What a Difference!

Wow!  I posted a photo of these baby birds two days ago and now look at them!

At least one of them is ready to fly!  You can click on the image to see it larger but one of the babies is perched on the edge of the nest and will flap it's wings from time to time.  Also, now that I can see the babies more individually, I'm pretty sure they're House Finches.  Several bird identification websites comment on the tufts of feathers on top of the head and this one definitely looks as if he's having a bad hair day!

The other two little ones don't seem to be as advanced as the one above.  Or maybe they're just very polite and have been taught to take turns perching on the nest edge!  One of the babies is still at the wide open mouth stage and the remaining one is barely visible.

"Mr. Mouth" will probably be the next to fledge although I really won't have any way of knowing which bird is which or in which order they'll fly.

It's been exciting being able to see this nesting from start to finish - or at least I hope to be able to see the little ones fly.  I don't want to spend the day at the window as I have a lot to do today but will definitely check on them from time to time and keep my camera handy!!

Baby Birdies!

We always have a huge variety of birds in our yard and have at least 10 bluebird houses scattered around the yard and orchards.

This year what I think is a house finch built a nest in the lilac bush right outside our bedroom window.  It's been fun to see the nesting process from the first bits of grass to the adroit weaving in of a piece of dryer softener sheet that came from who knows where!

Now the babies have arrived and are a little over a week old.  I had to take the photo from inside the house so the quality isn't all that great but you can see the three babies inside the nest (or maybe you can't!  They're all in weird positions!)  I like babies of all kinds and really like that our farm is home to so many different varieties, but really, aren't baby birds the ugliest things you've ever seen?  This photo was taken right after Mom had finished feeding them so they're kind of snuggled down for a nap.  Most of the time, however, they're all stretched up with their heads lolled back and beaks wide open!  I wonder if they think a bug will just drop into their open beaks or if it ever actually happens!  I need to look up how long before they'll leave the nest but I'm not entirely sure they're actually house finch babies.  The mom stays away a lot and when she is around, she's mostly hidden by those leaves so it's hard to see any definitive markings on her.  I'm sure it won't be long before these babies are off on their first flights though and maybe I can get a photo of that for you!

In the meantime, almost directly across from the lilac bush is a bluebird house.  I got the following photo while I was photographing the the baby finches.

It's so fun to capture these critters - I wanted to say "Smile, you're on Candid Camera!"