I want to build a bird sanctuary in my yard. Last year I enjoyed watching a cute family of wrens nesting on my backporch. The mother and dad were a flurry of activity from sun up to sun down for a couple weeks. Soon mother sat on her eggs waiting for the blessed event. She stayed quiet so she wouldn’t attract attention from predators. She was safe because my porch sits up about 20 feet from the ground. I could watch the whole scenario easily from my back window as the plant that cradled the nest was just outside against the ledge.
It wasn’t long before the babies emerged from the eggs. I watched them every day. They grew rapidly. At first they were scrawny and featherless. Soon their feathers appeared. They ate constantly. I felt exhausted watching mother and dad close by swooping in bringing morsels of food to their ravenous babies. The babies’ mouths gaped open and their chirping grew louder as soon as their parents appeared. They grew bigger and their nest became crowded in no time.
I waited patiently, expecting them to pop out of the nest onto the floor of the porch. I ran from my bedroom each morning to take a peak. “Not yet, but soon”, I thought each morning when I checked on them. One morning I started looking for them. The babies were not in the nest. They were not on the porch. Where was momma? She was no where to be found. I was disappointed to find them all gone. I never got to see their flight preparations or take off from the porch. They must have popped out and flown all at once.
I want to experience this again this year but am experimenting with some new nesting options to interest some other types of birds to build nests.
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