A Nest With No View

EARLIER this year, Emma and I searched the whole garden looking for a bird's nest whose development we could follow. I was particularly inspired by a friend who posted an incredible photo of a mother bird feeding its baby birds in a nest in their yard. Unfortunately, our search remained somewhat fruitless. As we were trimming some monster branches, Emma and I did find two nests in our American holly bush in the front garden, but though we took great pains to not disturb anything, I fear we might have thinned the birds' thick leafy cover too much, as we never saw any birds there. The tangled honeysuckle vines were another good prospective site, and again we found two nests but no sign of life. Then again, they could have just been old abandoned spots. We have lots of birds in the garden, so next year we'll have to entice them to nest here too by leaving out some good building materials.