Family of Birds

It was about a month ago that I watched the last of five baby birds gain the courage to leave the nest. Nature is a magnificent thing and I was blessed to have witnessed it.

It began in May when I  noticed a nest tightly weaved over one of the cameras outside the side door where I work.

I watched through the large glass window as two birds took turns sitting in the nest. As one bird sat in the nest, the other bird hung close by. This process went on for alittle over two weeks. Then one morning, I noticed five tiny heads popping up from the nest.

The parents took turns feeding the babies. Again, one parent stood closely by as the other parent fed the babies. I thought to myself, how wonderful those creatures were and how well they parented and tended to their family.

It was another few weeks before they began leaving the nest. I watched as one would stand on the outside of the nest as it tested its wings then climbed back into the crowded nest. It was almost as if he was thinking, "What the hell, I am not ready for this". As the days went on, I noticed one by one the nest was becoming empty. At first, I thought I hope no one fell out and checked the area beneath the nest only to look up and see three little birds standing two feet away perched on a piece of wood overhanging on the other side of the nest. Apparently, the three of them made it out of the nest and flew a short distance away and stayed perched as the parents continued to fly back and feed them.

Two were still in the nest and I noticed one of the two tested his wings constantly. By the following morning, there was one left in the nest. The other four perched a few feet away on the wooden overpass. This last bird tested his wings, stood out over the outside of the nest, then crawled back in. This bird did this for several days as his siblings sat perched and on occasion flew around the nest. I noticed the parents continued to feed the four but stopped feeding the one still in the nest. It was a bit sad to me, as I watched the one in the nest constantly cry out for its parents to feed him.

Then the next morning, I noticed no one was in the nest and all five perched on the wooden overpass being fed by their parents. For the next week, the babies flew around the nest chirping and singing then one day they were gone.

How wonderful it was for me to see and experience nature up front and close. I witnessed birth to independence.

  I got to experience one of the wonders of nature from start to finish.