I had robins nesting in a Hoya last summer. I was just careful not to flood the plant with water when I needed to water it - I'd pour a bit on, wait a few minutes and pour a bit more... repeating until it came out the drainage holes. It's worth being careful to see the little birds grow up and leave the nest...

This year, I have a pair of barn swallows raising their chicks under my porch. They're beautiful little birds and I am SO enjoying them! Since the year my dad died, I've had a pair of birds nesting on or near my porch, giving me the pleasure of watching birdies grow up. In the 17 years before he died, I can only remember once that I had birds nesting close enough that I got to watch them on a daily basis. He was quite a nature lover, and I think he sends me these sweet birdy couples. I cherish them all!

Denise in Omaha

That is good to hear Denise. I believe signs like that cannot be ignored. I have been fortunate to have multiple birds nest near me yearly. I have a lot to offer a good deal of species on my .5 acre. There is a little water behind my home. Plenty of brush to nest in and use for nesting materials. Lots of berries, bugs, and worms to eat. My favorites are the finches and cardinals that I have had in the past. It is cool watching the color develop in these.

I know the nest is not a Robin nest since the eggs are not blue.

-David

Is that good to see them near us? I love them too!
Last year, I have a family cardinal built the nest in the bush near my hoya. I was so exciting to see them grow up and fly away.
I'd like to share some pics with you

a couple on the balcony ( I don't know the name)

On the dogwood tree

David that is great that you will get to watch the birds raise their young. I have been trying to entice some birds to nest in a gourd birdhouse on my balcony for a couple of years but no interest yet.

Denise I love barn swallows, my favorite birds. I actually have a pair of swallows tattooed on my chest although looking at me you would never know I have tattoos. I grew up watching barn swallows and have always admired their incredible flying skill. There are many pairs that nest in the window awnings where I work and a few years ago we hand raised a group that fell from the nest when they were still without feathers.

Sue those are great photos. The two on the balcony railing look like Carolina Rens, cute little things.

Mike

Aw Denise, you're such a sweetie. I love hearing your stories about carefully carefully carefully watering around the wildlife. I know how time consuming that must have been. Such a big heart. ^_^

/Sue I love the cardinal in dogwood picture. We technically do have cardinals up here, but not like in NC, where they are being their cute selves just everywhere. I grew up in NC and these are the things I miss:

dogwoods in spring
magnolias in summer
cardinals
matching architecture

these are the things I don't miss:

copperheads
clay soil

/David No idea on the eggs but that nest looks too cute in your australis. That's a really pretty Hoya to have playing host plant. Happy cross-species-parenting!

I could of swore that I posted the egg pic too, but it is not there.

Let me try again.

-David

Oh phew. I was really thinking I had lost my mind. But I didn't want to admit it.

I kept staring and staring and staring at that picture, looking for eggs. Then everyone else was acting like nothing was wrong, so I figured the eggs were in there, I just was too dumb to see them. Then, eventually, I'm pretty sure I just started hallucinating an egg. It was purple and had the face of Muhammad Ali.

GG, to funny I was thinking the same thing about not seeing the eggs but did not want to say anything.I kept looking and looking at the photo trying to see the eggs.LOL

Cindy

David I think those are Carolina Wern eggs.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:969872}}

And here I thought it was just me. After looking & looking & looking some more here's my conclusion (you'll see the brain of an artist at work). I decided (since no one said anything about lack of eggs in the shot) that they must be brown eggs & were so well camouflaged that I just couldn't see them.

Hi SueTran, welcome back, LOVE your bird pix especially the cardinal. Nice photography too, thanks for posting them. (Sorry to say but the H rigida from you is no more, sad, as it had large & lovely leaves.)

Sorry I caused some to question their sanity. A pair of wrens made a nest in my blue bird box in the back yard. I wonder if it is the same pair with another nest. I was just hoping that it wasn't a sparrow nest. Sparrows are known to take a lot of prime nesting spots and resources from one of my favorite birds the blue bird.

@ Sue great photography. I love the cardinal in the dogwood. The cardinal is the state bird of VA. The dogwood is the state tree of VA.

-David

Ha ha ha! I also thought I was missing something. Especially since other people weren't saying they couldn't see the eggs. I love cardinals, they are so cute. I almost never see them in Philly, mainly just pigeons. But I saw them a lot during my visit in Austin, and when I lived in Chicago as a kid, I saw them a lot then too. I miss red winged blackbirds though, they have a neat trilling song. Those were around a lot when I lived in central IL. And I miss ravens and magpies, which were all over the place in Anchorage. Honestly, I'd be happy to see more birds here that aren't pigeons. I guess since there are a lot of woods around PA they have the option of staying out of the city, and I guess I don't blame them.

I didn't grow up with dogwoods. They are so pretty though. Those and the flowering cherry trees. I wonder if it's a regional thing?

Too funny. This was clearly a study in group psychology.

It's like this psych experiment where they put the subject in a room to fill out a questionnaire with a bunch of other people, and then started piping smoke into the room through the vents.

The other people in the room were confederates (actors) and pretended not to notice the smoke, and the poor subject would take A LOT longer to report it than subjects who were placed in the room alone, usually waiting till the whole room filled with smoke.

I so hear you on the "I'd be happy to see more birds here that aren't pigeons," Quinn.

Mike, I'm glad to hear someone else finds Barn Swallows beautiful little birds. I'm in utter awe of them. Today, I see the teeny tiny baby birds perched on the side of the nest - they can't be more than 2" long! OMG, they are SOOO cute!! I hope they're not already ready to fly away. I'll miss them so much...

As for Cardinals, GG is right - we don't see a lot of them around here. I've always had one family that nests close by, I think maybe in my neighbor's lilac bush. A few years ago, a male Cardinal would wake me up every morning in the spring when my windows were open. One of my bedroom windows overlooks our back deck. I have a BIG stainless steel bowl that I mix up my soil in that I often leave sitting on the rail of the deck. Mr. Cardinal would come early, when the sun came up, and sit in front of that bowl, pecking at his reflection! I'd wake up and talk to him for a couple minutes, his head bobbing back and forth as he tried to figure out where my voice was coming from, and then he'd take off. It was a funny morning ritual!

Denise in Omaha

Too funny, Denise. I wonder what was going on in his head.

Barn swallows are definitely cool birds. We had a farmcat that used to catch them all the time (presumably when they were dive bombing her), but thankfully she's too old now.

They're definitely good tattoo material because they have such a distinctive silhouette and that's how one most often views them, outlined on the sky above some hay mow.

David, the cardinal is NC's state bird, too, and I was actually quite shocked to discover that the dogwood wasn't their state tree, because that seems like how I internalized it as a child. But a pine makes sense too. I had to look up Nebraska's emblems because I'm new here and I have to say that the Western Meadowlark is an awesome choice. No one can beat the Loon, though, in my humble opinion, which is Minnesota's state bird, and also, I believe, Canada's national bird. Way to go, Canada!

The Loon is Ontario's official bird although you mostly see them in the mid to Northern portion of the province. Hopefully I will get some good photos of them this year while camping up in the Boreal forest.

Loons fishing, taken on a previous camping trip.

I used to see Medowlarks when I was a kid but they are almost gone in this area because they just don't have proper nesting sites anymore.

Mike

Aw they're beautiful. I especially love their calls.

It's funny the way bird calls leave such a deep imprint on our memories, such that we can summon them up like a tape recorder in our brain, on a whim. I think it's because they are communicative sounds, and as such, our brains have an affinity for remembering them.

Cute Pictures everyone!! Especially Love the cute birds and the eggs. Thanks for sharing the photos!

I had a funny thing happen last weekend while walking through a very urban parking lot in Toronto. I heard a killdeer call and then immediately three or four other bird calls all coming from the same street light. I looked up and for the first time I saw a Northern mockingbird just before it flew to it's nest in a nearby tree. I am now a huge fan of Mockingbirds. LOL

GG your comment made me think of those Pacific Islands where the birds have been completely wiped out by the brown tree snake. Imagine a lush tropical island being completely void of bird calls and how that would affect the long time resident's psychology.

Mike

WOW! What a fantastic experience, Mike, in downtown no less. I'm glad you had it, because no doubt if it happened to me I would have looked up and not known what I was seeing. I have a very limited bird repertoire, sadly.

A home devoid of birds really is a tragic idea to contemplate, Mike. There's no doubt we have a deeper resonance with birdcalls than we are even consciously aware of. I remember us all discussing, in the spring, the way we were starting to hear the birds again. I believe it was Denise who brought it up, which makes sense, since she likes birds. But I remember thinking at the time: Ah, yes, I've just been sensing that too even though I'm a dullard at wildlife. It feels like the whole world is waking up when the birds return. It's not so much that you consciously miss it when the population dwindles to a few species, but when all the sudden the sound is everywhere, your heart just LIFTS. The same way your body thrills at the feeling of sunlight.

So, I totally agree that on those islands, the population must be feeling a subconscious dulling. A lack of thrill, so to speak.

Uh, I WANT to be a fan of mockingbirds, but when you hear them go through the entire cycle of car alarms, or imitate a jackhammer, at 3 am, you tend not to be quite the fan of them anymore. Part of me still thinks it's cool, the other part of me wants to go to sleep :)

I could never get a good picture of mommy bird but did notice white eye brows on the little reddish brown mommy bird, but I visited the nest today and took a picture of the hatched chicks. There is one unhatched egg which I will continue to monitor.

Thanks for looking.
-David

Awwww! They are so cute! I just love chicks, whether they be baby chickens or baby 'other birds' lol. I'm so glad you let them stay :)

Very cute!! They are soo sweet when they are young like that! Looks like one egg to go.....

LOL I don't think I've ever seen a baby bird with its mouth closed before. ^_~

Very cute.