簷下鳥巢 / Blackbird's Family

Several weeks ago, I heard this racket inside the soffit just outside the second floor window. At first, I thought the squirrels had gotten inside the crawl-space between the ceiling and the roof. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that there were little twigs and grass sticking out through the cracks between soffits that were blown open during the last winter storm. A couple of blackbirds had made a new nest to start a family.

At first, I was going to serve eviction notice to my uninvited feather friends for trespassing. However, I wasn't able to get close enough to determine whether they had already laid eggs in their little nest. So, I decided to wait and see. Sure enough, after about a week, little squeaky noises started to emanate from inside the little crack. The Blackbirds have established their family. Both parents became extremely busy and they flew back and forth non-stop, bringing either more organic materials to line the nest or juicy meals to feed the birdies.

Then last week, one of the bird disappeared. Now, I don't know what had happened, whether their marriage was for the birds (so to speak), or one of the parents died. Anyway, the remaining blackbird never gave up and s/he was working twice as hard to care for the family. I could tell because the noises made by the little ones are getting stronger by the day.

I look forward to the day when the young ones will learn how to fly and I will be able to fix the soffit. Meanwhile, I am enjoying bird-watching in my front-yard and feel like I am part of the family.

Photograph 攝影相片: (a) Blackbird gathering food in the front-yard. (b) Flying home to care for the family (behind the cracked soffits is where the family live)