Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Baby Chickadees...again!


It's been a busy week, and I haven't had much time for drawing—I'm hoping to remedy that tomorrow—but I just had to re-post my little sketch of my chickadee nesting box because...it's brimming with babies again! 

We hadn't see much action all spring, but suddenly there was a flurry of nest-building activity. Then, I found two tiny chickadee eggs, broken on my porch. I thought that perhaps the nest had been destroyed by another bird or something. (The eggs looked exactly like Jelly Belly "Toasted Marshmallow" jellybeans, cream-colored with brown speckles.)

But, about a week ago, we noticed both parents noisily standing guard in the magnolia trees next to the porch, and constantly flying in and out of the box, which made me think: they have babies! And two days ago, the cheeping started, and goes pretty much non-stop in the daylight hours. Just a few minutes ago, the parents started chirping loudly enough to get my attention at my desk just inside the window. Sure enough, Trixie, the neighbor's cat, was paying a visit. Happily, the box is completely unreachable by a cat, but I shooed her home, all the same. (She's the same one that we've twice caught sitting on the eggs in our chicken coop, so heaven only knows what she had in mind.)

My nesting box was originally a gift from my son (see the original post about him and this sketch here.). You can purchase the exact same one from Wild Birds Unlimited if you're interested.

I've gone online and looked at photos of what is probably taking place in there. This blog has some photos that are exceptionally good. It makes me want to install a little camera of some kind for next year!
Nesting box (at top of photo) as seen from my desk

8 comments:

  1. OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH! I love the photo of your drawing and the actual birdhouse outside the window. How wonderful is that!

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  2. Great post Sarah and I also love the photo of the picture of the drawing of the image.;0)........ they must be great to watch and wouldn't it be great to take a peek inside with one of those cameras ;0)
    Jane x

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  3. Chirp! I love how you took the photo of the drawing and the actual nest too.

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  4. OH you lucky duck! I love your view!!! And to read/hear about the baby chickadees is so exciting. I think it's fabulous that there is such joy in your post about the miracle of nature's creatures. We have a little birdhouse on a tree right outside of our kitchen window and we are still hoping for some action...I fear it's our dog that is keeping them away. Keep us posted, please. : )

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  5. That is such a great picture. We have a bunch of robins where I live and we just planted a bunch of trees. They are slowly starting to make nests in them and I love the color of robins' eggs.

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  6. I love the image where you captured both the actual bird house and the Blog page on your computer screen. It is nice to see a 'quick' sketch too, it reveals what a fine touch you have!

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  7. Hooray for the babies...and for this exquisite drawing of their little abode! Happy spring!

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