Basket Babies

Every summer we hang baskets of ivy geraniums on our front porch. Over the last few years, house finches have built nests in them, laid an egg or two, and then eventually abandoned the project. It’s a minor annoyance each year to have the porch turned into a nursery during peak porch-sitting weather, but we still feel a certain loss when the eggs are left behind and no chicks are hatched.

But this summer is different! Once again there is a nest. But even though I have to take the basket down every couple days to water it (and not the nest), causing the mother to fly to a nearby tree, she has been tenacious in returning and sitting on her two eggs. And it’s paid off—last week I first saw the two new-born chicks and now they’ve grown into tiny versions of their mother, still settled snugly side-by-side. I can hear their peeping from the street, so if vocal strength is a sign of health, they’re doing fine. Sooner or later they’ll be big enough to fly away. While that will also be a loss, it will be a much happier one.

by RG @Main