A New Neighbor

Last Sunday evening when we were strolling down the lane looking for (picking and eating!) wild black raspberries, all at once there arose such a clamor! "There's a nest!" The kids were about beside themselves. It's not even waist high from the ground. Not noticable except to the observant eye, it is in the brush on the bank right behind our mailbox.

About as big as my fist, it is amazing! We have been checking it regularly, ever since. Today was breezy and it swung and swayed. What a lovely cradle to grow up in!

Mostly crafted with grasses and plant fibers, you can tell a spider contributed (or should I say "gave up") it's handiwork.
There are three eggs, white with sparse brown speckles...

According to my bird book, it's a White Eyed Vireo. I have yet to learn whether this is the female or male, in residence. It seems to always be this one. Supposedly very shy, it lets us get up real close as long as we move slowly and quietly. We have no idea when the eggs were laid, or how long they set, so the due date will be a surprise!

Seeing this nest made me think of the Rich Mullins song that says something like this...
"Birds have nests, foxes have dens.
But the hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless man..."
We hope to be able to keep catching pictures as this little family grows!