AN EMPTY NEST SYNDROME...

As most stories go, 

there is usually 

a beginning and an ending.

 This story, 

I'm about to tell,

 is a little different.

 We know the 

beginning and the middle 

but the ending 

we may never be sure of...

...as our little family

 of house wrens 

(we are fairly certain that is the specie)

 has flown the coop 

and left an

 (almost)

 empty nest

 behind.

For days

 we have watched them 

fly back and forth,

 some days just one and 

other days the both of them,

 working so hard 

to gather what appeared to be 

bits of twigs and 

small items of food.

Once in awhile

 one would fly in 

with a little something in their beak 

and fly back out 

with something larger and white, 

and then come back 

without it.

Then we would see

 one fly out of the nest

 with a small piece of white 

which did appear to be 

part of an egg shell.

  In between these times,

 one would always bring back 

something for dinner

for the one inside.

The males and females 

look pretty much the same 

so it was impossible to know 

which was which.

We found a pretty good reference 

on the internet

 which stated that 

the male wren is the one 

who builds the nests,

 sometimes building more than one

 in different places,

 even before 

he has found 

a mate.

When he does choose, 

then the female 

will make the decision

 which nest to use and 

she will line it with

 feathers or animal fur

 to make it a 

cozy space.

Sometimes

 when the male is in the process

 of scouting out places 

where he would like to build, 

he might come across 

a nest already occupied 

and decide that is the one he wants 

and will damage the eggs 

and remove them from the nest.

Is that what 

they were doing

 in this little house?

-

 (Although there was never 

any indication 

that this house had been 

used before)

-

 Or were they moving 

their own eggs 

to another location?

They have been gone now

 for a few days 

and when we were sure 

they weren't coming back,

 the Captain looked into the nest 

and saw that one egg was left behind.

 So tiny and so sad. 

We did see 

the neighbor's cat 

on top of the garage roof one day

 while the birds were still here. 

 She wasn't paying any attention

 to the bird house 

that we could tell 

but maybe

 they sensed that it wasn't 

safe to stay.

So, 

our little story began 

and ended in the middle, 

just outside the Secret Garden.

 We thank the little wrens

 for all the fun we had

 watching them go about their 

business of making a home 

while they were here.

 We hope that

 Once Upon A Time

 will start again

in a Kingdom Far, Far Away

and that the little family 

will live

 Happily Ever After.

...Judy...

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