Dancing Around the Four Sides

Cloudy, warm, and steamy. 85 degrees (29.4 Celsius). Looks like we've got another failed nest -- there are eggshell fragments in and around the nest (not outside it) and most of a whole egg that's been scooted almost out of the nest. I have no idea what may have happened -- I haven't seen any small predators around this time. On the other hand, there was a wren singing away in one of the oak trees. So who knows.

What else? Mr. N is going to run some errands later ... I should vacuum the bedroom again. Chango is starting to shed like the fur factory she is. *g* In the meantime, have an artfully-composed shot of a wary bull at a Belgian agricultural fair. Heh.

Was about to step out onto the deck for a few minutes, saw the wren emerge for a break. Took a quick peek -- five eggs.

Peeked in this morning and ... the nest is empty. Empty as in the chick and the other eggs are gone. And by gone, I mean not there, disappeared, like they were never there.

So. I have no idea what happened. A quick Google turned up some info that sometimes male wrens will destroy their own eggs. We had a thundershower move through at about 1 a.m., but otherwise there was nothing unusual.

I'm not heartbroken; I do wonder what happened but will probably never know.
ETA that the general consensus is that a night predator, possibly a rat or a possum, robbed the nest. It's still possible, however, that the parents may try to reuse it. Yes, I'll be an optimist. *g*

Bright sun and a bit cooler at 69 degrees. Otherwise not much yet. Started reading Hallelujah Junction, the autobiography of the American composer John Adams, last night.

And thus endeth the wren saga. Won't touch the nest in case someone else wants to use it.

Mostly sunny, still fairly humid. 75 degrees (23.8 Celsius).

Wren Update: Again, there's not much to say. She's in the nest so I can't see the eggs.

Anyway ... poem coming up shortly. Must also run some errands today.

Finally the sun is out -- it kept trying to come out yesterday but then would disappear again. It's 75 degrees (23.8 C), with a light breeze out of the southeast. It's also humid (55%).

Wren Update: She was on the nest yesterday evening and is there this morning, so I can't see the eggs.

Not much else; feeling very slow today, probably because doc tweaked my hypertension meds. So have a story about an ancient DIY Greek temple, via the History Blog.

Cloudy and still cool at 61 degrees (16.1 Celsius). Chango is obviously happy that it's stopped raining -- she's already stolen Mr. N's hairbrush and flung it around downstairs. Heh.

Wren Update: She's in the nest, tucked away so all I can see is her head.

Need to fold and put away yesterday's laundry and do some vacuuming. In the meantime, here's an interesting story about a production of Antony and Cleopatra by the Royal Shakespeare Company that really embodies the whole show must go on concept.

Poem coming up.

Cloudy with light rain -- 70 degrees (21.1 Celsius). Finally got a good night's sleep, which is such a relief.

Wren Update: She's on the nest. :-)

Was poking around Flightaware.com -- lots of cool stuff there. Real-time U.S. airport traffic, flight paths, etc. And this, which I thought was beautiful --

( Under the cut ...  )

And here's a live view of air traffic at Logan. Compare this to the shot of live traffic at London's Heathrow today. Yikes.

Not much else. Maybe a bonus poem later today.

Cloudy and damp -- 70 degrees (21.1 Celsius) with possible rain later this afternoon.

Wren Update: Not on the nest at the moment, five eggs are still intact.

Not much else right now, so here's an awesome story about what was most likely a meteor lighting up Iowa and Wisconsin last night. Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy is asking folks to report in with any info they might have. Very cool!

Poem up in just a bit.

Wren Update: Saw her on the nest yesterday evening; not on the nest this morning but still five little eggs.

Sunny and 72 degrees (22.2 Celsius). Have put the trash and several good-sized cardboard boxes outside -- more spring cleaning, or something like it.

Here are a couple of news stories ... Croatian girl wakes from 24-hour coma speaking perfect German, which is interesting, but I like this one even more for its sheer WTF?-quality -- Tea Party candidate for NY Governor sends racist, pornographic, bestiality emails. And by "bestiality," I mean sex with a horse. Yes, kids, this guy forwarded sex-with-a-horse emails to his friends and didn't see anything wrong with that. Not to mention the racist emails using the n-word. But, y'know, he's not a racist. And he's sorry IF anyone was offended. Which makes it all okay! Mmmm-kay then.

So. Poem for Poetry Month coming up.

Ugh and blah, not nearly enough sleep last night.

Wren Update: Not on the nest, five eggs clearly visible. I dunno, guys, maybe wrens just aren't the most attentive of avian mothers. Whatever, I refuse to worry about it.
ETA that it's about 20 minutes later and she's on the nest. Saw a wren on the deck, guessed it might be her, and it was. :-)

Mostly cloudy and very humid, although it's not supposed to rain. 64 degrees (17.7 Celsius). More later, probably. Bluh.