I've Got My Eye on You!

European House Sparrows are handsome birds, especially the males, but looks can be deceiving.  They are prone to taking over nest boxes that are currently occupied and in the process killing everything in the box, including adult birds brooding eggs.  The carnage is not something anyone wants to see and for that reason, I keep an eye out at all times for any signs that house sparrows are trying to set up shop in one of my nest boxes.  I promptly clean out any nesting material and have sometimes even resorted to trapping and relocating a particularly persistent male.  So, I'm keeping my eye on this guy - I'm not sure what he's doing with those feathers but I'm going to do my best to make sure he doesn't try to move into any of my real estate.  

And speaking of real estate, I watched the swallows for a while this morning as they worked on the nest just outside Hubs' office window.  She would make several large, swooping passes on the box before circling out one last time and zooming straight into the box with a beak full of grass.  The nest is shaping up nicely and I expect she will soon be working on the feather lining.  Meanwhile, I think one of the wren nests has been abandoned.  It's impossible to see inside because of all the sticks but there are no signs of anyone coming or going.  But the second wren box has lots of activity so it seems like the second female is staying.  It's unusual for the resident wren to have only one female nesting - the norm is two and several times when we have had a particularly optimistic male, there have been three concurrent nests.  You don't really want to be a small, tasty arthropod in our garden...

Jax is at day care, hopefully getting lots of exercise and fun.  He is always excited to be there. And it's always nice for me to have a free day!  The weather is pretty displeasing - windy and cloudy with occasional drizzle.  Which made it a good day for me to start laying out my Africa photo book on Blurb.  What a daunting task!  But hopefully the book will be something I can enjoy.

Dark with sea salt today

xo
Debbi