Overcoming distractions and finding a nest full of eggs

C is for cat. Practicing upper and lowercase c was more productive today. It's interesting how a task can be dragged out to last a couple of hours, however when attention is held, the very same task can be completed in under 10 minutes. I'll have to admit that I get easily distracted. This is one trait I wish Creed hadn't have inherited. After zipping through c, we practiced writing four and five and then headed outdoors to pick more blackberries. Creed says we're going to make blackberry jam. First we picked the ones within the fence and then headed outside the gates to get the ones that were poking through to the other side. We stopped to break a small oak branch full of leaves for the first caterpillar of the season. 

Northern Mockingbird nest

On the way back I noticed a nest. I called Creed over to look at our newest discovery. A beautiful twig nest full of bluish-green brown speckled eggs. What a treasure! I wondered what kind of bird laid those eggs. Then as I went back to take a photo, I caught a glimpse of mama bird sitting on the nest. As soon as she heard me she flew away (unlike their territorial nature so I've read) and I noticed how the branches swayed in the gentle breeze. What a wonderful serene setting for soon-to-be baby birds. From what I can tell our fine feathered female friend is a Northern Mockingbird, which I found on the "Nifty-Fifty for Louisiana." The Northern Mockingbird is a conspicuous, slender gray and white bird. This bird may sing day or night and continues to make new songs as they grow older. This well-known vocalist may know as many as 200 different songs and can imitate the sounds of many other birds as well as man-made noises. The mockingbird nest is a bulky cup of twigs and stems lined with leaves, bark, grasses and sometimes trash, usually placed three-ten feet high in a tree or thicket. The eggs usually number three-five and are bluish or greenish with marking of brown or reddish. The young hatch at about 13 days and leave the nest in 12 days, but continue to associate with the adults for some time. At the beginning of spring I put out a bunch of fuzzy yarn strings in a net pouch to encourage the birds to use them in their nests, so far no takers. There's a second bird nest being built in the pear tree behind our house. Soon we'll hear the baby cheeps. How exciting!! There's so much to learn in our own backyard. For more about the "Nifty-Fifty for Louisiana" and Northern Mockingbird look here: http://www.birdzilla.com/nifty-fifty/louisiana.html.

 

Tonight will be another adventure with "Jesse Bear What Will You Wear?" by Nancy White Carlstrom, the first book on the reading list from "Before Five in a Row," by Jane Claire Lambert. Jesse Bear enjoys the thought of stars overhead and moonlight streaming through his window, so tonight we'll pull out the telescope we've been saving for such a special occasion and explore the nighttime sky.