Spring Returns – Day Eight

For the second Sunday in a row it was nice and warm and sunny. Last week that inspired me to go out and shoot pictures of the back yard budding and blooming and waking up to the warmer temps. (See that box over on the right that says “Recent Post”?) Today, since getting out of the house and walking around in the sun makes my watch happy, I did the front yard…

…and I’ll start showing those to you tomorrow. But in the back yard, we have new avian neighbors.

This wasn’t here last weekend. I noticed it when I opened the bedroom curtains and startled the occupants.

So, of course, I grabbed my camera.

Not five feet away from the door to the porch was this lady, who was having no grief from me at all. A female house finch, very common in these areas.

She was not taking her eyes off of me, and there’s no doubt in my mind that if I had taken steps toward the nest, I would have had her buzzing around my head.

I take no shame in admitting that she would probably kick my ass if I went for that nest.

Meanwhile, twenty feet away instead of five, behind the porch support post, ready to lend moral support if there was an actual physical confrontation, was the male.

“Lovely, plumage!” as they say. But we wouldn’t want to get any of that messed up, so if I want to make an omelette out of his potential offspring, he has to make sure that none of that gets ruffled.

He at least had the decency to look sheepish and ashamed, not maintaining eye contact.

Mom, on the other hand, was showing off how buff she was and squawking at me the whole time so that I would know who was in charge.

Got it! I’m mostly harmless and would like to just watch and take the occasional picture. Perhaps a bird feeder of some sort would soothe your troubled mind? (Yes, that’s an offer of a bribe.)

I’ll keep an eye open and an ear cocked for the sound of teeny peepers in that nest in the weeks to come.