Thursday, May 14, 2009

Babies!

They aren't ours, but the low-lying nest in the neighbors' pine tree is a busy place these days. Somehow, while I was busy with other things, this


turned into these!
How cute are they?! We've all been watching so they don’t fall victim to the prowling neighborhood cats. There are only two, so not sure if the third one didn't hatch or just didn't make it.

Then, yesterday, the mother called to tell me that we have baby birds! Or, at least one. Since our nest is so high up, it’s hard to say. If we didn’t occasionally see a bobbing down-filled head, we wouldn’t even know. We wondered though because we've occasionally spied her standing on the edge of the nest since Sunday.

I’ve only seen one head, but when she feeds, it appears the mother bird goes deep inside the nest, so there may be at least one other. I’m hesitant to get a ladder and take a peek, but I may do it this weekend just to see!

I checked on ours this morning, and in spite of last night’s storm, the nest is still firmly in place. The mama was busy serving breakfast but since she stiffens when I’m out there, I didn’t try to get a shot. Those young’ns (or singulary if there is just the one) need to eat!

6 comments:

denise said...

I love how the robin's nest is so circular, tidy and neat while the sparrow's nest is a jumbled mess! Good luck checking out your nest, but watch out for mama — she may get pretty ticked!

Vicki said...

Yay! Congrats :) Hope you get some good pics...safely.

Karen Anne said...

I'd be a little worried about checking out the nest, don't want to freak out the little ones or the parents.

Why S? said...

Don't you wish you could throw them a shower?

Jayne said...

Cute babies!

NV said...

Denise -- I know! And it's funny you mention a sparrow's nest. I rescued one the other night at a shopping center. (It had fallen from a sign.) I thought it was empty, but there was a baby inside! Luckily, one not too far off leaving the nest. While its mother nervously watched, I put in among a cluster of bushes. (Kids on bikes had just narrowly missed running over it on the sidewalk!)

V -- I may try, but not too hard.

KarenAnne -- No, I don't like freaking them out. I'll probably just leave them alone.

why -- that's too funny! Good idea though. Any reason for a party. :-)

Jayne -- Aren't they though! They aren't far from hopping out either. We'll have to track them on the ground 'til they learn to fly. Not fun.