Bluejays
- a western scrub-jay, courtesy of Wikipedia
I think I mentioned that a pair of western scrub-jays lived in the yard and that I'd bought a little plastic bird bath for them. They recently built a nest in the magnolia tree and had one baby, but a few days ago he seems to have fallen out of the nest before he could fly. For a couple of days the mom bird could be seen hanging around bushes near the nest, and I could hear the baby in there chirping. I didn't know if I should try to catch him and put him back in the nest (or actually get my sister to do it for me), and by the time I decided I should, he and his mom had gone missing, dad too. I don't know if they've moved on to greener pastures (my yard is turning brown and crunchy) or if something bad has happened to them, but I miss them :(
posted by crystal | 1:04 PM
3 Comments:
Yeah, our phoebes have fledged and flown away, although we had a bunch of them flying around for a while. I don't know how many chicks they had because I didn't want to disturb the next.
In past years we have had both scrub jays and Stella Jays which were spectacular. Since the young stay around to help with the next "family" there were quite a few of them also. Not so many this year.
The rufus hummingbirds have shown up finally and now are struggling to keep the feeders full. Keeps us entertained as they fight for position on the feeders.
I know what you mean about missing them. Most likely the chick finally learned to fly and the family left, maybe to be back next year.
Hugs,
Mike
Hi Mike,
My sister was just over and we looked around the yard and saw that the birds have moved across the fence into the neighbor's back yard where there's a sprinkler system and two huge pine trees. My sister said she saw a bigger and a smaller bird, so I don't know if it's the male and female or the mama and now flying baby, but at least they haven't disappeared. I'm trying not to have hurt feelings, sniff, sniff :)
I have to chuckle just a bit, birds do tend to be more interested in their environment than in our feelings, don't they?
I understand that young birds may be bigger than their parents when they leave the nest. They are actually fat, not having exercised by flying. They rapidly slim down. So maybe the bigger bird was the chick :). Anyway, glad they are doing OK.
Hugs,
Mike L
Post a Comment
<< Home