The Birds Know

The birds outside seem to know something about spring coming. I was out there and they were singing like crazy.

It's a nice sunny day. They've come out of hiding.

Baby Birds Learning To Fly

It's nailbite city here with the birds learning to fly. I think there's all these millions of birds out in nature doing whatever, why should I care what happens to the ones right around here?

But it's been a busy time with the baby birds being kicked out of the nest, then flopping around and not knowing what to do. The parents seem beside themselves, raising a racket, acting crazy when we're out there.

My dog attacked a baby bird, which I didn't know was going to happen or it wouldn't have. But it looked like the bird got away with no serious damage. I pulled the leash right away. Except then he wasn't flying, just hanging around. At one point it looked like he was stuck by the garage. So I went out and he flew back into the open where the parents could see him.

Today there was one that looked like he was stuck in the fence. So I went nearby and my being close scared him into getting away. Then I was away and came home. There was a rabbit jumping in front of the car, like he never would veer off. And all of a sudden a baby bird jumps up and hits the front of the car and I don't know what happened. It looked like he went to the left, and I went over there later and he wasn't anywhere around.

But they're out there, by the windows, on the fence, and the parents are busy squawking, so it's a very trying time for them. Good thing there aren't that many cats out or there'd be no survivors.

Flying is a great ability to have. Too bad they have to learn and get geared up for it.

Geese

I saw four adult geese with nine tiny baby geese today, swimming.

Of course the bigger ones seemed to be in charge, raising a ruckus when I and my dog were within 35 feet. But they were already in the water. I held back going near them when they were up on the shore.

Wow, baby geese are really small. They were yellow too, quite different from what the parents look like. But they really know how to swim.

Probably a year from now they'll be the parents. It doesn't take these birds that long to qualify for Social Security.

Robins

We've got some robins just outside the bedroom window. Somehow without anyone noticing they were able to build a nest just outside the window. We noticed them after there were already four eggs.

I just saw the eggs maybe three days ago, or even two days ago. And yesterday there were two eggs hatched out and today a third. The little baby robins are moving around, almost featherless except for a few little tufts. When the mother and father robins are away they occasionally stretch up and open their mouths very wide. (We don't know which one is the mother and which is the father, but we assume the one spending the most time sitting on them is the mother. But yesterday, in the little bit of time I've been watching them, two adult robins were there tending to things.)

The mother is away for a short while, then comes back and gives them something to eat. She sits on them and gets comfortable for a while. I looked out today and she had her eyes closed, like she was in meditation. I think she noticed me, even though I'm trying to be very slow and deliberate in my movements.

And one other thing, the day before yesterday was a very windy day. Fortunately the nest didn't blow away. There's really no room for error on that little ledge, so we hope they've got it snugged down good and tight.