"For the Birds"

This morning I took a walk out the back door. A violet-green swallow circled just over my head. For the last two weeks I had been wondering where this bird’s nest might be. In the meantime, I had found all manner of other nests – blackbirds, phoebes, and even the secretive Stellar’s Jay nest. Yet the location of the swallow’s nest had eluded me.  

Judging by the circling behavior of the bird, I knew the nest was near and it was just a matter of time and patient observation before the location would be revealed.

Looking closer, I could see a piece of grass hanging from the swallow’s mouth. Eventually the bird flew up to the top of my house – the nest was in the corner of an upstairs window! I smiled as the morning fog drifted by and a deer slowly meandered up the hill to the south. What a great morning!

-Josh