Mockingbird nest

I was walking through my orchard and a mockingbird darted out from an orange tree.   I thought it was odd and noticed that there was a nest in the tree.     Mockingbirds are quite common in Southern California and will aggressively protect their territory chasing off crows, and I've seen the harassing hawks in the air.    If you hear a bird singing a song that varies in the middle of the night, odds are its a mockingbird.   The males will sing all night sometimes, much to the chagrin of someone who is trying to sleep with their windows open.

The nest is well hidden in the orange tree.      You can barely see it.  You can see the sticks of the nest under the orange.

Here is a picture of the nest looking down.  It appears its still under construction.

Here is the nest with some eggs 3 days later.     What a nice color for bird eggs.

I will try to take some pictures of the babies without scaring off the parents.   They are very protective of the nest and sit on the peach tree next to the orange tree and squawk at me  whenever I am near the tree.   I am giving them some room for the next couple weeks so she doesn't pop off the next every time I walk by.   Baby birds mean parents catching lots of bugs on my farm to feed their babies.