Babies

In 2004, a mating pair of birds built a nest inside our front door foyer, well out of reach of the cats and nicely insulated from harsh weather. This was rather clever of them, as we had some lashing storms that year, yet they stayed nicely dry and out of the winds.

Our front doorway where the birds roost.

I don't know what species the birds are, if it's the same pair each year, or maybe offspring (how long do birds live?), or if it's even the same species of bird, but they've been back every year since. In 2006 they hatched two clutches of eggs.

They finally came back again this year, late April, and the baby birds hatched a couple of weeks ago. Today they started flying; by the middle of next week I expect them to be gone, and the mating pair will probably start on a second batch. They're kind of entertaining -- they twitter-tweet at the cats, sometimes even dive-bomb at them, despite that the cats have been here all along and have no chance at getting at the nest. I suppose this is typical bird-parent defensive posturing, but if it is the same original pair, don't they ever get acclimated? The cats are only a threat if the birds are dense enough to get near them. (Make no mistake, both cats can and have nailed other birds on occasion, but not the nesting birds.)

It's been fun watching the babies fly -- only two so far, the other two no doubt in a day or so -- and I like that they come back every year.

The baby birds take a break from flying practice
(two obvious, one hunched down at right).