nests – Page 5 – Rae Spencer

The Cardinals

May 30, 2012Rae 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

Storm Front

May 22, 2012Rae Spencer3 Comments

A brief storm tested the dove nest today. Lots of lightning and thunder, but very little wind and only a modest amount of rain. No damage to report, despite the ominous looking clouds. (Photos taken on iPhone and adjusted with the Photoshop Express application.)

More Doves

May 21, 2012Rae 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.

More Nests

April 8, 2012Rae Spencer5 Comments

The blue jays have retired to their nest next door, abandoning the yard to robins and rabbits. Both seem satisfied to stay a while. The robins are building a nest in the pear tree, and the rabbits have excavated a series of test-nests. I’m ridiculously excited, almost giddy with anticipation…

Blue Jay Nests

April 1, 2012Rae Spencer4 Comments

As a child, I both loved and dreaded blue jays. Beautiful and fierce, they are a permanent fixture in my summer memories. (See this poem.)

Last year, a pair of blue jays nested in our wax myrtle. They built on the far side of our fence, right over the sidewalk. It was a precarious choice, and I wasn’t too surprised when the nest failed.

Today, a new nest is taking shape. This time they chose the neighbor’s pear tree, a safer and more defensible position. They are using twigs from our wax myrtle, which makes for some fun photos, but I’m content to have them in someone else’s yard. They are, after all, quarrelsome birds.