Look what's in my Rose Bush

bigburl · Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:17 pm

[img]https://i42.tinypic.com/120ghhg.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i42.tinypic.com/2kiuz9.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i43.tinypic.com/2q9mcfn.jpg[/img]

applestar · Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:36 pm

OMG! How ADORABLE!! I'm imagining you were reaching for those blackspotted leaves and went

I can't tell from the photo, do you know what kind of bird it is? Is it a finch? Also, are you saying the nest is in the top of that standard rose?

bigburl · Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:55 pm

It is in the middle of tree, well protected. Yes my wife was trimming the tree and saw the nest. We had to put the mesh around it because of the neighborhood cats. The momma came right back to nest after we put the cage around it, that was cool. The poppa comes and feeds the momma who stays on the nest. I'm not sure the type, it is those garden birds with little yellow bellies.

cynthia_h · Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:27 pm

Terrific pictures. Maybe the yellow belly belongs to a finch?

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

webmaster · Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:48 pm

Oh that it is really cool. Thank you for sharing that with us.

bigburl · Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:16 pm

Dang, we lost two eggs over two days. Two cats attacked the enclosure the first day and knocked an egg from the nest, and either the wind or a bird fight with two other small birds go the other one. We are on pins and needles, don't know what else to do. We shored up the enclosure, adding 4 more pilars to it, so cats shouldn't be a problem. Nothing we can do if another bird gets in there. Arg! Nature can be brutal. I keep thinking we should put the nest in a cage, and trap the mom in there or something. I guess that wouldn't be good for a bird in nature though. I guess we are just going to have to keep watching and preying. How long does it take for these eggs to hatch anyway? I can't see those eggs lasting another week around here. Frustrated!

The Helpful Gardener · Fri May 01, 2009 6:02 pm

Burl, do you perhaps live in Tennesee or thereabouts?

HG

bigburl · Fri May 01, 2009 7:52 pm

Sonoma County CA

cynthia_h · Fri May 01, 2009 8:54 pm

Sonoma County--Luther Burbank's home and one of the true gardening/farming heavens.

We go up to Graton every fall to get a bushel or so of apples from Walker's and just to soak in the changing foliage.

How're those teeny eggs coming along?

Cynthia

bigburl · Fri May 01, 2009 9:22 pm

Today we put a roof over her. It was easy because those big green things are we put to ad more resistance to the structure to keep cats out.

[img]https://i42.tinypic.com/16c1km1.jpg[/img]

Cause we new this was coming..In fact five minutes after I put up the roof, this was a picture I took from my room. She still has 2 eggs, and they are nice and dry.

[img]https://i41.tinypic.com/9ibbbn.jpg[/img]

She was very nervous at first, she flew around it 5 times and I almost had to take it down. The sixth time she flew right in and has been there all day. It was funny because she stayed in the nest the entire time I put it up, and only flew out after I was done. It is almost as if she is smiling cause she's nice and dry.

The Helpful Gardener · Fri May 01, 2009 10:47 pm

Rats. I thought I had her as a Tennesee warbler, but that won't work. Perhaps Wilson's warbler? That works for both coasts and the colors are right... warblers are low nesters in shrubs and such, so that fits too...

HG

bigburl · Fri May 01, 2009 11:23 pm

I would probably say your right, I looked it up and that closely resembles the bird in the nest.

applestar · Sat May 02, 2009 8:25 am

bigburl, what are those bright red flowers in the background? They're beautiful and look like a great Hummingbird attractor.

My native coral honeysuckle and Aquilegia canadensis and another purple-flowered kind are starting to bloom, and the eye-catching red Silene I planted last fall (got from Bowman's Fall plant sale, BTW) have burst into flower, . But I'm always looking for more spring-flowering nector plants because the hummers won't stay in my garden in the spring and don't regularly visit the feeders until July.

bigburl · Sat May 02, 2009 10:22 am

I'm not sure the name, but here's a close up pic of it and some of our garden. It beats having a lawn! We don't have a lawn in the back either, I'm to old to mess with lawn maintenance:)

[img]https://i43.tinypic.com/fdyjhi.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i43.tinypic.com/2prikaa.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i44.tinypic.com/e0l8y.jpg[/img]

Cuke · Sun May 03, 2009 3:10 pm

Neat,we haven't had a successful nest in a long time.Last summer a nest was blown down with several eggs in it

Hopefully the eggs hatch!

scribbler · Wed May 06, 2009 7:44 pm

Lucky your feathered resident isn't a Mockingbird. You would have been left bleeding when you first disturbed the nest. Those guys are expert dive bombers and have drawn blood from all of us after getting too close to a nest.

We don't have them at this house and miss their songs.

Can't wait to hear the rest of this story when your rose bush gets a few more residents.