Cardinals Take Over

We love our deck, and we also love birds. This year the two became entwined in a bird family event.

In May, two cardinals chose a protected spot in our curly willow tree to build a nest and have their offspring. Day by day, we watched them dart in and out of their sanctuary, perching first on a bare arch in a branch (see it on the right in the photo; the nest was in the clump to the left ) before darting down into our yard to collect nest material. Then came egg-laying time. Suddenly, we were not welcome on our own deck anymore.

Both mama and papa cardinal scolded us constantly, chipping and swooping to let us know we should go inside, no matter how quiet and still we were. Before we knew it, within a week or so, both birds were bringing food to the nest, picking up morsels from our yard and from around the neighborhood. The eggs had hatched. They were only a few feet from our back door, but we never heard nor saw the hungry chicks. Even with precarious body contortions, leaning backwards and hanging over the deck railing, we could not see the nest either.

So, we waited. The days went by, and we hoped to soon see tiny cardinals fledge.