(OT - Sad) The Cycle of Life

Last week John and I realized a pair of cardinals had built a nest in the
pyracantha (a climbing-type shrub, mine is more like a tree) right next to
the window by my kitchen table. We were having such fun watching the mama
and papa birds coming and going.

Then a couple of days ago, late afternoon, we heard a ruckous. John was at
the table in the dining room, painting. (There's a large picture window in
the dining room.) I was in the den, reading. The minute I heard the
frantic PIP! PIP! PIP! I knew something was wrong. I ran into the room.
John thought the birds were fighting with each other. He didn't see (but I
did) the three-foot long black snake the birds knocked out of the tree. I
yelled "Snake!" He put on his shoes and rushed out to try to chase it off.
Unfortunately, when he went out the snake didn't go *away* from the
house/tree, it slithered under the foundation of the house. The birds were
vigilent. They kept watch. The sun set, and everything settled down and
all was quiet for the night.

Yesterday morning, we again heard the alarmed cries of the birds. This time
we were too late. The snake was already on the ground with a wee baby bird
in it's jaws. The parents were in a frenzy, on the ground pecking at the
snake. Before we could react, it was under the house

The birds hung around for a bit, then left. John checked the nest... no
other babies. (We don't know if there was more than one.) The papa-bird
came back for a while, sitting on a limb of the pyracantha, but not near the
nest. I'm guessing mama-bird was off scouting a new location and getting a
new nest started. By late afternoon, they were both gone. The sad little
nest now sits abandoned on the upper limbs of the pyracantha.

I realize this is all part of nature, but I sure wish we didn't have to
witness it up close and personal. It was not a great way to start the day.

Jill

On Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:05:50 -0400, "jmcquown"
wrote:

Last week John and I realized a pair of cardinals had built a nest in the
pyracantha (a climbing-type shrub, mine is more like a tree) right next to
the window by my kitchen table. We were having such fun watching the mama
and papa birds coming and going.

Then a couple of days ago, late afternoon, we heard a ruckous. John was at
the table in the dining room, painting. (There's a large picture window in
the dining room.) I was in the den, reading. The minute I heard the
frantic PIP! PIP! PIP! I knew something was wrong. I ran into the room.
John thought the birds were fighting with each other. He didn't see (but I
did) the three-foot long black snake the birds knocked out of the tree. I
yelled "Snake!" He put on his shoes and rushed out to try to chase it off.
Unfortunately, when he went out the snake didn't go *away* from the
house/tree, it slithered under the foundation of the house. The birds were
vigilent. They kept watch. The sun set, and everything settled down and
all was quiet for the night.

Yesterday morning, we again heard the alarmed cries of the birds. This time
we were too late. The snake was already on the ground with a wee baby bird
in it's jaws. The parents were in a frenzy, on the ground pecking at the
snake. Before we could react, it was under the house

The birds hung around for a bit, then left. John checked the nest... no
other babies. (We don't know if there was more than one.) The papa-bird
came back for a while, sitting on a limb of the pyracantha, but not near the
nest. I'm guessing mama-bird was off scouting a new location and getting a
new nest started. By late afternoon, they were both gone. The sad little
nest now sits abandoned on the upper limbs of the pyracantha.

I realize this is all part of nature, but I sure wish we didn't have to
witness it up close and personal. It was not a great way to start the day.

Jill

Yes, that's the way it goes. We don't have snakes around NYC, but we
do have a bit of wild life. The only ones that attack the birds are,
unfortunately, the cats. They're just hard-wired to kill birds.

"jmcquown" wrote:
Last week John and I realized a pair of cardinals had built a nest in the
pyracantha (a climbing-type shrub, mine is more like a tree) right next
to the window by my kitchen table. We were having such fun watching the
mama and papa birds coming and going.

Then a couple of days ago, late afternoon, we heard a ruckous. John was
at the table in the dining room, painting. (There's a large picture
window in the dining room.) I was in the den, reading. The minute I
heard the frantic PIP! PIP! PIP! I knew something was wrong. I ran into
the room. John thought the birds were fighting with each other. He
didn't see (but I did) the three-foot long black snake the birds knocked
out of the tree. I yelled "Snake!" He put on his shoes and rushed out
to try to chase it off. Unfortunately, when he went out the snake didn't
go *away* from the house/tree, it slithered under the foundation of the
house. The birds were vigilent. They kept watch. The sun set, and
everything settled down and all was quiet for the night.

Yesterday morning, we again heard the alarmed cries of the birds. This
time we were too late. The snake was already on the ground with a wee
baby bird in it's jaws. The parents were in a frenzy, on the ground
pecking at the snake. Before we could react, it was under the house

The birds hung around for a bit, then left. John checked the nest... no
other babies. (We don't know if there was more than one.) The papa-bird
came back for a while, sitting on a limb of the pyracantha, but not near
the nest. I'm guessing mama-bird was off scouting a new location and
getting a new nest started. By late afternoon, they were both gone. The
sad little nest now sits abandoned on the upper limbs of the pyracantha.

I realize this is all part of nature, but I sure wish we didn't have to
witness it up close and personal. It was not a great way to start the day.

Jill

That is so very sad. :-(
--
Adrian

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Last week John and I realized a pair of cardinals had built a nest in the
pyracantha (a climbing-type shrub, mine is more like a tree) right next to
the window by my kitchen table. We were having such fun watching the mama
and papa birds coming and going.

Then a couple of days ago, late afternoon, we heard a ruckous. John was
at the table in the dining room, painting. (There's a large picture
window in the dining room.) I was in the den, reading. The minute I
heard the frantic PIP! PIP! PIP! I knew something was wrong. I ran into
the room. John thought the birds were fighting with each other. He didn't
see (but I did) the three-foot long black snake the birds knocked out of
the tree. I yelled "Snake!" He put on his shoes and rushed out to try to
chase it off. Unfortunately, when he went out the snake didn't go *away*
from the house/tree, it slithered under the foundation of the house. The
birds were vigilent. They kept watch. The sun set, and everything
settled down and all was quiet for the night.

Yesterday morning, we again heard the alarmed cries of the birds. This
time we were too late. The snake was already on the ground with a wee
baby bird in it's jaws. The parents were in a frenzy, on the ground
pecking at the snake. Before we could react, it was under the house

The birds hung around for a bit, then left. John checked the nest... no
other babies. (We don't know if there was more than one.) The papa-bird
came back for a while, sitting on a limb of the pyracantha, but not near
the nest. I'm guessing mama-bird was off scouting a new location and
getting a new nest started. By late afternoon, they were both gone. The
sad little nest now sits abandoned on the upper limbs of the pyracantha.

I realize this is all part of nature, but I sure wish we didn't have to
witness it up close and personal. It was not a great way to start the
day.

Jill

Yes, that is sad, and it must have been very distressing to see it.

Many years ago, some swallows built a nest under the eaves of my garage. I
was concerned about what would happen when the babies hatched, because I had
indoor-outdoor cats. However, I didn't need to worry about the cats.
Several days later, the nest, which had been made of mud, fell to the
ground. The three eggs inside were all broken.

However, it's much sadder to have the eggs hatch and see a baby bird kill.

Joy

"Joy" wrote in message
...
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Last week John and I realized a pair of cardinals had built a nest in the
pyracantha (a climbing-type shrub, mine is more like a tree) right next
to the window by my kitchen table. We were having such fun watching the
mama and papa birds coming and going.

(snippage)

Yesterday morning, we again heard the alarmed cries of the birds. This
time we were too late. The snake was already on the ground with a wee
baby bird in it's jaws. The parents were in a frenzy, on the ground
pecking at the snake. Before we could react, it was under the house

The birds hung around for a bit, then left. John checked the nest... no
other babies. (We don't know if there was more than one.) The papa-bird
came back for a while, sitting on a limb of the pyracantha, but not near
the nest. I'm guessing mama-bird was off scouting a new location and
getting a new nest started. By late afternoon, they were both gone. The
sad little nest now sits abandoned on the upper limbs of the pyracantha.

I realize this is all part of nature, but I sure wish we didn't have to
witness it up close and personal. It was not a great way to start the
day.

Jill

Yes, that is sad, and it must have been very distressing to see it.

It definitely was, Joy.

Many years ago, some swallows built a nest under the eaves of my garage.
I was concerned about what would happen when the babies hatched, because I
had indoor-outdoor cats. However, I didn't need to worry about the cats.
Several days later, the nest, which had been made of mud, fell to the
ground. The three eggs inside were all broken.

Awwwww! That's sad.

However, it's much sadder to have the eggs hatch and see a baby bird kill.

Joy
I couldn't begin to quantify one over the other, but it was very disturbing
to see.

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Last week John and I realized a pair of cardinals had built a nest in the
pyracantha (a climbing-type shrub, mine is more like a tree) right next to
the window by my kitchen table. We were having such fun watching the mama
and papa birds coming and going.

Then a couple of days ago, late afternoon, we heard a ruckous. John was
at the table in the dining room, painting. (There's a large picture
window in the dining room.) I was in the den, reading. The minute I
heard the frantic PIP! PIP! PIP! I knew something was wrong. I ran into
the room. John thought the birds were fighting with each other. He didn't
see (but I did) the three-foot long black snake the birds knocked out of
the tree. I yelled "Snake!" He put on his shoes and rushed out to try to
chase it off. Unfortunately, when he went out the snake didn't go *away*
from the house/tree, it slithered under the foundation of the house. The
birds were vigilent. They kept watch. The sun set, and everything
settled down and all was quiet for the night.

Yesterday morning, we again heard the alarmed cries of the birds. This
time we were too late. The snake was already on the ground with a wee
baby bird in it's jaws. The parents were in a frenzy, on the ground
pecking at the snake. Before we could react, it was under the house

The birds hung around for a bit, then left. John checked the nest... no
other babies. (We don't know if there was more than one.) The papa-bird
came back for a while, sitting on a limb of the pyracantha, but not near
the nest. I'm guessing mama-bird was off scouting a new location and
getting a new nest started. By late afternoon, they were both gone. The
sad little nest now sits abandoned on the upper limbs of the pyracantha.

I realize this is all part of nature, but I sure wish we didn't have to
witness it up close and personal. It was not a great way to start the
day.

That is so sad. The problem here with nest-raiders is not snakes, but
magpies. I had a similar situation with a blackbird's nest, I heard the
parents panicking and went out to try and shoo the magpies away. It worked
for an hour but they came back and got the fledglings anyway. Once they'd
noticed them, they were determined to have them, and I guess snakes are the
same.
Magpies are a perfect nuisance here for raiding the nests of songbirds. If
I'd had a gun they would have been ex-magpies.
Tweed