in the nest that year.

View from the swing.

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