Wow. I always thought our babies grew up fast, but they can't compare to baby birds. The wrens in our birdhouse are now five little balls of fluff with voracious appetites. Last week they could barely hold up their heads, and it was impossible to distinguish individual birds except by counting the beaks.
Now we can see why the parents are so busy, constantly bringing worms and insects back to the nest. The babies are so hungry that sometimes, one little beak can be seen poking out of the entrance hole. "M-o-o-o-o-m, hurry up!" I imagine him calling.I actually got caught taking the top photo by the ever-vigilant parents. I chose a moment to check on the nest when the parents were away, but they returned while I was still up on the ladder-- and oh, boy, did I ever get a scolding! Both parents were hopping from branch to branch, chattering and screeching at me. Chastened, I got out of there fast.
The garden is in full bloom now, and visited by birds, bees, butterflies, and even dragonflies and an occasional toad. The goldfinch in the photo below is perched on one of the sunflowers in the butterfly bed. All too soon we'll see the end of the gardening season. It will be some comfort to watch the birds plucking the seeds from the sunflowers, coneflowers and zinnias-- but let's not think about that just yet!
2 comments:
goldfinch! i saw one in my own backyard the other day (razi showed it to me, actually) and i knew i'd seen a picture of one on your blog but i couldn't remember what it was called. they are tiny!
Yes, they're small, but quick. If you watch them at a finch feeder, you can really understand what it must be like to be a little bird. It goes: grab seed, look around for predator, eat, look around, grab seed, look around, eat, look around.....yikes. If you have a finch in your backyard, you could hang up a thistle sock and see more of them!
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