I think my babies are okay
Fine, they aren't really my babies, they are the babies of mom and dad cardinal. The 2 siblings hatched a little over a week ago (one egg never hatched), in the nest I watched mom build in the bushes that are just outside the window I sit next to as I type.
I've gotten used to their disctinctive chirps and post-partum routine. Dad likes to hover before landing. Mom just lands and jumps in. When one pops out, the other flies over from a nearby tree with the next course in their beak. And on it goes.
They gave me a scare, though.
I was on the phone, their sounds and movement out of the corner of my eye ensured me that all was well. Then I saw movement. The two dogs from across the street were at the base of the bushes, right below where the nest is. At the same time, the chirping reached a level that was chaotic. I cut off the person on the other end of the phone, saying no, please no, as I walked out the door to shoo the dogs off and peek in the nest.
The newborns were gone. What a sense of loss I felt, even a shade of panic, wondering what had become of the kids in my adopted family.
I returned inside and to my conversation, but kept getting distracted. Mom and dad were acting very differently, and I couldn't really see or figure out what was going on. Once I ended my phone conversation, I headed back out. Mom and dad seemed more spooked than usual and immediately left. I sat still at the bottom of the steps hoping I could observe better from there, but it seemed I couldn't even be outdoors any more without disrupting them. They never came back to the bushes, instead they chatted back and forth from this tree branch or that, and I just knew they had to be looking for their babies and were waiting for me to leave. Heck, I wanted to find their babies!
After poking around a bit, I picked up the rubber ball the dogs were attempting to retrieve at the base of the bushes, headed back to my perch inside, opened up the window, and just watched.
Eventually I could track mom and dad, follow their sounds, and realize that I was hearing more than just their chips. From somewhere in those bushes, some place that I strain to see but can't make out, the kids are chirping away in unison themselves.
They're not gone, they're just beginning to leave the nest.
My babies are okay.
for the NNAF
2 comments:
Ahhhhhh, so glad.
Whew, thank goodness. I too get babies every year, at the moment we have a nest of starlings, a nest of sparrows and a nest of morning doves that we're watching.
Unfortunately, we found an abandoned nest over the weekend as well. When I was cutting down one of my ornamental grasses I stumbled upon a nest. It contained 2 eggs and was in a very, very bad location (right at the edge of my water garden). Anyway, we left it alone but the next morning (Sunday) our little eggs were gone *sigh*.
Post a Comment