Since the first part of May a female house finch decided to build a nest in our hanging flowerpot outside our front door. We noticed her frequent trips to the flowerpot with grass in her beak and worried that that spot was too busy and not very secure (and our plant in the flowerpot would probably die), so we moved the first bits of the nest to a nesting box Aiden built up higher in the rafters on the porch thinking we knew best (?). Sure enough the finch moved her nesting bits back to the flowerpot and continued her building there. After a few days we had 4 perfect light green eggs for a few weeks. Every time we would open our front door the mama would fly off and leave the eggs unattended, sometimes for quite long periods. Amazingly, the birds hatched out and they are doing well. They have grown so fast! We were able to snap a picture of 3 large babies (1 has already flown off)! The dad sits in a nearby yucca chirping while the mama feeds the babies. They have been so much fun to watch. The geranium in the hanging flowerpot has not fared so well (I have been sneaking an ice cube into the pot on the opposite side of the nest periodically when mama is gone), but all the organic matter (if you know what I mean) from the babies should make it grow beautifully very soon when the babies have all left!
We also have 6 new fuzzy additions to our flock of chickens. One of our Rhode Islands Reds had stopped laying and eating and drinking and just sat on the other hens' eggs all day. After much research I have learned that this is known as "brooding" and we used this opportunity to introduce new chicks with her as the surrogate mama. It worked! She is a great mama. They are so cute as they peek out from under her or jump up on her back! The mama (we call her 'Auntie Red') is very protective of her new babies and she attacked Aiden after he tried to pick up one of the chicks. Aiden is not very fond of this new chick-raising method as he really enjoyed raising the other chicks and the adults he raised are so tame they stop and kneel down when he walks behind them to pick them up. Anyway, all is well with the chicks and Aiden anticipates a boost in sales in his egg business in 6 months or so.
To add to all of this baby madness, yesterday we stumbled upon hundreds of baby toads at the park down our street that had just hatched from the pond and they were trapped between the concrete curbs and stuck in the road. We spent a good part of our morning there rescuing the babies and we brought 2 dozen to the wet part of our yard to cultivate a nice toad community here as well. Liam loved the toads and gingerly picked them up and kept 3 or 4 in the palm of his hand and gently dropped them where I directed him (so sweet!). I wished I had my camera handy to document that.
