Two things are special about this nest.
One – I didn’t know it was there and it isn’t a robin’s nest. Something smaller, but I don’t know what.
Two – Because of finding this nest I now know that there are a few (VERY few) plums on this tree. The plum trees have been a bust this year. We have two Italian prune plum trees and two of these round yellow-green cherry plum trees (I don’t know what they’re called). See the plums? One is by the nest and the other is at the bottom left of the picture.
The nest might have been from some smallish bird like a chipping sparrow, but it was not a spotted towhee (they nest on the ground) or a bigger bird like a robin that would need a bigger nest (robins and towhees being the two most common birds around here).
But if it hadn’t been for the nest, I wouldn’t have noticed that there are a few plums on the tree – the only plums this year! No prune plums and only a handful of these green ones.
The baby birds are long gone, and I can only hope that they made it. I love having birds around.
Baby birds have left their home,
And set out, the world to roam,
They have left the nest behind,
Now it’s there for me to find.
July 28, 2022 at 9:51 pm
How beautiful. Love the poem and the thoughts behind it.
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July 29, 2022 at 8:33 am
Thank you, Cindy. The nest was so small, and I almost missed seeing it.
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July 28, 2022 at 11:24 pm
I love your poem. I hope the little nestlings grew up safely.
I have always liked prune plums, especially in a kuchen. Sorry to hear that your plums are not doing well this year.
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July 29, 2022 at 8:23 am
I’ve heard that most of the plum tree owners in our area have no plums this year. It was so cold and wet when the plum blossoms came out and there were no bees. But thanks, Lynette. I’m glad you like my little ditty.
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July 29, 2022 at 12:11 am
It is better to get just a few plums than none at all. I am sure that the babies all made it. And next year the tree will be full of plums again. I love the poem and the nice picture.
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July 29, 2022 at 8:26 am
I sure hope they did. I remember seeing some tiny (and stupid) birds flapping around after their mother, so I wonder if they were the ones from this nest. I didn’t even know it was there, or I would have been peeking long ago. Glad you liked my little poem. Thanks.
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July 29, 2022 at 2:12 am
Dear Anneli,
your poem made us smile. Well done, what a fine rhythm of the language.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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July 29, 2022 at 8:25 am
Thank you, KB. It’s simple but that’s how it is around here. Have a great weekend yourselves, you Fab Four.
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July 29, 2022 at 3:11 am
Ein wunderschönes Gedicht! Die Obsternte ist wohl in diesem Jahr nicht so gut. Kleine und wenig Früchte.
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July 29, 2022 at 8:28 am
Sehr wenig! Der Fruehling war lang, nass, und kalt. Keine Bienen!
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July 29, 2022 at 8:57 am
Oh ja, das ist traurig 😢
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July 29, 2022 at 6:02 am
Very nice, thank you very much.Regards
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July 29, 2022 at 8:28 am
Thank YOU.
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July 29, 2022 at 6:15 am
Two nice discoveries and sweet poem.
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July 29, 2022 at 8:30 am
And the surprise was that the Captain discovered the nest. He usually doesn’t notice this kind of thing. Thanks, Belinda.
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July 29, 2022 at 7:25 am
I can’t tell you how much I want to walk through your yard with you, meet all your animal friends, see these amazing sights. Someday…
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July 29, 2022 at 8:29 am
Wouldn’t that be fun!?
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July 29, 2022 at 9:20 am
Yeah it would!
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July 29, 2022 at 11:07 am
We had a nest in our hanging plant on our front porch. The birds are gone now, so when we took it down, we could finally see that it was a tiny nest. Since it was so close to the front door, we saw the birds going in and out. They were finches. One of them, maybe the male, was a red-headed finch. Maybe that’s your nest?
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July 29, 2022 at 11:17 am
I hadn’t thought of finches, but we do have them here. Good thinking, Lori. It might have been finches.
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July 29, 2022 at 11:16 am
To be honest, I wouldn’t know what to do with just a few plums. Do you eat them? Make jam (but that would be a small jam jar). I know what you mean about missing the birds from the nest. We miss our baby birds and mom a lot. Sometimes when we sit on the front porch a bird flies nearby and I suggest she’s one of “our” grown up babies, come to say hi. 🙂
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July 29, 2022 at 11:19 am
Those would be your flighty grandchildren, I guess. The greenish-yellow plums are nice for eating. They’re sweet. I tried to make jam from them one year but the yellow-green flesh quickly turned brown like an apple does after you take a bite and leave it. It was a lot of work too – small plums, all that skin and the pits (they don’t easily give up their pits), so eating a few is fine. They’re tasty.
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July 30, 2022 at 6:21 am
Great photos Anneli, I’m curious how you got your camera up there! Maybe the birds will return to the nest next year and you can solve the puzzle. I hope you get to enjoy at least a few plums – the possums would have them here before I got to them 😦
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July 30, 2022 at 8:15 am
I reached up as high as I could and took a guess, closed my eyes and clicked (many times). One of the many tries worked out okay.
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July 31, 2022 at 8:07 am
Glad you got a couple of plums in what sounds like a challenging season for them. I’ve got a crabapple tree dropping its fruit into my garden and the muntjac like to chomp them. I’m finding half-eaten apples around the lawn!
Hopefully next year will be better for fruit.
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July 31, 2022 at 8:17 am
We need a warmer and earlier spring, so the bees can do their thing.
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August 1, 2022 at 7:54 am
I enjoyed the adventure of finding the nest and the few plums, Anneli, and the fun poem.
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August 1, 2022 at 8:20 am
Thanks, Jet. I will always wonder what kind of bird nested there. Maybe I’ll find out next year if the wind hasn’t blown it away.
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August 9, 2022 at 12:35 pm
Anneli, your plum tree reminds me of the apple tree in my mother’s backyard in Montana. This summer there is hardly an apple to find. Last autumn this tree was so loaded up with them.
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August 9, 2022 at 12:46 pm
The last two years have been really strange. We’ve had less fruit overall, but this year was especially bad with the long, cold, wet spring. Not a bee in sight while the early bloomers (pears and plums) flowered. No fruit on those trees either. The apple trees bloomed later and had the benefit of a few bees’ work. Maybe the timing and weather in Montana had something to do with the fruit production.
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