Spreading Your Wings to Fly

Very shortly (in about 2 weeks) our youngest will be moving out of the house for college.  We will be "empty nesters."  While I'm very happy for Benjamin, this is a big step for us and life is about to change for us! 

Speaking of birds leaving the nest, on July 18th I was out by our purple hull pea patch and I noticed a well-crafted nest in a pear tree.  It was build with sturdy live oak twigs on the outer portion and a comfortable grass lining.  Was it a partridge in a pear tree?  Nope.  I looked around and saw a mockingbird and her mate flying around.  They were not happy that I had discovered their nest.

I peeked in to see two baby birds that had just hatched and a third egg in the nest. The baby birds' eyes were closed and appeared to be sleeping.  I left them alone, but decided to check in on them periodically.

The very next day I looked into the nest and saw that the third baby had hatched.  I tapped on the nest and they opened their mouths wide, thinking I was the momma bird coming with a fresh worm.  "I'm not your Mother!"

On July 23rd I walked out to pick purple hull peas and decided to see how the birds were growing.  They were asleep, but I was able to see that they had pin feathers.  The birds are piled up on each other, but you can count three beaks.

The parents of the birds were not cordial with my visit.  They squawked and fussed and made me not feel very welcome.  You can see one of the birds on top of the ladder and one sitting on the fence in the center right.

On July 24th I went out to see them and the baby birds were hungry!  I couldn't look for long, though, the mom and dad bird were irate.

This time the birds started chasing me.  As I was walking away quickly, I turned around in time to see the momma bird dive bombing my head.  You can see her out-spread feathers in the upper left portion of the photo below:

I told Tricia about the ANGRY BIRDS and she told me that they had chased her all the way back to the back patio!

On July 29th, the baby birds had full feathers.  They were alert and active.  The only odd thing is that there were only two - not the original three.  What happened to the other bird?  Did Ginger the cat get one?  We don't know.

On July 31st when I went out to check on them, there was no loud chirping, no scolding birds chasing me, and NOTHING but an empty nest. 

The Empty Nest

It was quiet and peaceful.  The parents had done their best to feed and house their babies.  They protected them and took care of them the best they could.  The birds had raised their babies and launched them out into the world!  Sounds very familiar as our last 'little bird' will be leaving our nest very soon.