Tiny trembling life

/ Fran Haley

One of my favorite things about spring is the return of the house finches, which build a nest and raise a little family on my front door wreath.

I am treated to a bird’s eye view of tiny life coming into the world.

As some of you know from previous posts, the finches built the nest last year but never laid any eggs. It was haunting, coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 shutdown. Barrenness. Emptiness. Loss.

They are making up for it this year.

Mama Finch laid five eggs during Holy Week; usually there are only three or four.

They’ve all hatched now and more pictures will be forthcoming, but here are the first two babies.

For the record, the collective noun for finches is a charm or a trembling.

A trembling charm of tiny new life upon my house:

For Day Twenty of National Poetry Month, a haiku:

Nature has her charms
Gifts of fragile new songbirds
Trembling abundance

26 thoughts on “Tiny trembling life”

  5. Oh, what a lovely way to start the day. Was mama finch on a worm foray? How did you get your video?
    Your haiku is splendid. “Nature has her charms”. Oh my. How many versions did you need before you got this? I am just very curious. You have the best way with words, Fran.

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    • Mama Finch is sometimes snuggled so low in the nest that I can’t tell, so, I will call “Mama Bird!” when I am rounding the corner. She’ll fly out to a nearby tree with a series of chirps and tweets. This afternoon she must have been out feeding, as the babies were unattended at the moment – they’re vegetarians, eating seeds, etc. Papa Finch kept watch while she was incubating the eggs – he stayed by the steps and called warnings if anyone came too close. I only go to check on them once or twice a week. Don’t want to get in their way. The haiku – two tries, I think; I had the third line but had to rearrange and rephrase the first two a couple of times! Thank you, Janet.

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  6. It’s sweet to hear about the hatchlings that you can observe up close, and the video clip is great. I like the terms “charm” and “trembling” to describe a group of finches– it is such a delicate way to think of the birds.

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    • They are beautiful to me, too, even as scraggly as they are – birds hatch every day but somehow it’s just so miraculous. Such fragile life, soon to have wings and flight – it does speak to my OLW, “awe”! That’s exactly what I feel while holding my breath to take a quick peek in the nest-nursery. They are so, so teeny-tiny.

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  9. Thanks so much for sharing! Those babies will definitely improve in appearance as they get older! 🙂 Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com

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  12. I just finished reading the passages in The Enchanted Hour regarding reading to preemies in the NICU, the sights and sounds of my own experience there as a mother, assistant, and volunteer rushing at me…and now, here are two scrawny looking baby finches, looking very preemie-like indeed, reminding me of just how similar we animals are. Trembling abundance indeed, thinking of the full lives ahead of these birds–and those preemies. Happy Earth Day, Fran!

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    • Many thanks for the Earth Day wishes – celebrating new, fragile life growing stronger each day! Such a meaningful comparison, Chris; I know how you have a heart for those preemies. I can see them in my mind. The word that keeps coming back to me is “miraculous” even though this happens every second of every day; but to watch the tiniest life come into being, so seemingly weak, taking hold and flourishing…amazing. Breathtaking. Both ordinary yet extraordinary. Life wants to live. The babies here are much more feathery now; they rest their wide little yellow beaks on the rim of the nest… more photos to come!

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