Since I adore birds and consider myself a nester, I thought it appropriate for my first blog to be about birds and nests. It is rather fascinating. And, funny enough, there is a parallel to our own human behavior.

Birds, like us, need a safe place to raise their young. So, finding a place to safely lay and hatch their eggs, and raise their young to the point of independence, is a challenge birds have solved in many clever ways. To build nests birds use skill and artistry, intricate design and complex engineering. Experts have said the diversity of nest architecture has no equal in the animal kingdom.

In many species the male bird's skill at nest building is a sign of his suitability as a mate; he invests huge effort in the task. Male house wrens build up to 12 nests to attract females and they will continue to build new nests until a female is happy with the construction.

And this is the funny part - in many species females will carefully inspect the design and quality of the nest the male has built. If she likes it, she will move in; if not, the nest may be discarded or destroyed.

While I did not get to see the nest building or the egg laying I did have the opportunity to watch as male and female parents worked diligently to feed their nestlings as a male bird built a nest “suitable” for the female to inhabit in the tree directly in front of my ‘lil boutique – oh, how apropos. Throughout the day both parents would swoop from the nest and fly out to look for nourishment. Not long before they would return, the little ones would begin crying out – no doubt they knew that mom and dad were just a few minutes away or they just got so darn hungry they couldn’t help themselves! One day I took some pictures, [yes, that's the tweet little birds in "my" nest in the picture above] not getting too close so as not to disturb the family. Upon coming to work one morn I found that only one bird was in the nest but I could hear the chirps coming from someplace close by, so after looking around I found the other birds hidden in shrubs nearby, so they were learning their independence and how to fly! How exciting, except I knew this meant it wouldn’t be long before they would be gone. This went on for a few more days, and then yes, an empty nest. While sad, I just thought about how each of these ‘lil birds would now be out in the big world and either build dozens of nests or lay eggs of future little nestlings!