Construction zone..................

Remember my kitchen window box planted up a few weeks back?  

Well, I took the above pic yesterday afternoon after a quick feeding following several days of rain - I spray lightly with Miracle-Gro mixed with water and then add the remainder of the bottle to the soil. The plants are growing well, and now we're promised a few warmer days with bountiful sunshine, so they will be doing even better.

HOWEVER...................

..............late yesterday afternoon, and continuing well into dusk, a tiny, very diligent crew of two Carolina wrens commenced construction right here in the window box. See the brown 'building' in the center, tucked between the mint and pentas......that's where our resident wren family are building their nest. This has become an annual affair so we think it's the same family, and hopefully we'll be enjoying new baby wrens - my favorite little busy, chirpy garden birds - again. They are the cleanest little birds and we love having them choose our house to locate their own. This will of course mean no spraying fertilizer or heavy watering, especially with the garden hose, for a while!

This said, and a happy story, I will also update you on the chickadees on the front porch as some of you are asking about them. It's been too sad to write about until now. One night last week, around 4 AM, we heard a crash on the porch and rushed outside. A terracotta pot from the potting bench was in shards on the concrete, and next to it the little birdhouse. Two tiny featherless birdies were floundering about on the ground so I quickly picked them up and popped them back through the entrance hole, not knowing what else to do. Then a parent flew out, fluttering through my hair and off into the garden. We know a predator must have jumped up, knocked the birdhouse over which fell on the pot causing both to tumble about three feet to the ground, but was probably scared off immediately by the crash. We believe it was likely one of the neighborhood feral cats because we've seen it sleeping on our wicker chairs at night. Following morning I did see a parent come to the birdhouse a few times with bugs - I don't know if any chicks actually survived - or how many were in there as there's no way to see inside. Nothing has happened for almost a week now so I'm praying there were little babies that survived and actually fledged..............when I wasn't looking!

On a brighter note, my Peace roses are blooming today, click to enlarge, they are so pretty......and the wrens are back building busily since 6:30 this morning. Washing dishes is fun - seeing them come and go with beaks full of grass, dried oak leaves, catkins etc., then stuffing and weaving such a tiny, soft and cozy home.

This morning I woke very early and opened the window to listen to the dawn chorus. I'm such a softie when it comes to garden birds. Always on the lookout for the perfect feeders (and chasing off the dastardly squirrels), spending a small fortune on seed, filling the bird baths with fresh water, all for the beautiful singing birds. 

Are you like this too?