There are barren pineapple balm twigs right outside my window and they are near the bird house where this chickadee (not sure if it's mom or dad) and its mate have eggs in the box! I'm a little excited this one stayed on the twig while I took a couple of photos--very rare moment of pause.
If you look low on the twig, you can see a dead insect caught in some webbing. I think another dead bug is above the chickadee too.
I think I'm going to make a "take a photo right outside my home" theme this week because I'm pretty tired these days. Or, as one of my friends said for a theme, "birds and flowers, birds and flowers, birds and flowers"--I'm good with that!
UPDATE: I checked the box when I saw mom and dad leave--6 tiny eggs in there. So lovely!
@steampowered Wow, thanks Paul! I just love my chickadees--they are such funny birds, and who knows how cute it's going to be when the eggs in the house hatch? I'll be "at the ready" with camera. :)
@judis Thanks Judy. I really wish I could see inside the house, but I don't want to disturb the birds or scare them. I can tell the parent is in there because she has her tail running up the wall--she sits super still.
@vskolnik I'm thinking it is a Carolina Chickadee (related, but more of a white belly than the tan belly). I don't know when the eggs arrived as I think they may have happened at some point when I was in Florida for Spring break (first week of the month). If so, should be soon!!! I really want to look in the box, but there is such a little hole and it's very dark. I think I'd freak out the mom. Such a tiny bird--wonder what a babe looks like! Oh, and we have Robin eggs on the side of the house--so they should be here in about 7-10 days I think. I'm such a birder now! And I love it. :)
@danitech@jo13 Thanks! I was having a hard time cropping, but I wanted the dead bugs in the shot. Just checked box (I haven't had the nerve as it is sooooo dark in the bird house, but I saw Mom and Dad leave). 6 eggs!!!
@darylo I so enjoy your enthusiasm for birding. It's like there was a whole world going on that I did not know about and then I discovered birding and realized there's all sorts of drama going on in my back yard and I re-experience that sense of discovery viewing your images and descriptions.
@judis I have to credit the birders on this site for giving me the idea of opening my eyes (you included). As I told my daughter a month ago, "I hope you do not wait until you are 48 to appreciate the birds in your world." I have been transformed by the birds, insects, snakes, predators, animals of my back and side yards. It's a complicated world! Thanks so much for your lovely comments. They mean so much.
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