A Hatching at the Cochrans

I came home from work one day and found a bunch of weeds sprouting out of a shrub in front of the house. As I pulled out the long weeds, I also pulled out a little clump of dried grass. Oh, I wished I hadn't messed with it... perhaps a bird was beginning to build a nest. Ah probably not... it's too close to the ground.

When I came home from work the next day, the weeds were back in the shrub! Once again, coming out of the inside of the bush like a fountain. What in the world is going on? I looked inside to the center... and there was a perfectly formed little nest. Built in ONE day!

Well of course we know birds build nests. But to see this one up close and to know it was built in a day, I marveled at the handiwork. It was perfectly round inside, and the grasses were tightly woven. I couldn't have done this with my own two hands and a pair of tweezers and glue! Yet this little bird gathered the materials and put it together in a day's time. Some would say, oh it's just instinct. Instinct? I can buy that. But the wonder of it is that God created the instinct in the bird! Thinking about the intracacies of it all boggles my mind. But then, rather than a God whom I could easily figure out, I would prefer to have a God that can boggle my mind. Mmmm... I wonder what kind of bird? Why build the nest so close to the ground? Will the eggs/babies survive with cats roaming the neighborhood? We'll see... I know there's some reason this little event is taking place in my front yard.

Surprise! When I came home today, I looked inside the nest... three little eggs. I also heard some squawking above me on the roof... the mother. None too happy to see me peering into her nest. I quickly moved away. Of course, I came back later and snapped a quick picture.

The mother is small, brown on top, with a brown & white striped belly. Either a wren, or a finch, but I think she's a song sparrow. I'll try to get a picture sometime. I shared my little bird story with co-workers today. Susan remembered a time a dove built a nest on the soccer field where her son played. Rosie said, "Did she miss the instinct class where they were told not to build a nest on a soccer field?" At any rate, the team made a concerted effort to avoid the nest while practicing... they even alerted visiting teams about the nest... and all the guys played soccer around it! Imagine... all those high school boys looking out for the bird and babies. I think all life forms can teach us something. Perhaps this was a time for the boys to let the soft places in their hearts to be nurtured. I wonder what my little bird is here to teach?

I always look in the shrub now when I come home from work. Today there was one more egg... 4 in all now. The mama watches me closely whenever I look in her nest. I'm pretty sure she's a sparrow. She looks like the pic in my bird book and the description of the way sparrows build their nests fit. Except, I still don't know why they build so close to the ground.

A week or so ago 2 or 3 of the eggs hatched. The tiny little birds were curled up together and I just couldn't tell how many there were. I was so surprised to find myself a little grossed out at the way they looked... no feathers, kinda shiny... looked more like snails... yuck. I tried to take a picture, but the mama was squawking like crazy. I decided not to disturb or frighten her. The picture here was taken about a week and a half after they hatched. They're cute little things now! Still tiny though. At least one egg didn't hatch... sad. I still can't tell how many birds or eggs are in there, and I don't want to poke around too much to try to find out.

Yesterday, Ric and I came home and the young guys that we've hired had mowed the yard. We panicked for a moment, because we forgot to tell them to be careful around the nest. They're still safe though. I had to chase a big cat away this morning. Sure hope these little critters make it. Mama continues to watch my every move.

Yesterday (5/12/09) when I came home from work, I checked the nest as always, and two of the cutest little birds were looking right at me! The changes were amazing... lots of feathers now... just adorable. I thought, "Soon we'll be seeing them learn to fly." I was going to snap a picture, but went inside, got distracted, and forgot. This morning Ric and I looked in at the nest and... the birds were gone! We agreed that they were not yet ready to fly. The mama and papa bird were above us on a wire... quiet... no chirpping as usual. Ric's first thought was that a neighborhood cat got the birds. But the nest itself was not disturbed. It seems like a cat would have just destroyed everything trying to get to the birds. The nest was in the same place in the bush, intact, with the egg still inside... the one that never hatched. We looked all around for signs of the birds elsewhere, but didn't see a thing. When I came home from work later, the first thing I did was look inside the nest, hoping they had somehow returned, but still, just the empty nest, with the one unhatched egg.

Mysterious. The little "decorative" weeds the mother had placed on the bush when she built the nest were still there. All seemed undisturbed, except for the fact that the baby birds were gone. Now the parents were gone too... no sight or sound of them either. I've searched all around the yard, but no sign whatsoever of our little sparrow family. What could have happened? Where could they have gone? I feel sad.

(5/14/09) Well, I think my story has a happy ending. It occurred to me to google song sparrow's nesting habits, and I found that "the young will leave the nest about 10 days after hatching, barely able to fly. The parents will feed the young for another 20 days. Within a week the first egg of the next brood will be laid." So... since the nest and shrub did not appear to be disturbed, I'm guessing the little tikes just left the nest and are safe somewhere, with mom and dad bringing them food and little baby bird toys...