Friday, May 26, 2006

It was a dark and stormy night




Did we have a rip-snorter of a storm last night....our power was out from 7 pm until 6 am this morning.
After the first wave of storms I went out back to check on everyone. (earlier in the day, I noticed that there were no chickadees in the box, and the nest material had been scattered about...gulp)
But lo and behold, there sat a lone chickadee chick under the tree. It had no baby down, but was barely able to get off the ground. So I collected the family and the camera and got some cute shots. Then I noticed a small black and white speck hopping away, and it was another chick!
Did they fledge earlier in the day, or were they the only survivors of a nest attack?
Isabelle was in transports of joy to get and hold a real baby chick. We sat them them on a branch above the nest box and wished them the best. What a night to come out into the world. Good luck, little guys!
The house sparrow nest had yet another egg it in, making the total 5, so I once again did some soft-boiling.
What really set my heart to soaring was this: I had to adjust the level of the gourd and purple martin house on the pole due to the storm, so I thought I would finally give the TRES nest a good check. Mama swallow came flying out, so I did the fastest nest check in history: I reached in and instead of trying to get pictures, I counted 5 sweet, warm eggs. Hallelujah! It's about time, you guys. Mama came back as soon as the house was back up. I've heard something about TRES, and it seems to be true: It takes a sledgehammer to make a Tree Swallow abandon its nest. I love to watch Mr. Swallow singlehandedly fend off 4 starlings or a mockingbird. They are super tough birds.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since I know the grandparents will wonder, yes, Isabelle washed her hands after handling the baby bird...

Anonymous said...

One can only imagine how, for untold chickadee generations to come, the story will be passed down how once-upon-a-time a beautiful little girl held & rescued an imperiled fledgling.

LauraHinNJ said...

Lucky girl and lucky birdies to have you all looking out for them!

Cool about the tree swallows - you must be so happy!

Susan Gets Native said...

Laura:
I am VERY happy about the swallows. The amount of time I have spent worrying and managing that nest...
Julie:
It's too bad that chickadees don't visit. If they are in the trees, they could be tempted to come down and eat. Keep trying with sunflower, peanuts, that sort of thing.