She went completely unnoticed by us–until she almost collided with me as I stepped off the front porch.
A flash of gray and fuchsia and she was gone. I remember thinking, how weird for a female cardinal to be in our rose tree right outside the front door. Then I discovered the small and neatly trimmed marvel of a nest she had built right under our noses and roses. Three eggs, beautifully spotted and perfectly shaped.
I found myself checking in on my new friend three to four times everyday. We use our front door as many times and I was amazed that she would stay on the nest when I let Bailey out for a bathroom break. She would also stay put for the opening and closing of the garage door and the coming and going of vehicles.
So, surely she wouldn’t mind me snooping around the nest with a GoPro video camera? I placed the camera above the nest and let it run for an afternoon. You can see from the video that my feathered friend noticed but was not significantly disturbed.
One day, an egg was gone; half the shell below the tree. I have no idea what happened. I found myself thinking about it a lot.
Then, on Monday morning, a pile of feathers below the nest–fuchsia and gray. A brutal mother nature overnight murder and one more egg gone. I have some ideas about what happened but prefer not to think about them.
I feel almost self-conscious about how sad this made me. Today is Wednesday, the unattended egg is still there. My friend is not coming back.