I discovered a mass ot twigs in my mailbox a few weeks ago that I was about to throw out, thinking someone had stuffed my mailbox as a joke.  At closer inspection I noticed there appeared to be a design to the ‘mass of twigs’ and it occurred to me this could be a bird nest.

I placed the organic materials back into the mailbox and the next day discovered one egg, followed by another egg the next day, until 5 days later there were 5 eggs. And soon after there was a mama bird sitting on the eggs day in and day out, taking only brief breaks from the confines of the mailbox. Fierce dedication to warm and protect the eggs! Two weeks after the last egg was layed, they all hatched and I have been checking on and photographing them daily ever since (the bird is called ‘Bewick’s Wren’).

The day after hatching I was awed to see a huge yellow mouth open when it sensed my vibration nearby (or more likely heard the click of the iPhone). A primal “Feed me”. At two days old all five babies opened their yellow beaks wide, saying “No, feed me!” in unison.

I have marveled at the mom–not only for the work of all those mouths to feed at once, but for the beauty and wise engineering of the nest–created at the shadiest spot in my mailbox and adorned with colorful feathers (I even noticed a feather stuck here or there as if to protect the babies when she was gone). It’s been a rare treat for me to witness and document the beginning of a bird’s life, and I will miss them when they leave. I keep my fingers crossed that my adventurous cat will have other distractions when the babies fledge soon.

Thanks to my mail carrier who has been delivering my mail to another container. “Special delivery”, indeed: new life.