new beginnings

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea) have built a nest along the lakeside trail at work.  As I am currently working on a Breeding Bird Atlas, finding a nest of any species provides a welcome data point, but gnatcatcher nests are special.  These tiny birds, relatives of kinglets, make exquisite, 3-inch cups of fine plant material, woven extensively with spider webs, and carefully decorated with lichens (click small photo for detail).  Both sexes construct these little works of art -- shown here in a great (clickable) shot by my friend Andy.  Gnatcatchers tend to call noisily during most of the nest building process.  It seems counter-intuitive for birds to draw attention to their nest sites; perhaps a well-deserved pride of craftsmanship compels gnatcatchers to show off their work.

   

All over the place, Baltimore Orioles (Icterus galbula) are also busy weaving their pendulous hanging-sack nests. Near the pond in my yard, a female oriole has been returning to the same spot, gathering fibrous plant material and long, dried, grass-like leaves, all from the place where I spread my mother's ashes.  Mom died of Alzheimer's, and one of the last things that left her memory, which we shared late in her life, was the recognition of familiar birds, like the bright and unmistakable oriole.  I think she would have liked to have known that she would spend a season of her post-Earth existence woven into a cradle holding and protecting a new brood of orioles, whose flash of color could spark her imagination.

Comments

[doulicia]

I was so excited about the gnatcatchers I didn't even finish reading the post before I commented...now that I have I'm very touched by the circle of life represented in the on-going relationship between your mother and birds.

[Trix]

What a lovely thought! I couldn't think of a better way to be 'returned' to the earth.