There is a hanging basket right by my back door

[struggle4progress]

And I just now heard multiple little cheeping noises coming from it

So I guess I really shouldn't hang out too much on my back porch for a while, lest I scare away the new parents

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. How very cool, my dear struggle4progress!

I've never had birds nesting anywhere near where I might see or hear them...

The parents have decided that your home is a safe haven.

I would be honored!

[struggle4progress]

8. Somebody had been building a nest in the downspout elbow under the eaves

on the same side of the house, about thirty feet away, but I noticed the nest was gone earlier this week. I thought a squirrel might have knocked it down, since they like traipsing down the powerline that comes in near there. Never got a good look at that bird: seemed it might be a robin but it looked a bit small and the breast color didn't seem quite right from my odd glimpses

Now I'm wondering if maybe they just found the hanging basket and relocated their homestead

[flamin lib]

2. Don't worry 'bout scaring the parents away. The parental instinct is very strong.

I had a Wren build a nest on top of my electric garage door opener. Had to put baby birds back in the nest more than once 'cause they were shaken out of the nest by the whirring chain drive. They both survived to fly away.

[struggle4progress]

5. Y'know, I actually think mommy-bird or daddy-bird might have sorta scoped me out a few weeks ago

I gotta figure out what kind of bird this is: smallish, greyish-brown atop, with a nice earth-tone orange under

I had the back door open, but the glassed screen-door closed. The bird was strolling around on the back porch and came over and looked through the glass. I was standing right behind the glass, so I closed the door. And a little later that day, the same thing again

And that bird has been around a lot lately, mostly flying onto or off of a porch railing

[flamin lib]

16. This may help with ID

http://birds.audubon.org/species

[struggle4progress]

18. Thanks. I'd settled on house wren or Carolina wren, and then a different online guide

yesterday convinced me I was looking at a house wren. But with this guide I back to thinking it could be a Carolina wren

[NJCher]

3. yeah, so much for planting in the hanging basket

I have a huge planter box outside my office window. I had wonderful fantasies of petunias spilling out, a few herbs, snapdragons, sweet potato vine.

But my cat decided she likes to hang out in it. Nothing has been planted there and won't be, either, because she'll just lie on top of whatever plants i might put there.


Cher

[nolabear]

4. We had birds build in the mouth of a wall sculpture by our front door.

Before we moved to the city we had a kInd of "Old Man of the Forest" face hanging by the door. The mouth was open, a tiny little hole. Something tiny, house wrens maybe, built a nest and happily raised babies. When we moved we hung it out on the fence with the nest still there. It's very cool. You've been blessed!

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. You got a house wren, sounds like.

and she will return to that spot next year if the basket is intact.

I put up flat backed baskets around both porches, out of cat danger, have a lot of wrens nest in them, and they somehow manage to get the babies fledged out without me ever seeing it happen.
As long as you don't try to look into the basket, all will be well.
The babies can and will fly out as they get older if they are disturbed, they usually sit quietly deep into the bottom of the nest waiting for their parents.

The downside to house wrens is that have a LOUD call, it can be annoying so close to the house.
But they do eat all the bugs on the porch, so there is that.

[struggle4progress]

7. I won't look into the basket. House wren is a possibility; so is Carolina wren, I think

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. Are you hearing any repeated LOUD bird calls?

We have a bunch of wrens this year, they are almost deafening.
But I am happy to have them around.
Happy bird watching!

[struggle4progress]

13. There are birds all around: my property is a fairly woodsy and overgrown 3/4 acre

and all manner of critter seem to like my indifference to civilized landscaping. Plus a stream provides a natural corridor to a state park up the road. So although the area is lightly urban, deer and coons are common, as well as squirrel, voles, mice, and chipmunks, and I've had fox hang out in the yard

I'll hear birds in just about every tree. Pair of hawks camped out here for a while. Owls I hear regularly, and geese seem to like sleeping near the stream

I just saw a house wren (smallish, a bit plumpy, white throat, yellow breast) on the porch rail five feet from the hanging basket, and right beside my car in the driveway, when I went off to the supermarket half an hour or so. I'm guessing that's one of the proud couple, and I think he/she (?dunno) was insistently calling for the mate: it wasn't terribly melodious but it wasn't a loud racket either: I can hear some calls from that general part of the world even when I'm inside. Maybe me coming around from the other side to get into the car subdued the call a bit

[HappyMe]

9. Damn!

This whole time I was thinking that you fed the bird seeds to the birds. I had no idea you could plant 'em and grow some birds!

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. I grow these every year....the birds get some, we get some.

......

[HappyMe]

12. Want!

Yum! A delicious donut crop!

[Locut0s]

14. Many years back a family of birds decided to nest right outside our window. It ended sadly.

Back then we had a Japanese cherry tree right outside the master bedroom and one day I heard cheeping sounds coming from the tree. Sure enough a family of robins had set up shop right in front of us, close enough that we could see the little chicks heads popping up over the rim. We watched them grow for several weeks then one day I noticed feathers on the ground outside our house. A local "outdoors" cat had discovered the nest and slaughtered the family.

Another time, actually it may have been the same time, this was a while back and I can't remember for sure, we found a baby chick on the front lawn. We took it in and tried to raise it on worms from the garden but it died the next day, probably from shock.

[struggle4progress]

19. Thanks. I just went out and marked a few nearby trees with fox urine, then put a bit of pepper spray

repellant along the outside margins of the porch. Perhaps that will discourage neighborhood cats. The basket isn't in the most vulnerable place, but a dedicated jumper could get to a window sill and from there might actually jump up into the basket, though it might be somewhat tricky

[csziggy]

15. Probably wrens or house finches

Stupid birds will build a nest anywhere.

A Carolina wren built a lovely little nest in the fern my husband brought home. Problem was, the pot was on top of a bucket. Yesterday morning the pot was on the ground, a chunk of fern fronds was torn up and there were damaged tiny wren eggs all over the place. Her other favorite place to build nests is in the rain gutter. It's amazing the idiot birds manage to get any new generations raised to maturity!

If you sit still, the birds will still come to their nest, so you can use your porch just fine.

[alarimer]

17. There is a robin's nest in a tree right near my balcony.

I have to use binoculars but I see the female sitting on the nest every day, except when it's warm. I have no idea how long robin's eggs take to hatch but I'm thinking it should be soon.