It's a Bird's Life

Jul. 19, 2008

Bye-bye Birdies

Yesterday the moment that we've been waiting for finally arrived! The only thing was, it wasn't a "moment" it was hours and we were more nervous than either the fledglings or the parents! I had laid down in the afternoon for a nap that my body would no longer avoid and slept for about an hour. I woke up to the sound of my sons talking excitedly and running up and down the hall outside my door. My first half-conscious thought was that "the birds have fledged!". Actually the cause of their excitement was from a whole different realm. I got up anyway, still a bit groggy, and began checking on the status of laundry and plans for supper. I was about to ask my older son to take the garbage out when he walked out the door before I could get my request in. He came back in excitedly telling me to get my camera because two of the four baby birds were on the ground - this time they were alive ... thankfully! I assumed that when the time came, the babies would just fly away and that would be the end of it, but that is not at all how it unfolded! Two of the babies were on the ground just sitting there, and the other two were still on the edge of the nest up on the light fixture. Over the next two hours, one of the two on the ground kept fluttering across the ground about 5-6 feet at a time until it was out in the middle of the driveway. It looked to us like the two in the nest had pushed these two out and that they were unable to fly even though the parent-birds were fluttering around chattering and calling to them. My husband finally put some grass clippings in a box and got the one that wasn't moving at all to hop into the box and then went to retrieve the other one in the driveway. It fluttered out of his reach a few times but he eventually got it into the box and put the box with both babies on top of the dog house. Within a few minutes the more active one of the two was again out of the box and fluttering its way toward where the mother-bird was calling to it. It made it's way all the way across the side yard right up to the edge of the brush. The mother kept bringing food to it and encouraging it to follow her. By now the other two were perched very precariously on the light fixture and weren't even in the nest anymore. When our supper was grilled we all went in to eat.

As soon as supper was over, I went outside to check on the fledging situation and found that there wasn't a baby bird to be found! I could hear them all over in the brush at the back of the side yard near where the one was still on the ground and the parent-birds were still fluttering nervously around the area. Later, after a walk I checked again and while I could still hear the soft little chirps, I could no longer find any of the babies. The mama-bird had somehow rounded them all up and gathered them together where she could continue to feed and care for them. It was amazing to me that this whole process actually took about 4 or 5 hours!

This morning I could still see both parent-birds gathering food and taking it back to that same area of brush to feed the babies. These Eastern Phoebes perch on the run-line for our dog and catch insects on the fly from there. Any day now I expect to see four little birds with short tails sitting up there and following their parents' example as they learn how to hunt for their own food!

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My Nest

I love bird-watching! God has taught me so much from the close observation of these small wonders of His creation which He has promised to provide for in every way. They have been both my example and my encouragement. I hope you will find good things to nourish and build up your nest as you visit mine!

Songs, Calls, and Twitterings

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• Sonshine and Shadows
• Bye-bye Birdies
• And Then There Were Four
• Testing
• On The Edge
• Welcome to Our Nest!

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