Back to the Nature stuff…
For the last few days as I’ve walked past the flowerbed next to our driveway something has hopped out of a large clump of salvia and hopped along the mulch to hide beneath a nearby bush. The way it moved I really thought, initially, that it was a large mouse or maybe a small bunny. But then I caught a glimpse of it yesterday and saw that it was a bird – most likely a sparrow. Today it dawned on me that it was doing this each day for a week – there must be a nest – so I took a quick peek and found not only a nest, but 2 hatchlings and 6 more unhatched eggs! Wow! [edited to add – now that I’m looking closer at some of the pictures it may be 4 unhatched eggs and the eggs beneath the hatchlings may be the broken shells… it’s hard to see so will have to try to get another look in a couple days]
I only snapped a couple quick pics because these hungry little ones kept opening their beaks as I made noise so I knew I needed to let mama come back in a hurry, which she quickly did once I stepped away.
I believe these may be song sparrow eggs – based on a quick glimpse of the mama and a quick google about egg color and nest location. However, I didn’t get a good look at mama so I am not 100% sure on the identification – she was quick to get to a nearby bush and hide.
Now, I just need to keep a good eye on the dog for the next couple weeks so she doesn’t make the same discovery I did!