bird watching

The Cardinals

Rae Spencer4 Comments

Two mated cardinals
Muted mother and masked father
Alarmed and flashed around the corner
Through crepe myrtle, plum, and iris

Their single nestling, un-nested
Precocious and half-fledged
Quavering in the awful sun
Exposed, expelled, exploring
The perilous yard

An infant still shaped to shell
Convex and vexed
Voraciously alive
Irresistibly ugly kernel
Of what might be lovely
Clad in summer plume

Though now all hungry gape
Begging nourishment
Little family of fear on the lawn
Watched by the brooding housewife
Who sits her own reluctant nest
Of amniotic memory
Hatching into phrase

And eager to mature
Like the cardinal chick
Which disappeared next morning
Gone from the woodpile and irises
From the bright wing of father
From the red-headed husband
Whose pajama-clad wife
Frets barefoot in the dew

More Doves

Rae Spencer5 Comments

There’s nothing newsworthy about doves on the roof. And, as much as I hate to admit it, a gutter full of twigs is not unusual, either.

However, in this instance the two are related.

It wouldn’t be my first choice, were I seeking a place to nest, but she seems content.

Fortunately, this part of the roof doesn’t drain much. As long as we don’t get any tropical storms, the nest should be safe.

Doves

Rae Spencer6 Comments

There’s a family of doves in our front flower bed. Two fledglings, with two tired parents, spent yesterday and today following patches of sun through the irises. I’ve enjoyed watching them, and so have the cats.

The Blue Jays vs The Cats

Rae Spencer6 Comments

The blue jay eggs hatched sometime within the last week. Driven by feeding duties and protective instincts, the blue jay parents spend every daylight moment foraging and feuding.

When we first noticed their increased activity, my husband put a handful of seed on the deck railing. It quickly disappeared. The next day, he put out a little more seed, then waited with his camera. Now he and the blue jays share a daily ritual of feeding and photos.

The losers in this new relationship are the cats, who usually treasure these spring open-window weeks. Unfortunately, their favorite windows look onto the deck…

From the Mockingbird Archives

Rae Spencer2 Comments

These two images make up the entirety of my mockingbird archive. Mockingbirds are not scarce, nor are they particularly camera shy, so I don’t know why there aren’t more.

Speaking of mockingbirds, here’s a video/slideshow from my husband’s archives (with a poem I wrote after seeing the photos).