EMPTY NESTS - FULL NESTS

It's that time of year when parents watch their children graduate from high school and know that soon their nests will be emptier.  It's a joyous time, a time to feel proud, and a time to feel sad because we know we can never go back and live those moments over again with our children.

Now, for the birds, spring is a time when nests are full! I've noticed birds of all kinds flying through the yard and woods lately, so busy making nests and filling them up.  In the past week I saw a hen turkey walk through the yard twice, quickly picking up bits of gravel off the driveway to fill it's crop, and then hastily marching off into the woods.  It made me think that the hen turkey must have a full nest not too far away.

Here's the hen turkey that's been strutting through my yard lately, always in a hurry!

I've also observed a few new nests around home without looking too hard.  My friend, Roxann, spotted one the other night on our walk around the pond.  It looked like a soft, fluffy, out of place "what ta heck is that?" thing popping out of the upper branches of a young popple tree, but it turned out to be a freshly made Baltimore Oriole nest.  Often, I see oriole nests in the fall after the leaves have fallen off the trees that I never noticed in summertime.  It will be fun to observe this new nest that is right out in the open.

A Baltimore Oriole nest in a young popple tree.

I found another nest today in the middle outer branches of a young red pine tree.  It looked as though it was not quite finished as I could see daylight through it.  A minute after I spotted the nest, a tiny yellow goldfinch landed in the tree near it.

This could be an unfinished goldfinch nest.

Little tree swallows have been busy eating bugs as they hover back and forth over the surface and the sky above our pond lately.  They nest in small holes in the dead trees near the water.

Tree Swallow

It's an exciting season, watching birds return, turtles and frogs awaken, and noticing how busy every living thing seems to be.

Spring is truly a season of change for all, humans included - whether it be a full nest soon, or an empty nest!