A Nest Falls from a Tree

As I was hanging out my laundry today, probably for the last time of this year, I noticed a pile of twigs laying at the edge of a nearby garden.



small tree which held the second nest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I realized that the pile of twigs was actually a mockingbird nest that must have recently fallen from the tree branch above. The wind has been blowing quite frequently lately. Frankly, I am astonished that the nest did not succumb sooner.



This is the second nest, that I observed, which the mockingbirds
had used during the 2014 season.

Mockingbird nests are very crude and loosely layered compared to nests of other bird species.  The mockingbird nests always look like a pile of twigs thrown onto a branch of a tree or shrub. Fortunately, they work.

 

This is the first nest...the usual pile of twigs thrown on a branch. 

 

We must have passed by the first nest hundreds of times during the day as it was just feet from our main door of the house, located just about head level in a small dogwood tree.  Those parents left the nest every time we passed.  They were always on the move.  But, they returned just as rapidly to care for their eggs, then young.

 

 

(Note: I took this video back in July, one of many, from my personal bird's eye view - a second story window.  What a wonder to be able to observe the goings on inside the nest!)

 

I guess they realized themselves that they had built this nest just a bit too close for their comfort. Therefore, they built their next nest about ten feet away from the first and much higher up. (Note: Northern Mockingbirds can have two or more broods per year.)

 

We still passed by the new nest regularly, but we were not in as close proximity as we had been to the first.

 

With our three cats and two dogs (at that time) in constant hunt mode, the baby birds surprisingly thrived and survived. 

 

Mockingbirds are common in our yard.  So, I look forward to many more seasons of discovering many more of those rudimentary nests.

 

In previous years, our mockingbirds have made nests in the apple trees, the barberry bushes, and the holly tree.

 

Where will these amazing songsters nest next spring?

 

They are keeping that location secret for now.



(Final Note: See more on this Mockingbird family at my 7-8-14 blog, More Baby Birds.)