Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Our Bird Neighbors


We have had some amazing opportunities for nature study this year. Our focus this year is birds and God has provided some "up close and personal" views of our bird neighbors. Alek noticed a nest in the holly bush next to our porch while he was playing baseball in the yard. I went and checked it out and found three, beautiful blue eggs. We were careful to observe that area over the next couple weeks. The mommy bird was pretty skittish and flew off every time we were in the yard. When she flew off, we would check the progress of the eggs. It wasn't long before there were three, tiny, naked little birds in the nest. We watched them as they grew and we often saw the daddy bird bringing food for his family. If we were in the front yard, he would fly behind the bushes and walk under the porch to the back of the holly bush and up to the nest. One day I walked over to check on the babies and I scared them so badly that they jumped out of the nest. I felt awful! They were pretty grown up by then and crowding each other out of the nest, but I'm not sure they were quite ready to leave. Andrew and our friend Donna and I tried to catch them and put them back in. We actually managed to put a couple of them back, but they jumped right back out. Of course, the mommy and daddy were squalling and flying all over. We eventually left the parents to take care of their babies. They never did come back to the nest. Hopefully all three of them are living happy little birdie lives.

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