Bird Nest-Day 19

Today is Day 19 with the bird nest. Today has been an eventful day here with the bird family. First I noticed the daddy bird searching for worms, so I grabbed my camera and waited. When the actual worm transaction happened, I turned on my camera and the battery was dead! I waited a half hour to see that happen, and I wasn't able to capture it on film! It figures, especially since I'm not that patient!

Mama bird lets me get close and doesn't seem to mind. But that's only when she's on the nest. When she's off of the nest LOOKOUT! She's not very happy then! Here she is, sitting on her babies. I'm about five feet away from her and she's fine!
It was warmer today, and this meant she was able to spend time off of her nest. She sits a lot above the nest. And here she looks like a proud mama, looking down on her babies!

Here's another shot of her just sitting in the sun!

When I noticed the nest was empty, I grabbed an umbrella and off I went to take a photo! Yes, I said "umbrella!" When the nest in unoccupied by the mama, both mama and daddy get very very angry. I keep thinking of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" movie, and I was afraid to get pecked! So I got the brilliant idea of an umbrella, and it worked! The neighbor probably thought I was crazy, cause he saw me walking through the yard with an umbrella on a sunny day, but that's ok. I got the shot that I needed, and I still have my eyes! lol

Aren't these babies just precious? Ben said they look like furry teddy bears! I'm not too sure I agree! The boys haven't seen the babies up close, they only view them on the computer now. I don't want them growing up with bad associations of birds, and possibly getting attacked.

Since the one egg didn't hatch today, I'm assuming that the egg that the little girl broke was egg number 3. Since eggs usually hatch one per day consecutively, today's egg didn't hatch, probably because this egg was the last one laid. So hopefully this one will hatch tomorrow.

My first unsuccessful attempt to take photos today was full of interruptions. I was staying as far away as the birds let me, but yet Alex kept coming outside and yelling for me. That and each time he opened the door, he let Allie out and she kept chasing the daddy as he was in the yard searching for worms! It was driving me CRAZY! So I ended up witnessing the moment, but didn't capture it on film because of the batteries being dead.

So at my second attempt, the boys ventured outside to watch with me. They were very patient, and very quiet. Alex couldn't see the birds very well and in this photo he's saying "I can't see it!" LOL I just love that look on his face!

So as the mama bird is sitting on her nest. She opens her mouth and makes the faintest noise and signals the daddy bird to land with the worms. During my hour or so observing, there is much communication between the two. It's very interesting to watch. The daddy was out in search of worms and once he got them, he landed on the play set. If you click and enlarge the photo, you can see the worm sticking out of his mouth. Notice the mama, patiently waiting on her nest.

And he swoops in for the worm exchange. It happens very quickly, I'd say between five to ten seconds and then he flies away in search of more! This happens quite frequently!

So that was our eventful day! I've been busy crafting too, and hopefully will be able to post my project in the next couple days!