I have a beautiful House Finch Mama bird who has made her nest in a crook of my balcony. Oddly, they built their nest in a "bird away" spike that I put in that spot to try to keep birds from nesting there. They just used the spike to serve as a support structure for the nest. Smart!
I cannot see into the nest but I have a good view of the mama sitting all day. She flies away if she sees me but just goes a short distance away in a tree to keep watch and then comes back. Look at this crazy photo I got of her right as she was flying away.
One little egg somehow fell out of the nest and is broken on the balcony floor. So sad. But she must have others because she is diligent about sitting on her nest. It was such a pretty egg too, a really gray/blue with speckles.
Today I discovered some other bird plopped an egg in my basil plant. I have not seen a bird sitting here so hopefully this little egg wasn't randomly abandoned. It is perfectly whole. Earlier in the spring I kept catching mourning doves squatting in my strawberry plants. Maybe this is their egg? I hope the Mama comes back to it.
I don't really love birds or that they have taken over the balcony and I do try to establish our presence out there. But, I cannot do a whole lot once they make a nest and ultimately, it is really beautiful to see the hard-work of birds to raise their young each spring. Last year we watched a Mama Robin from the cloacal kiss (yes, I saw it) all the way through her babies leaving the nest. I've never see anything like that up close so it was fun to witness.
I need to clean the balcony off of all the pollen and tree caterpillar things but I'm worried about the Mama Finch getting scared away. Any bird experts out there? What should I do? Wait another 2 weeks or just do it quick?
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