Our life living off the land in our log cabin, breathing fresh mountain air, and getting back to basics.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Happy Trails and Bird Nests

I often mention how much I enjoy winter. There's lots of reasons for it, beyond my appreciation of cold and snow, and today reminded me of a couple.

Winter's sunny skies are an incredibly rich blue...I often find myself gazing up through the trees with gratitude for it. As I walked to the mailbox this morning, I heard a distant jet and then saw the remnants of its trails. At first they were simple paths...
...but the upper winds turned them into sky paintings...
...and I became mesmerized watching the streams unfurling as if dancing...happy trails!

I also adore the bare trees (I think I'm in the minority in this). I find the stark branches and the patterns they make very attractive. But what I find most alluring is when I find a birds nest nestled in the branches--gets me to thinking about the bird families that will soon call it home and hopefully come to my bird feeders. During the spring and summer, the nests are hidden by the dense greenery. I try to remember where I've seen them, and monitor those areas for activity in the spring and summer. It's a fun pastime. I found six nests in the woods that surround us, here's just a few... 
 
 ...this is a big one, about eighteen inches deep and wide, sheltered in the middle of the fork of this huge hemlock...
...this is under our porch and was home to a Carolina Wren family last year...I wonder if they'll return...

...this is a picture of the chicks from last year, so cute!

Do you have lots of bird nests around you?

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

3 comments:

Osage Bluff Quilter said...

I'm impressed that someone can look up at the beautiful sky and walk at the same time! You have talent .

We have tons of hummingbirds in the summer and I have never found a nest yet!

We do keep an eye on an eagle nest when we go up river in the boat. They've kept the nest for years.

NCmountainwoman said...

I also love the bare trees. To see the burls and irregularities that are not visible when the leaves are out. And yes, the nests. At a given time in our woods I can see squirrel nests, crow's nests, bird nests, and hornet's nests.

Lise said...

ROFL Patti! I look for hummingbird nests too, but they're so small, they're really hard to find. Nice that you have an Eagle's nest you can watch!

True about the burls and irregularities, NCmountainwoman. I'm not sure I could tell a squirrel's nest, but I have seen lots of hornet's nests too.