That did not go as planned.

  There are times in life when things just don't go as planned.  To (mis)quote Robert Burns "The best laid schemes of mice and men, often go awry."  This, it seems, also pertains to birds.  No matter how well things are laid out in order to build the perfect nest, to lay those perfect eggs and hatch said perfect eggs, things can go wrong.....oh, so terribly wrong.  

  The pair of mockingbirds (that decided to put the chickadees out of their cozy nesting box) met such a moment of things going awry today. Their nest atop of the rose arbor did seem to be the perfect homesite. The sharp thorns of the roses made a thatched roof above Mama Mockingbird as she sat on the five blotchy blue eggs.  By my calculations, yesterday should have been hatching day for the eggs. The world seemed perfect from most aspects...that is, until this morning.  At daybreak, I heard the the pair of mockingbirds fussing at something.  I did not think too much of this since they have a tendency to fuss at Ms. Nycto, the princess cat whenever she walks under their nest.  Perhaps I should have taken notice but, then again, perhaps I should not mess with the course of nature.  The birds' anxiety was not on account of Nycto but rather a hawk.  The small Cooper's Hawk raided the nest. Mama Mockingbird met her demise as she tried to shield her little ones.  The hawk made quick work of her and once she could no longer defend the helpless little ones, they were devoured on site.  Her limp body was carted off to the hawk's nest where she became food for its little brood.  That circle of life was in full swing this morning.

  I am saddened by the loss of Mama Mockingbird and the little ones.  I do believe that she was one of the orphans that I raised a few years back.  She was just too tame not to be.  But, as I have said before, Karma has a way of biting back at those who treat others unjustly.  As much as I love the mockingbirds, they set themselves up for this loss by ousting the chickadees from their nesting site.  There is plenty of room around the Bayou for all to have cozy nests. Now this nest sits empty save for a few bits of fluff.  Those are the remains of the tiny birds.  Now the arbor sits empty of either nest....mockingbirds or chickadees.  Sad.