Oh look! A nest with eggs! How wonderful, yes?
Well…
Not so much.
Observe location of said nest:
Don’t see it? Let me show you a better picture:
See that twiggy stuff in the shadows of the upper opening in the tire? Yes, our nest.
This happened last year, too. Only we didn’t notice the nest until we’d been driving the the Jeep around and it was way too late. This time, David saw momma bird fly out of the tire yesterday afternoon. We figure she must have laid the eggs yesterday morning or the night before. A little research told us that the eggs should take two weeks to hatch and then two more weeks for the birdies to leave the nest.
*Sigh*
So, I am attempting relocation. The same research said house finches like to build nests in hanging plants, too. I dug out one of my dead hanging plants from last summer and hung it next to the tire. (You can see it in the big Jeep picture – I don’t normally hang dead plant baskets on the Jeep.) Hopefully momma bird got used to seeing it there. This morning, I put on latex gloves and then washed them, to try to remove as much human scent as I could. Then I relocated the nest to the basket.
I hung the basket on the tire and added an exotic cover for shade and protection.
Hopefully momma bird will find it and continue to sit on the eggs. Then I’ll gradually move the whole thing to the nearby grape arbor.
Think good thoughts!
Also, Day 3 of my Novel Spot history of Me as a Writer is up today. Let me know what you think!