An Update on the Birds

On July 4, I wrote about the multiple birds that were nesting in our hedge. I thought I’d share a little update about how they turned out.

The mourning doves had a particularly successful brood. They made very little noise until they outgrown the nest. Then, we could hear them crashing through the branches of the cedar as they were figuring out their wings. I don’t know how many eggs were laid in this clutch, but I was able to get a picture of three nearly-grown birds hanging out by the nest.

Three mourning doves

The robins, on the other hand, had a bad time of things. Well, perhaps not bad, but completely unsuccessful. The female robin sat the next for some time but nothing came of it. Anytime someone went near the next she would fly off making quite a racket. It makes sense that she would try to draw whatever intruder away. That was so different from the nearly-silent doves. By the end of July, it appears that the robins had abandoned the nest. I found a broken egg on the driveway under the lilac bush.

Broken robin egg

The real stars of our little bird show were the cardinals. While Mr. Tomato was continuing to take care of the chicks in the nest by the driveway, the Mrs. began sitting another nest across the yard. We watched a lot of comings and goings from both sides as the pair raised two broods. Just this week we’ve seen both sets of junior cardinals out exploring. Junior, a bird from the first nest, is almost entirely fledged out with adult colors while the Junior Juniors (I've seen three together at once) from the second nest is still has some baby down. They like to sing and play in the evenings just as the light is fading so I haven’t been able to get many photos but I did catch one of the Junior Juniors the other day.

Junior Junior cardinal

As a country girl, I never expected to get to enjoy so much wildlife in my suburban backyard.

Who's that checking out our garden?

It's one of the twins!

Sun Bunnies

Rabbits are notorious for letting the air out of tires.