Death and Life at Shay Creek

For a few weeks, we've been watching a mother bird build a nest in a tree right by the cabin. A few days after the nest was complete, we peered inside to see three blue eggs. For a few more days, we observed the mother bird spending most of the day sitting on the eggs. Then, she was gone again. We looked in again to see that the eggs had hatched and three tiny, featherless birds sat inside. Now, we could see the mother flying back and forth, bringing food to her newborns. We even watched as she chased away other, larger birds, and chipmunks. The next day, we peered from the deck to see what was going on with our new neighbors and were shocked to find that the nest was gone. We found it lying on the ground at the foot of the tree. The mother and little birds were nowhere to be found. We can only assume that a predator attacked at night. It was tough explaining the ways of the natural world to Rai. To cheer him up, we pointed out signs of life all around us. One highlight is seeing all the trees that were once tiny little "Christmas trees" now rising higher and higher in the forest around our cabin. One tree in particular stands out. The amount it has grown in just the last two and a half years is incredible!