All of these photos were taken through the window of my studio. What is happening outside your window today?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Atomospheric Conditions
I am not going to whine about the heat any more. I just feel so sorry for the wren that lives just outside my window. She and her consort are trying to nest the second time in this box. The poor little dear hangs her head outside the box trying to get some relief. This reminds me of a story my Mother used to tell me about when she was nearing the end of her term of pregnancy while carrying me. This being before AC was the norm, she would sit with her head out the window of the house trying to catch some relief. She would watch for when my Dad would come home with a chocolate malt to soothe and cool her.
The Mr Wren is vigilant. He makes sure she knows when a cat creeps by. He chases away the song sparrow, house sparrow or any other bird that dares to pause to rest near their house. He also scolds her for leaving the nest. When she quickly returns he rewards her with a big fat moth. True love.
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New Blogger, Old Blogger
All I can say it is difficult to deal with change. This new Blogger format is not as user friendly in my opinion. I guess I will get us...
Oh poor mama bird. I wonder how they withstand the heat here when they are trying to hatch babies too. Hope she had something for her dedication. They could almost hatch without her sitting on them. Outside our window this morning was a variety of critters. Several Squirrels,jays nuthathes, woodpeckers and 15 crows all fighting over the food I threw out. I love it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet story. Butterflies & chipmunks are the most interesting things going on outside my window. I swear, even the squirrels are sick of summer.
ReplyDeleteLisa.....what a good man she has.
ReplyDeletePoor mummy bird....hope it cools down for her. Lovely captures....
What's air conditioning? Not the norm here.......
What a romantic tale, Lisa! A big fat moth, yummy! I had two babies in late summer, late July and early August. We had no air conditioning in PA, but it was very hot during those months. I ate a lot of ice cream. Your poor mom, I understand completely, and with Mrs. Wren as well.
ReplyDeleteFrances
Rain! Lots of rain. Still {the temperature we are not complaining about} though. :)
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have this little domestic drama going on outside your window. I have hummers outside my kitchen window and there are some pitched battles at the feeder when the male hummingbird is around. They are beginning to tolerate me, and hover when I fill the feeder!
ReplyDeletePoor thing, I hope she gets a little relief from the heat soon. Outside my office window has been a parade of baby deer for most of the morning. I can see my plants cringing! :P
ReplyDeleteI hate seeing the birds panting in the heat. I am quite ready for it to stop being 80 degrees at 8AM. That is a dedicated wren couple for sure.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the eggs will hatch in half the time if they have twice the incubation temp?
What a sweet couple, Lisa. But I do feel sorry for Mama Wren--I couldn't live in a house without A/C these days. (I'm trying not to complain either, but it's hard, isn't it?)
ReplyDeleteI love the stories of both couples! People did somehow endure the heat without ac. My sense is that they slowed down, as well we all should sometimes. Maybe life wasn't lived at a such a fast pace? Or is that idealizing? I remember my mom sitting on a lawn chair a lot of the summer. I sat in front of fans most of July. :<)
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to watch the creatures in one's garden. We have cats so we don't encourage the birds to live or eat near the house, but they do fly about - and roost on our TV antenna. We do get to watch the bees and hummers in the bee balm right outside the window, and there have been veritable clouds of dragonflies in late afternoon, early evening.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should ask. Outside my window ... I did a post today on a wren snatching the only butterfly to enter my yard all year. What a coincidence you posted on a wren outside your window. I was mad as heck at the wren at my house.
ReplyDeleteI adore wrens. Thanks for sharing your pics and story to go with.
ReplyDeleteOutside my windows? Squirrels frolicking in the live oaks; wrens, mockingbirds, and white-winged doves doing their thing; and the constant singing of cicadas.
I have one that made a nest in my hanging basket on the front porch. I do't have the heart to move the poor dear. Not sure How I am going to water those blooms!
ReplyDeleteGreat capture - Happy Friday to you! I don't know if you remember me - it has been a while since I stopped by because I was rebuilding my site filled with garden goodies.
It is so hot here too....
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to the little wren. Ours are feeding their second brood. Lots of tasty grasshoppers in my burned up gardens for the little ones.
Stay cool. I am so very tired of 100 degrees plus and no rain. The wind is hot....
Sherry
Hello Lisa
ReplyDeletePoor Wrens ... it is so hot!Outside our window the Sparrows are eating some bread tossed out &
we have a male & female cardinal who are regulars in our garden enjoying some berries and almonds today. They've all been enjoying the pond ♥ Have a wonderful weekend.
I love that story about your mom and the chocolate malt (I love that stuff too !) .. poor little birds feeling that horrible heat too .. I am so lucky not to have to suffer through that .. because all of my posts would be a sob story ? haha
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend girl !
Joy
I'm buying a round of chocolate malts for all of us!
ReplyDeleteHi again Lisa, oh the poor wrens. Hope its cooler for them soon… you too :-)
ReplyDeleteI can now imagine how chicks look when it is warm too after seeing them through our camera. Even very young they understood to open their mouths to cool down. They struggled, attempting to keep away from fellow chicks and ultimately to get their heads out of the nest. Only the stronger, bigger ones could do that. I worried dreadfully that they would die but they all fledged fine.
Love the mouth love… it was spiders with the Blue tits in our box. What’s happening outside my window?
Its mid morning, the sun is out although it is cloudy. Nice and bright, the bird feeders have been quiet but as I type this I can see the lovely pink/brown of the male chaffinch, the green of the greenfinch, a female house sparrow having a stare off with a female siskin on the feeder pool. The birds are back again in a wave of activity. Young dunnocks, house sparrows, blue tits… in just two minutes the garden has come alive again. What fun to watch… oh…. and a woodpigeon has just landed on my shed roof… how dumb they always appear around the busy smaller birds ;-)
Wishing you a wonderfully cool and relaxing weekend :-D
Poor babies. My mother didn't have air conditioning either so she'd sit on the front steps of her apartment and smoke a cigarette. True story. They had an apartment above Ouy Lin's Chinese restaurant in OKC. I thank God for air conditioning especially when it's 106F.
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteThat little birdhouse is sweet. Nice for the birds and nice for you to watch out your window. I like that story of the Mr. giving the Mrs. the moth. I wonder if the birds down here get used the heat... they don't seem to mind it.
Meems
Actually there isn't such a beautiful view out of my window now like yours. I do not see any birds...just big and a lot of raindrops (which we actually need after the long and hot period we had!).
ReplyDeleteBarbara
As I wandered into my kitchen, first thing this morning, blurry eyed and just putting my glasses on, I found a beautiful male cardinal sitting out on my jasmine hedge! He sat there quite a while and I stood and looked at him as long as he stayed. Nice pre-coffee viewing for me this morning!!!
ReplyDelete