Sábado e Domingo

Chores and errands completed this weekend:

• clean bathroom and kitchen
  
• grocery shopping
  
• make lunches
  
• iron business clothes
  
• TNCA newsletter
  
• career: update resume
  
• wash dishes
  

A bird on the deck

A little while ago, i noticed a small bird flying up to the door sill going out onto my deck. I remarked upon it, but otherwise took little notice.

Well yesterday, when i stepped out in the morning to check the weather, this bird was inbound and, spotting me, bore towards me in flight carrying worms in her mouth. When i failed to flee, she abated and repaired to the tree of the north end of the deck.

Immediately I realized that this bird, which had for some days been alighting above my door, had the while been nesting and was now returning with food for her young hatchling. Indeed, while I stood at the south end of the deck and watched, a mere chick cried out, head just breaching the top of the nest, while his mother perched not five feet away, watching me instead to determine my intentions.

Seeing now this intruder upon her home, she left off her errand, instead crossing the porch to fly at me, only to turn and land on a step at ground level below. After a few more feints, hoping to scare me off, she returned to the tree still holding the worms. As i failed to relent, simply standing at the far end of the deck, she made a dash for the nest, dropping the serving straight down the chick's throat.

While i snuck back inside to retrieve my camera, she made another foray. I returned camera in hand and waited for her to come with more worms. What a racket the child made, in a rougher and more shrill cry than his family generally makes in song.

Perhaps my naturalist readers can educate me as to the manner of bird nesting here. I could only observe this summer ritual and record what i could with my amateur tools. The bird is brown-coated with a orange belly and yellow beak. They're very common in this area and are the size of a child's fist. I own i took more pictures than would easily be shown here. The rest can be found in an album i put onto facebook.

As a bonus for my patience, while the feathery mother was off hunting, a chipmunk passed just below, stopping on the retaining wall steps before jetting down a hole in the hillside.