Thursday, June 21, 2007

Baby Birds

We noticed about the first of May that a momma bird had build a nest complete with eggs in the play fort out behind the cabin. I wasn't sure how long it would take for baby birds to grow up so I considered just removing the nest so the kids could continue to use the play fort. I didn't have the heart to tear it out and throw it away so we just decided to watch them grow up. We were very considerate of the nest and would closely watch the mother bird to make sure we were not agitating her to much. I did manage to get a picture of here sitting on the nest. She flew away moments after I took this picture. My original concern was that we would be waiting around all summer for these baby birds to grow up. I figured to keep the momma bird happy we would have to stay away. Over the course of a month or so the momma bird got used to us being around the play fort. The kids loved watching her wait with a worm in her beak on the dirt hill while they played. As soon as we would leave she would fly right in.
To make a long story short the birds grew up a lot faster than I thought they would. I took this picture on Wednesday, June 6th. By Saturday the birds were gone.