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Rachel's Nest

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2006
by afgreyparrot on June 16, 2006 03:58 AM
Rachel bought a hanging plant day before yesterday and hung it in her entryway. By yesterday afternoon a little brown bird had made a home for her babies in it!

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She was still working on it when I was there.

It's gonna be so easy to watch these babies!
I'm so excited! [grin]

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by Patty S on June 16, 2006 04:43 AM
What an exciting novelty! Brennan is just going to love having his own personal bird nest, so he can count the days till the eggs hatch & watch the babies grow!

I assume that Rachel has already resigned herself to NOT having a hanging plant on her porch, but having a hanging bird family there, instead! (It'd be sort of hard to water the plant without mommy bird getting her nose out of joint!)

I really hope that the mommy will be content once she realizes that she may be raising her little family in a high traffic zone! Best of luck with this adventure, Rachel! [thumb]

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by afgreyparrot on June 16, 2006 05:39 AM
quote:
I really hope that the mommy will be content once she realizes that she may be raising her little family in a high traffic zone!
Me, too.
This is the entryway where the plant is hanging.
Notice skateboard, scooter, bicycle and 6 year old boy. [scaredy]
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Rachel said when they went out this morning the mommy bird was hanging onto the mortar that sticks out between the bricks, screaming at them.

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by loz on June 16, 2006 05:53 AM
That is too cool Cindy! So does Rachel like gardening as much as you do?
by Wrennie on June 16, 2006 06:14 AM
Looks like a house sparrow nest.
She can still water the plant. just a little at a time or from underneath somehow.
We have barn swallows, starlings and house sparrow nests on the porch and soffit where my store is. The store next to me has the barns right over her door. Very high traffic retail spot.
I did see a baby swallow poke his head up this morning.

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 - Summer Camp '07, July 14th weekend, won't you join us?  -
summer camp thread 1, 2, 3,4
by penny in ontario on June 16, 2006 06:47 AM
Thats so exciting for Brennan to watch

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by BeckyB on June 17, 2006 10:24 AM
That is sooooooo funny!

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"As long as there are tests,
there will be prayer in public schools"
- Maxine
by afgreyparrot on June 27, 2006 02:45 PM
quote:
So does Rachel like gardening as much as you do?

Oh, yeah! [grin] [thumb]

quote:
She can still water the plant. just a little at a time or from underneath somehow.

I told her that, but she won't water it.
She's afraid it will get the nest wet, because the nest takes up the whole pot. The plant still looks pretty good, though.

There are 3 eggs in the nest now.
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You can only see one in this picture because we couldn't get the camera at a good angle to get them all in the picture. The mommy bird wasn't real thrilled with us, either, so we didn't want to be at the nest any longer than we had to...10 seconds!

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by melcon6 on June 27, 2006 02:52 PM
Aw, that is so cool! [thumb] My that momma bird works fast!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY!!!!!!!
by loz on June 27, 2006 02:59 PM
Awww, that's so neat.... [thumb]

Does Rachel have a pond Cindy?
by afgreyparrot on June 27, 2006 03:24 PM
Nope...Jeremy has tried to talk her into a pond, but she said she has seen how much I work on mine and how obsessed you can get with them, and she doesn't want one. She has that stupid pool that she has to take care of, which is dumb because you can't put goldfish in it. [nutz] A large body of water needs goldfish and plants in it as far as I'm concerned!

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by Squirrel on June 28, 2006 07:10 AM
I had a nest in my hanging basket one year and I continued to water. If the nest was out in the trees or bushes it would get rained on. Except for the plant being smushed down a little it survived and was pretty the rest of the season. [thumb] Sue

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What goes around comes around, so be nice!lol
by afgreyparrot on June 28, 2006 10:29 AM
quote:
If the nest was out in the trees or bushes it would get rained on.
That's what I told her, but she won't listen to me! [Roll Eyes] [Big Grin]
I'm gonna have to go over there when she's not home and water it! [lala]

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by afgreyparrot on July 16, 2006 06:41 AM
Yesterday I got pictures of the babies.

When I first looked in the nest I saw only one baby...
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Then, another little head popped up...
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These babies hatched a few days apart.
There is still an egg in the nest that hasn't hatched.

Rachel says that there are several birds taking care of the babies. She said the birds bring food to the brick planter beside the entrance...they lay it down and the mother comes to get it. Kind of a relay thing going on.

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by Wrennie on July 16, 2006 07:38 AM
Awww, hi babies! [wavey]

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 - Summer Camp '07, July 14th weekend, won't you join us?  -
summer camp thread 1, 2, 3,4
by loz on July 16, 2006 03:29 PM
Welcome to the world little baby birds! [wavey] How cute! [Smile]
by afgreyparrot on July 23, 2006 04:05 AM
Oh, this is freaky. [scaredy]

Notice the mortar between the bricks in this photo...

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The mortar is like that because it's a Spanish type house, and when they bought it there was ivy climbing up a major portion of the house (it was beautiful)...but Jeremy removed all of it because he was afraid snakes would get in it. I told them they were crazy.

OK...last night about 10pm Rachel and Jeremy went out to sit in the entryway after the kids were in bed. Rachel saw something on the mortar by the nest, and then it started moving down the wall into a big plant RIGHT BESIDE JEREMY'S CHAIR! It was a copperhead almost 4' long, which is a HUGE copperhead here...the biggest one I ever killed at the farm was 4' 1" long, and I killed hundreds of them there.

It had eaten the egg that was in the nest (the one that didn't hatch). The baby that was left wasn't there, so it must have left the nest yesterday evening. Rachel said she didn't think the snake ate it, because she didn't see a bulge in the snake anywhere.

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by penny in ontario on July 23, 2006 05:53 AM
[shocked] [shocked] [scaredy] I hope that baby bird made it and it left early!!!!!

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by weezie13 on July 23, 2006 06:00 AM
Ewwwwwwwwwww!
I could never live in a state that had that stuff..
It would just creep me out so bad...
(I love snow storms) [Wink] [Big Grin]

Those babies are sooooooooo cute.. [Smile] [Cool]

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2

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http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
by penny in ontario on July 23, 2006 06:25 AM
I'd be freaking trying to get into the house if i saw that!!!!!!
Snakes and i do not get along!

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by Tonya on July 23, 2006 08:31 AM
I hope it didn't get the baby...

I'm not neccessarily "scared" of snakes, but that would have scared the pants off me!

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 - Bote and Babe's World
by Thornius on July 23, 2006 09:01 AM
We have mostly rattlesnakes here in the Nashville, Tn area. On Grandfather Mountain, NC where my family has owned a cabin for over 5 generations, it is mostly Copperheads. We killed 20 Copperheads in one week when I was a teenager.

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A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.
by plants 'n pots on July 23, 2006 09:48 AM
quote:
Originally posted by weezie13:
Ewwwwwwwwwww!
I could never live in a state that had that stuff..
It would just creep me out so bad...
(I love snow storms) [Wink] [Big Grin]

Those babies are sooooooooo cute.. [Smile] [Cool]

UHHHHHHHHH Weezie dear...
you DO live in a state that has them!!!
We have numerous rattlers here - in the mountains just about 1/2 mile from our street. As a matter of fact, we have friends that live on the road leading up to the mountains and they've gotten rattlers in their garage numerous times! [Razz]

There is a STATE PROTECTED DEN of rattlesnakes in the mountains here just down the road - some people wanted to develop an area there, but couldn't because of the snakes!

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 - Lynne's knitting journal  -  -  -
"I'm spayed, declawed, and housebound - how's YOUR day going???"
by loz on July 23, 2006 10:38 AM
That's is freaky Cindy....I'd hate that. I tried to find my snake in the shower story but I think it must've been deleted [Eek!] ......do you remember that at all?
by afgreyparrot on July 23, 2006 11:28 AM
You had a SNAKE in your shower??? [shocked]
No...I didn't see that one!

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by Tonya on July 24, 2006 02:59 AM
Last year I had one in my attic...I opened the attic door and the skin it had shed fell out on my head....I had to change clothes... [Embarrassed] [scaredy]

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by weezie13 on July 24, 2006 03:26 AM
quote:
Originally posted by plants 'n pots:
quote:
Originally posted by weezie13:
Ewwwwwwwwwww!
I could never live in a state that had that stuff..
It would just creep me out so bad...
(I love snow storms) [Wink] [Big Grin]

Those babies are sooooooooo cute.. [Smile] [Cool]

UHHHHHHHHH Weezie dear...
you DO live in a state that has them!!!
We have numerous rattlers here - in the mountains just about 1/2 mile from our street. As a matter of fact, we have friends that live on the road leading up to the mountains and they've gotten rattlers in their garage numerous times! [Razz]

I have never heard of any in this area....
I will have to ask around.....

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2

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http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
by plantqueen on July 25, 2006 10:01 AM
I do not like snakes at all! I have yet to see one in my yard which is odd because I live in the country with acres and acres of woods out my back door and tall grass at one edge of our property. That is one thing that I am definitely scared of. Cute pics though!!! I had a cardinal's nest in a bush right outside the french doors that lead out of my bedroom onto one of our decks. I kept watching it and all of a sudden it was laying on the ground one day and I didn't see any of the eggs laying there or anything. I don't know if something got it or what. We do have an abundance of racoons in our yard and a few cats pass through the yard now and then. I was so bummed because I was looking forward to see the baby cardinals. Maybe next year!!!

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All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

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