Wednesday, May 2, 2012

For The Birds

Since Mrs. Wren Bird built her nest on the overhead light in our back door entry porch, we've been watching with curiosity. We are careful to stay a good distance away from the back door glass, while peering to see what's happening. Mrs. Bird gets spooked and flies off when she sees us in the sunroom, though she's in no danger from us.  


We've been concerned that she wasn't on the nest enough, but perhaps there were no eggs in there at that time. When the grandgirls were here for Easter, Abigail, age 6, expressed her concern this way: " If the Mama bird doesn't take good care of her eggs, the baby birds will perish."  Yes, that was a real concern for us.


But, last week we noticed two little fuzzy heads peeking out of top of the nest!  Obviously Mama had cared enough for those eggs, as the babies hadn't 'perished.'  I was able, during a feeding, to catch a quick photo of the babies and Mama.  I didn't use a flash, and I did use the zoom lens, in order to get a fairly decent photo without trying too hard or upsetting the little family.


A few days later, we noticed that there were FIVE baby birds.  I believe that's all there are in that little nest, and at that, they must be awfully crowded. I've watched them tumbling over each other in their little cradle, probably trying to find a spot to call their own.  


Meanwhile, we continue to use the front door, walking around the house from front yard to back yard to do anything in our veggie garden.  We don't want to upset Mama or to have her abandon them before they are grown. We want those babies to be fed and take off on the wing when they are grown enough to do that.  All that we do in the area these days is ....for the birds.