Make a little birdhouse in your soul. ― Linnell Flansburgh
FOCUS: Wildlife
Many years ago, my son built several birdhouses that we proudly displayed in our backyard. They have hung on our backyard fence for years as little reminders of his first construction projects using a ‘real’ hammer and nails. I really didn’t mind that the birdhouses never had any occupants, although I do think my son was secretly disappointed.
Just last week I decided to move his birdhouses from their years-long location on our backyard fence, to a more sheltered location under the eaves of our garden shed. This ended up being a wise move as, much to my surprise, when I walked outside this morning I saw two little chickadees building a nest in one of the birdhouses. I was so ridiculously excited about this that I had to stop myself from rushing back inside to wake up my son to tell him the news (now that he’s almost 16 years-old, I don’t think he would have appreciated the early morning wake up call…) Instead, I grabbed my camera, plopped down on my back steps and started clicking away.
I must say that I have a new found appreciation for any wildlife photographers out there. This area of photography takes a lot of patience and a lot of skill and it is definitely an area where I have very little experience (you could even say none.) Therefore, I was quite pleased when I uploaded my photos and found I had managed to capture one of the birds just as he was coming in for a landing – beak full of fluffy nesting material. Discovering this little treasure was my second thrill of the day! By the way, when my son did roll out of bed (around noon…) I told him the good news, and he was just as excited as I was that his birdhouses finally have residents. I guess good things do come to those who wait.
And now for a little walk down memory lane… the two pictures below are of my son and his friend proudly displaying some of their bird house building skills all those years ago. So, so sweet.
Beth Poe :: FreeForm 
Cool pic! I love the way his feathers are all spread out for flight! How fun!!! Good thing you don’t have an evil cat like I do!!! : )
Well, our Howie is a bit like a cat. A bird flew into our house a couple weeks ago and Howie went nuts – he even briefly captured the bird in his mouth. We’re a bit concerned that he’s had a taste for ‘poultry’ ever since :-).
I love the picture of the bird flying into the treehouse. It is a motion not many people are able to capture.
Thank you – I even surprised myself with the capture!
What a great and sweet story. And your capture is beautiful!
Thank you so much!
Just awesome! ❤
Thanks!
Love the story and the picture. We are starting to see baby ducks in our neighborhood and I get so excited by the site of them. There’s something magical about this process of life creating itself. By the end of the summer we usually have 80-100 ducks that are by one of the ponds we go by a couple houses down for Jakes evening walks. I know you’ll look forward to the birth of your babies in your historic birdhouse. Enjoy!
Thanks so much, Shelly! It is fun to watch nature at work in our own backyard. It is affirmation that what really matters in life are the simple pleasures.
Very exciting! These pictures touch your heart.
Thank you!