Spring Birds and New Works

Every Spring, the trimming of the boxwoods in my front yard have to wait until the middle of May to be trimmed. This is because every late March a nest starts to be built in one of the boxwoods. Soon enough eggs appear, which are followed by little chirps from babies that grow up really fast. By May the nest is empty and the chore of trimming boxwoods continues.

While the bushes are host to each family of birds, I still tend to the garden bed in that area. This Spring when I did, the male cardinal would swoop out of the boxwoods and fly to the oak in front of the bushes and go back and forth from one oak tree to the other all the while making a lot of fuss.

I told my husband about this to which he says, "He's probably playing decoy to protect the family." Oh, my heart!!! Now, neither of us are bird behaviorists (I think that's a thing), but I really love his explanation. Isn't that what we do as parents? We love them and protect them. Even now that our girls are grown and married, I still constantly worry about them and want to protect them from everything that could bring them harm. It’s amazing to think these little birds have those same big emotions. So, I had to paint him. I was hoping to get a photo of mama bird to paint, but I never could.

I hope lots of pretty things are growing around where you are.

Hugs,
Carolina