Speaking of gardens…For the first time ever in this home, I had nesting birds in one Loropetalum and nesting birds in the bluebird house.  The Loropetalum is pruned into a tree shape and resides in the corner of my garden as an anchor plant.  The Bluebird house is on the other side of the yard and has never hosted Bluebirds, ever.

This year I had a Cardinal pair nesting and a Chickadee pair nesting.  They were a determined set of bird parents, building nests in earnest in order to lay eggs, which they did.  Then they took turns guarding the dwellings from Zach my cat, and from me.  Zach has an injury to his eye, which was there from the time I adopted him as a tiny little guy; the vet isn’t sure it didn’t happen in the litter, or during birth, but it doesn’t seem to slow Zach down or need any medicinal attention.  I think it gives him character…as if he needed any more.

Zach’s kingdom is my fenced yard, from which he has no desire to escape.  I planned to take him out for walks, so I leash trained him as a kitten, which turned out to be a good thing.  More to come on that.  But when it was time to venture out for a real walkabout?  Nope, he wasn’t having it.  So the vest and leash went on the shelf.  But it came in very handy while my bird parents were nesting.  Zach suited up in his ‘uniform’ twice a day, morning and evening, and we went into the little garden kingdom, with me holding him in check with the leash.  This kept the birds safe but gave Zach the excitement of watching the birds and smelling the fresh air.  It also gave me the joy of watching the bird journey.

I had a chance to learn the alarm call of Cardinal parents, and those of Chickadee parents.  Later on, after the chicks had flown, I got to hear the songs of happiness.  I loved this journey.

Both bird pairs fed their chicks when the eggs hatched.  The dad Cardinal didn’t do much other than guarding and alarming before the eggs hatched, but once they did, he got busy, alongside the mom Cardinal.  And both Chickadee parents worked equally hard throughout.  Chickadees lay a LOT more eggs, by the way, than Cardinals.  So I put out feed for the moms to keep their energy up.

The Chickadees were fun to watch because the food they brought to the chicks was nearly as big as their head and they were very wary of me and my cat.  They checked us out thoroughly before entering the house, and they peeked out, often with a worm dangling from the beak.  Very funny.  One of the Chickadee parents peeked out and looked ALL around before flying out for another meal for the kids.  I don’t know whether it was mom or dad, but it was adorable either way.

The first morning I went out and did not hear the Cardinal alarm cry, the silence seemed odd.  I said, “Where are the mom and dad Cardinals?”.  Zach didn’t answer.  It was very quiet.  I couldn’t get a look at the nest but I knew the babies were gone.  Next day, no Chickadee noise either.  Oddly, all of the other bird chatter was gone too.  So they must have had all of their friends watching us when we were outside.

It was sad.  I took a picture of the birdhouse Chickadee nest just to be sure, and yep, no baby birds.  But now that I know how the saga works out, I’ll be watching.  It was great getting to know the birds and Zach  even got used to sticking close to me, hearing “NO BIRDS, ZACH!”, so much so that the first day he was allowed out without his leash, he stuck by my side anyway.  

Animals.  Amazing.

Have a lovely day, everyone.