Atop the Mop

I hear twittering outside our bedroom window in the early morning. This is not unusual; we have three tree ferns along the back of the house which is the south side. I have pot plants in the semi shade under the ferns and in this hot and dry summer we are enduring I water the plants daily or they would perish. This creates a moist gully effect along the shady path and a refuge for small birds from the brutal heat and parched garden, only metres away, which is exposed to full sun and receives no water if it does not rain.

On this day of writing in the depths of February, I am tired of what is possibly the hottest summer I can recall in the 32 years we have lived here. The air is filled with smoke drifted in from distant bushfires and every leaf and twig crunches underfoot, dried brittle to tinder. Trees are shedding leaves and branches drooping, the roadsides are adorned with dropped twigs and even limbs as they crack and dry to snapping point. My friends in the garden fraternity look weary and haggard after many weeks watering special plants and rueing those they can’t, and watching their gardens shrivel after heatwaves and little if any rain. Not for faint hearts.

So it was great inspiration I received today when I saw a bird’s nest built on top of a mop resting on a wall outside our window under the ferns. I showed brother Jod a photo of it, he says it’s a White-browed Scrubwren’s nest. These brave little creatures, even if it were a sparrow nest, are making use of the shade and moisture and their nest building is a symbol of the resilience and optimism of nature.

I’ll be cautiously watching the nest over the coming weeks.