Same time, same place, next year

Last summer, we found two song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) nests in the bushes in our yard in Maine.  When I returned to visit this year, the song sparrows were once again conspicuous in the garden -- especially around one of the bushes that had sheltered a nest last year.  Any time I came near the bush, at least one adult sparrow would appear nearby and begin calling loudly.  While trying to keep enough distance to avoid spooking the sparrows, I caught a glimpse of one of the chicks before it hopped back between the dense branches.

A fledgling song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) sitting in a bush.

A few days later, after it seemed the chicks had fledged, I went back to search more thoroughly for the nest.  It did not take long to locate last year's nest again; however, that nest was full of fallen leaves and appeared disused.  A new nest must have been concealed somewhere even deeper within the bush.  In contrast, I found that eastern phoebes (Sayornis phoebe) had been reusing the same nest as last year, with another four chicks successfully fledged this year.