Nature's Architects

Last week before the storms rolled in, I enjoyed a leisurely walk down the road with camera in hand. I actually had spotted this little marvel while I was out scything thistles, and came close to hitting the ironweed on which it is built. Seeing the nest, I backed off and left the thistles around it, to protect it.

Later that evening, the whopping storm rolled through. On the ruse that I was checking the trees and powerlines, I exited the house when the rain passed to check the nest.

And there it was, still sturdy as could be. I was pretty amazed, but when you get a good look at how intricately it is woven around the stems and leaves of the ironweed, it is not surprising it withstood the onslaught of rain and hail. I still wondered if it was new or was a *spare* as some birds build more than one before nesting.

Next day, another peek.......AH! One speckled egg! So it is inhabited! At this point I was still unsure of the species to whom it belonged, though I had some suspects.

A check back again today (with way too much sun, sorry!) and now the eggs are three and I saw a flash of dark sweep away from the nest as I aproached to get the photo.

This is in rather wet ground, soooooo............

.......When I saw Papa Redwing Blackbird, sitting on the electric wire, expressing his displeasure with my presence in a very loud voice, my suspicions were confirmed.

The bird photo was luck, pure and simple, as I was shooting blind into a sunny sky. It was not until I uploaded the pics that I noticed him in full squawk! Dad is NOT HAPPY.

I quietly walked away, leaving the prospective family to their housekeeping.

I am hoping this nest makes it as the nincompoops in this area tend to mow all the roadsides and never look at what they are cutting. Where the nest is located is a ditch that used to be full of wildflowers and beautiful grasses. Now only thistles and the ironweed survive. Oh yes. And copious quantities of poison ivy.

I'll have to keep an eye on the birds and hopefully they can raise their little ones and then I may harvest the nest, so they will go into the gulley, where living conditions are much safer.

Country life........it has it's perks!

Pax....

P.S. For some reason, I am getting comments to moderate, but they will not publish, nor am I getting them through my e-mail system. Blogger must be at it again!

If you have left a comment and it is unpublished, I apologize, but this one is way out of my hands....sorry for the inconvenience!