Cardinal Nest

A few weeks ago, I went to trim this butterfly bush:

As I started hacking away at the branches that should have been removed weeks earlier, I noticed a bird's nest, hidden amidst the leaves.  It was about the size of a cereal bowl and it was woven with long grasses into a beautiful swirly pattern.  I stopped trimming the bush!

A few days later, I wanted to show the nest to the kids, as well as take some photos to share, when a cardinal came flying furiously out of the bush.  We backed away and left it alone.  Every so often, whenever we approached the bush, mama bird would flutter angrily away from the nest.

This morning, I went to have another look.  This time I was not greeted by any birds.  Nest empty.

Very well hidden, indeed!

The beautiful swirly pattern can (sort of) be seen here.

 Such a joy to discover this!  All spring, we've had both a robin pair and a cardinal pair taking small bits of debris out of the gardens and flying away.  It's nice to know that they weren't going very far.