House Finch

So, I took down the nest, near a very hot (when on) halogen floodlight, that is mounted just under the eves of my roof line, in my suburban Maryland home. And, just as the National Wildlife Federation's chief naturalist, Craig Tufts said, the birds are back.






Tufts said that finches typically take two days to build a nest, and then lay one egg for each day in that nest. So, he suggested that I take down the nest as soon as I could, and feel free to just "drop" the one egg that he expected in there. Well, fortunately, I didn't find any eggs the first and second time I dissassembled that nest. But, I didn't have anything to screen off and fence off that area, like they do in shopping areas. And, I didn't have time to shop for such materials before it began thundering and lightning, and raining inches a day in my area, for three straight days. And, I couldn't keep up with the finches. And, my husband felt that they were doing the best they could to build a shelter from the wild weather and......well....now, instead of leaving that light on for hours at a time, I turn it on only when I need my dogs to see what's going on in the backyard when they need to at night.

I'm worried that the hay and dried grass and twigs will burst into flames if the light stays on for too long.

I just hope the birds eggs' aren't being slowly "fried" everytime I turn on that light. (Maybe it's acting like Rita's incubator?)

Meantime, this is the fourth of fifth family of finches that have made areas outside my home their home!

To paraphrase "Romeo and Juliet."
" 'Tis the Lark!"
"No, 'tis the Nightingale! We can stay in bed with each other longer!"
"No, it's those darn birds that didn't want to take the hint and move their nests away from a very hot flood light in Rita's backyard! And, they're up just before dawn's first light!"