I wouldn't have believed this unless I had seen it myself, but it appears as though our property is hospitable enough to host several different animals of the avian variety. Although we had seen several birds flitting about our back yard lately, there's not much in it that would entice a bird to stay. We used to have some lovely oleander bushes (the only flowering item in the yard), but cold from last winter appears to have significantly injured them, and there have been no blossoms this year. Yet despite this, I have actual photographic evidence of bird life on our premises!
I wasn't quite sure what this was when I first saw it, and so I imagine that you might not either. In fact, I thought at first that it might be a wasps' nest, and I was considering destroying it, when I realized that it was in fact a hummingbird nest. My apologies, as I have been unable to catch the hummingbird in its resting spot long enough to take a photograph. But still. Evidence!Even more surprising, it appears as though there is a family of birds that have made their nest inside of our house. They have remained rather elusive, although in a rare bout of boldness, I was able to catch several of them at play long enough to photograph them.
This appears to be the mother bird. She is quite a large specimen and much more shy than her two fledglings. Here she is hiding behind an armrest.
The two babies have accrued many more sightings, as they tend to make much more noise and to play openly. Here they are balancing on top of a lamp shade.
And here is the interesting part about these birds. I don't know if this is a new category of bird or mammal altogether, but it appears as though this species is part marsupial. I find this to be quite curious. It is too bad that I do not know more about animal taxonomy, as I would like to know if there is any precedent for such a species. Perhaps I should have paid more attention during our biodiversity class lectures.K
