This afternoon I looked out my office window and noticed a pile of twigs on top the awning above one of our courtyard doors. Within a few minutes a female blackbird (whose plumage is, in fact, a mottled brown) had flown down with more twigs to add to the pile. Which meant that it wasn’t any old pile of twigs . . . it was a bird nest!
I snapped a photograph of mum-to-be on one of her trips back with building supplies. Dad-to-be (whose plumage is actually the deep black which gives these birds their name) has also been helping out. And my little black cat, Smudge, has been sitting at the glass office door, watching the construction efforts and making the cutest I’m-gonna-get-ya noises. She hasn’t got a chance, what with her quasi-agoraphobia combined with an inability to pass through solid plate glass and/or kill things with just her furry little mind.
So it looks like we’ll have baby blackbirds in the none too distant future. It’s a pretty sweet spot they’ve chosen: sheltered from rain and wind; protected by brick walls on two side; awkward (if not impossible) for predators to reach. The only problem is that our BBQ is just a couple of metres away, and we were planning to start using it now that the warmer weather is on the way. Hmm, might have to wait until the chicks have all fledged. Ah well, a small sacrifice for the chance to see baby birds being raised right outside my office door!
Kirstyn McDermott 
We have two baby crows in a nest on our street. The parents sat there all through the horrible storms and freezing beginning of spring, so it is nice to see it all worked out. I keep going over to watch the big little babies, and have aroused some serious suspicion from mum and dad. So don’t be surprised if you find I’ve been attacked by a crow in the next week or so -it is just so amazing I can’t stop going over for a peek!