At one point in Amsterdam, I lived in a room with a shared kitchen and toilet above a butcher shop. It was a cramped space but I made some nice friends there. Eventually, I painted the hallway with flowers and snails to bring a bit of nature inside. Today, on my way to a prompt writing session, I saw that some birds also choose to live above commercial establishments, including those who established homes above one of my favorite restaurants, El Tigre.

There were three nests (at least – I didn’t look around to the other wall), with house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) on either side of a European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) home in the middle. Nest 1 had a female bird visiting while a couple stayed inside.

The other finch nest was attended by both mother and father.

The nest with starlings had rather large babies in it. At one point, an adult bird flew in with a worm or insect but then took off before feeding anyone – perhaps alarmed when it saw me watching the nest. The babies didn’t say much, in contrast to the somewhat older baby starlings in my yard who make quite a racket asking to be fed.

I wasn’t the only observer, however; a couple house sparrows (Passer domesticus) were also observing the comings and goings to and from the nests.

I had a busy day and didn’t think I’d get to do much nature observation – but then those adaptable birds showed me that even in an urban environment, I can grab a few moments to see what other species are doing on a lovely spring day!