Feathered Friends

We have lots of feathered friends this spring!! The first set, Polly and Molly, have made their home in this birdhouse in our backyard. The birdhouse was given to us a few months ago by an elderly neighbor. I was out taking the kids for a walk one day, when he stopped me and asked if Calder would like to have the birdhouse. He said it was a hobby of his, and that this was his 'new model'. Looks like the new model is a success! We caught Polly and Molly making their home in it not long after we hung it up.

Next up is this little guy. I had noticed what seemed like a lot of birds flying in and out of my (expensive) hanging flower pots in front of our house. And, one day as Calder and I were watering the flowers, two little birds came flying out! This one flew right into my chest and we startled each other pretty good (there might have been some screaming and flailing on my part...) He finally landed just like this, on our front porch facing the house. He must have been really startled, because he did not move from this position for almost 5 minutes. After watching him for a couple of minutes, Calder said, "Mommy, is he eating our house?" So, we decided to take a look in the second flower pot, and sure enough....
This photo was taken at the end of May. The eggs have since hatched, but I haven't taken any new photos because I don't want to get so close as to scare away the mother. We keep an eye on them by standing on the seat of our bay window and peeking down into where the flower pot is hanging. I've counted 3 beaks, so I know that at least 3 of them are alive and well, but it's hard to tell if there is a fourth one in there since they are all huddled so tightly together. Unfortunately, my flowers have died because I'm afraid to water them! Oh well, I don't mind sacrificing a few flowers for the lives of 4 little birdies...