Fat Babies

Earlier this Spring we noticed some birds making themselves very busy in the nest we'd noticed up above our porch. The mother bird sat there for a couple of weeks while we wondered how many eggs she had. We hoped they'd hatch soon, and we kept going outside to listen for cheeping noises.

And finally we heard them! Sam stood on a stool and stretched waaay up to take a picture so we could get a glimpse of the babies. You can hardly tell what is what in this picture! But you can see those flat yellow beaks.

It was so fun to watch the babies for the next few weeks. We could see their beaks poking up but not much more. But after awhile, we could see four little heads…and then four furry bodies…and then finally…

Four fat little birds! (Do you see the fourth? He is all squished down beneath his brothers, poor thing. Or his sisters?)

They were so big!! Way too big for their nest! Spilling out of it, in fact. But that didn't stop them from sitting there!

Here is the mama bird, with a nice tasty dragonfly in her mouth. I felt a strange kinship with this mama and her fat babies and overflowing nest.

So squishy! How would you like to be that bird on the bottom? I think I have been that bird on the bottom. In fact, it happens many mornings when the kids get in bed to snuggle with me.

Occasionally two of the birds would hop a little to the side and leave more room in the nest.

But they still stayed snuggled up in pairs.

After a few days of that, the babies started fluttering down to the porch. They would take short little hops from flower pot to railing to porch swing. We loved watching them. The mama would get so frantic every time we went outside! Like she owned the place.

They were still a bit fluffy.

And they sat so nicely on the porch swing! We would have loved to have them stay longer. But after a day or two of that, they started flying farther…and farther…and then we'd just see them on the roof or the fence every now and then…until at last we had to accept that they were gone. And it was sad! Good little babies. I hope we'll get to see some more next year!