It’s just after eight in the morning and I’m sipping coffee, wrapped in my warmest pyjamas.  Outside, it spits rain, sometimes pours, and generally looks grey. I haven’t posted photographs of Mr. and Mrs. this year.  Each year, across from my kitchen window, sparrows build a nest in my neighbour’s vent.  I’ve seen many a tragedy at the base of this location, but, I’ve also seen babes take flight.  It’s a challenging world out there; the world of cats and crows, cowbirds and magpies…the world of people!

Here is a photo of the new Mrs., on guard after madly preparing nesting materials and tripping back and forth to the feeder.  The original couple to this nest this season was found dead on the ground, mayhaps attacked by other birds.  It is a ‘man-eat-man’ out there in nature!  Not certain, but I DID solicit the help of someone else to remove their tiny bodies.  It wasn’t 24 hours later and the new family had moved in.

This year’s Mrs.

Yesterday I taught for Mary and it just happened to be that Calgary Birdman, Andrew Stiles, was building bird boxes with several classes of grade three students.  The last group to go through was working with a class of grade nine helpers and these seemed to be as swept up in the action as the younger students.  I don’t think any of us get tired of being stewards or with creating things with our hands and a collection of tools.  For a short time I helped at the pre-drilling holes station.  Children are excited, just as adults are, to use power tools!  It was a wonderful morning watching children delight in this process.  I wish children would spend more time outdoors.  I think they would be amazed!