A noble job

Tuesday, 12:31 pm

By Kate

Apr

14

2009

Outside there hangs a wreath beside my front door. I’m not speedy when it comes to changing my wreaths for the seasons. The one hanging there is a bit wintry, although not Christmasy. I was going to replace it yesterday with something spring-ish, but thought I’d take the cautious approach this year. You may or may not recall that last year I yanked the wreath off the wall and scattered little bird eggs in the process. Yesterday I walked around the wreath and looked for tell-tale signs of a little bird nest. And I found one.

So, I climbed up on the porch railing and peered over into the nest to see what was in it. Four tiny bluish speckled eggs, that’s what’s in it. And the two purple finch parents were hovering in a nearby bush having a shrieking fit. I climbed back down and went back in the house. They calmed down and came back within a couple of minutes.

I missed the wreath exchange date, again. I’m also thinking it might be time to replace the winter wreath. Although I think the little birds are very charming and sweet and I’m glad to provide them a place to build a nest, I’m not too crazy about bringing a well-used nest into the house, to store until next winter, when I have two little birds of my own. So, I think that’s it for my winter wreath. It’s a bit long in the tooth anyway. I hope it does a good job of protecting the baby birds during its last year in service.