Saturday, June 22, 2013

a nest in the cobalt garden

So we have had storms the past two days and a total of about two inches of rain which leaves most of the outside stuff pretty muddy to work on so I have been weeding yesterday and today.  I was able to weed the potatoes in the cornfield because they had grass clippings spread in the walk spaces between the rows.  Because it was moist the weeds pulled easily. 

The other place that I was able to weed was the white fence.  I have a 60 foot fence that hides part of the overflow pipe for the septic system.  There is pampas grass at the west end and next to that are the peonies.  Next to the peonies is the cobalt garden section and the rest is perennial flowers and a few grasses.  There is a water feature that has sprung a leak and a cement bench and at the east end a butterfly bush.  I have not had a chance to work in that garden as I have chosen instead to mow and plant vegetables first when the weather cooperates.  With all the rain that we have had this spring the weeds are three foot tall or more. 

I started at the peony end and was working on pulling the weeds there and then moved closer to the cobalt bottle tree and the bird bath.  There was this persistent bird who ran along the top of the fence and moved to different locations close by where I was working.  She looked like this.



I am not a bird watcher so I don't know which bird is which but she was talking up a storm and I assumed that i was getting close to her nest.  My plan became to keep weeding, keeping a careful lookout for her nest and then if necessary leave that area with its protective weed cover.  When I got a little closer i noticed that the group of dead plant stalks that she is sitting on in the second picture was where she had her nest.  



In that stand of dead stalks about a foot off the ground she had built her nest and there were five eggs.  I hope that I have not removed too much cover for her to protect her nest.  She probably figured I would never get that flower bed weeded and she might have been right!  I took a quick picture and then moved down to the other end of the fence to give that side a little attention.  Another storm is possible tonight.  Hope she and her nest will be okay.



2 comments:

  1. How cute! Make sure to get pictures of the baby birds :)

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    1. I will try to get pictures. I am trying to stay out of her way as much as possible.

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