Baby Birds

My mom lives in Tucson, and her beautiful back patio overlooks a golf course, and Pusch Ridge and the Catalina Mountians.

Mom loves the patio but the birds love it more; there always seems to be at least one nest out there somewhere. There's a very fragrant star jasmine that the doves like nesting on top of because there's a lot of room and support.

Just outside the sliding glass patio door to the left was the most recently occupied bird condo. The plant is an asparagus fern, but we're not sure about the birds - we're guessing wrens, sparrows, or finches.

This was the first picture I took, about ten days after four of the five eggs hatched.

The birds would chirp quite loudly when they knew lunch was near. Mom (right) & Dad (left) would sit on the fence and make sure the coast was clear before flying in for a tag-team feeding session.

They would then fly to a window ledge above the patio door. One would watch while the other one fed the kids. The one watching could see inside the house and they'd both fly away when I got close. Mom was the more alert one.

To get these shots of Mom & Dad (right) feeding, I hid behind a sheet on the door shutters. The babies would chirp when they saw the parents on the fence, and then I'd sneak up, hold the camera up, and wait.

As soon as I took the picture, Mom & Dad would fly away, but the babies would keep looking to see when they'd come back with more lunch!

They grew up fast. In less than two weeks after they hatched, the first two, hidden center-right behind the asparagus fern fronds, were off. One day they were flapping and the next day they were flying.

This morning, #3 took off. #4 seemed to be giving his home one last look before he flew away, too. All day long I heard chirping and went back to look at the nest, thinking they'd come back, but they're on their own now.

They birds used twigs, string, and bits of cloth and kleenex to build their nest. The ring of black and white is where Mom & Dad pooped while feeding. Such table manners! Unfortunately, one of the eggs didn't hatch.

There is a large flower pot next to the neighbor's driveway, where a dove laid two eggs in a makeshift nest. I only saw this one egg, but Mom and my niece Devon saw two. I saw the mom in the nest only two times and was never able to get a picture of her. I haven't seen her since. I hope she comes back, for her baby and her photo op!

My close friends Tom & Maggie Johnson are bird lovers, so this is for them!