The Birds Are Busy Nesting

Mr. and Mrs. Finch have been using the Christmas wreath from our door to feather their nest. (Looks like he's giving her instructions in the top photo). The nest is a basket with artificial plants hanging in the carport. It is at least 15 years old. They used it when we lived in the Ridges and they continued to use it when we moved here 12 years ago. The contents are now packed like cement, so Con bought another one to hang up this weekend. Hope they'll adjust to a new home. (Looks like the silent treatment below. The body language is somehow familiar, eh)?

I love watching the birds. In the second or third year of growing lavender in the backyard, the birds took notice of it. Although we kept the bird feeders full, some renegade decided to taste the lavender and liked it. At first I thought it was so cute --- O look, honey, they're tasting the lavender! One day I came home and finches were all over the plants picking away at the buds. They would eat the flowers leaving the empty buds. If it kept up I would have had no flowers for the year. So I made a scarecrow -- and they just laughed -- after all, this is their yard. So then I put plastic trash bags on top of a couple of plants but they just moved to the lower branches and ate. Next, I wrapped each plant in a white trash bag and secured it to the ground. (You can imagine how lovely that looked). As the days heated up, I uncovered them and recovered them in the afternoons. It was a real pain in the neck and the birds were no longer my friends. This went on for nearly a week. Then I uncovered a few plants at a time and the birds were no longer interested. So the covers came off all of the plants and life went on as usual. The plants bloomed beautifully that year, the birds were never again interested in them, and we are all friends again.

I've not heard of anyone else having an experience like that. What would have happened if it was a whole field or acres of lavenders -- how would they be stopped from ruining a crop? If you know of an experience like it, let me know.                                                                                                            3/24/11