Bright and early this morning, I spotted a female cardinal flying to the Yaupon Holly tree next to the basement door with nesting material in her beak--twigs, grasses, and what looked like birch bark. She perched on the tree, looked around to make sure she hadn't been spotted, then ducked into the dense foliage to work on her nest.
That was a very lucky break because the Yaupon was scheduled for a massive pruning today. Yaupons can get up to 25 feet high so I usually prune this one before nesting season to control its size. Somehow, time got away from me and that didn't happen so I asked a friend to do the pruning today. There was no sign of a nest yesterday.
I'm happy I spotted the Cardinal so pruning could be put on hold immediately. I would have felt awful if I'd destroyed her nest. It's a really good lesson, though--removing and pruning trees in nesting season is not a good idea. Now the mother Cardinal is hard at work crafting her nest, but I wonder--was today just the random day she chose to get started or did she know her perfect spot would disappear if she didn't get to work quickly?
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