These three tiny birds were in a nest in a potted tree outside our condo entry.
They actually broke out of their shells.
At first they were fuzzy like this, but soon they began to get their feathers. I borrowed a picture because I didn't take one of this stage.
Once they started getting feathers, they looked as if they had been glued on with precision.
Their little beaks were sharp but their eyes were still sealed shut.
They didn't know we watched them, and their green mama would often be gone out of the nest, doing her mama thing. I think that means worms and such. Occasionally she would chirp loudly from a distant tree when I got near her nest.
Mama looked like this. She was very protective, in spite of only being four inches long
Those feathers were coming in, but they were not ready to fledge yet. We checked them every day.
And when we moved the tree, they would stick their heads up and wiggle their beaks, and make little squeaking noises. I think they thought their mama was back and wanted her to know that they were hungry.
Feed Us! (another borrowed photo)
So here's the end of my nature story:
One day we looked in the nest and there were only two. One of the babies had flown away already. We saw her standing on the branch with her mama, a mini-version of her. When the other two saw me looking, taking a head count, they stared back. Suddenly they both flittered down out of the nest on to our patio area. I panicked. Should I put them back in the nest? Then I remembered it wasn't up to me. They are programmed by nature (God).
In a few minutes the mama bird came back to check on her nest. Upon seeing that her babies were gone, she chirped. They chirped back from the ground. She quickly flew down by them and checked them out. Then it was if she gave an order. She swooped by them, and they followed her. Suddenly, in one quick move they learned to fly.
That was it.
We never saw them again.
They did it without our help.
They were ours for only a brief gratifying moment.
Another reminder of how NOT in control I am.
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
4 comments:
Beautiful! We had baby robins in a nest outside my office window last year. So fun to watch. And then, like you, one day I went to "check them out" and they were gone. Such a reminder that if God cares for even the birds, how much MORE does He care for us. Praise Him for His creative works of art!
Thank you for this reminder, as my "finch" is over on the Continent for several months now, out of sight!
A much happier story than last year's!
I loved this post! I am sure that was in Maui. I seem to remember the little green birds flitting around so fast and all the years there I was never able to get a picture
Mama and her babies that is what we do, take care, look after them and when they leave try to be there for them but let them fly. xoxo Sharon
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