A sad, sad day................

NATURE can be cruel.  Very cruel


Yesterday, a perfect Spring day. The sun was shining, the freshly mown grass smelled sweet. The parent finches were flitting back and forth to the front porch bringing their babies delicacies from the garden. I balanced on my old wicker chair, holding the camera above the tangled vine, the heady fragrance lovely on the breeze, and was at last able to determine there were four tiny ones tucked into the nest and took the photo below.

This morning................the jasmine blossoms were scattered like confetti outside the front door. The vining tendrils hanging down in an untidy mess were still supporting the nest, tilted and empty! The parents kept flying back to the porch together, searching for their family, chirping noisily. Later when I cleaned up, I found nothing but some tiny pin feathers covered by the jasmine petals. The parents squawked at me from a tree as I took the nest away.......and I was heartbroken. 
  
What predator came in the dark of night, or early in the cool dawn today, causing havoc to this little family? We'll never know, however I'm almost certain it was another bird, maybe a neighborhood hawk, or an owl. I think there would have been more damage to the jasmine if a cat or raccoon had tried to climb the porch post. Hopefully the parents will move on.......perhaps there are still enough cool Spring days to start a new family in a safer place. It's been a sad day here at the cottage.

Since I removed the damaged nest and trimmed back the jasmine, the parents haven't returned to the porch.


So, now I just have the bluebird babies to worry about! They seem safe in the birdhouse - the parents are doing a great job rearing them. They squawk at me whenever I get too close so I still haven't seen the little ones but I think they should fledge soon.