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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Baby Blue Grosbeak left the nest

I thought it hatched 5 days ago (see post of July 10), so it appears to have fledged prematurely. I walked past the nest to turn on a water faucet, which always causes the adult to flush. At the time the adult wasn't present; the baby flushed instead. I tried to catch it to put it back inside but couldn't. Here's a picture of it taken yesterday.


And here it is today. I took the photo through screen on a door so as not to disrupt the bird.


Both parents are very attentive. For a long time they squawked nearby with food but didn't feed the "fledgling" until it made its way higher into a tree (out of my sight, of course). They really put the pressure on the little fellow. With both parents tantalizingly close with food, demanding he move away from the screen door, what choice did he have? He went for it. The above photo was taken seconds before he made the hop. He ended  up at the same height as the original nest, but later went twice as high.

There are no predators in the courtyard so he should make it OK. Two unhatched eggs are still in the nest. Probably human activity was responsible. I had lots of company around the time of incubation and it was impossible to keep people away from the nest right outside the kitchen door, though I tried.

Saw a gorgeous Giant Swallowtail but could only get a photo of it in a tall Beebrush above my head, so this is how the underside looks.


Still insects galore, not all of them desirable. Love my full tanks though.


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