Empty Nesters

Song - Oak Titmouse Coaxing Young to Fledge

Remember in March when I saw some Oak Titmice making a nest in Mr. B's barn-style bird house?  Well for the last two weeks we have been hearing some mighty high pitched noises coming from the Japanese Maple tree.  We thought.....wow, there must be hundreds of tiny birds in that tree but every time we looked for them, we couldn't see any birds.  I finally saw a parent Oak Titmouse in the tree with a big fat green worm in his mouth.

The more we watched the parents come and go with tasty morsels, the more the high pitched chirps would happen.  It was the baby birds inside the bird house excitedly waiting for mom or dad to bring them something to eat.

On Tuesday morning I saw a little one peeking through the hole of the bird house.  Hi there little fellow!  I set up my tripod inside our dining room and patiently waited to see what he would do.

Can't you just see him thinking "it's a mighty long way down from the railing of the deck if my wings aren't quite ready......"

And number one has lift off.........I actually cried when I saw him fledge.

As soon as he had flown away, I saw another cute face in the bird house wondering if it was his turn now.  He went through all the same moves as number one. He looked down, went back in to reconsider several times, came out again and then before I knew it number two had flown away too!

Mom and dad kept coming back with treats trying to encourage the youngsters to leave the nest.

"Oh Junior....I have a big tasty grasshopper for you if you'll just come outside"

"Ahhhhh.....Dad right now it's so cozy inside 

and besides I kinda like having my breakfast brought to me in bed"

 And every time mom or dad came out of the house they would have a little crumb of something that they have cleaned up after Junior. Some things never change.....

And number three is more than ready to leave.....she took no time in flying off!

Number four...... 

 Number five.....

Number six needed a little prompting from mom...... 

And he's off.....

It sure is quite around here today!

"All of a sudden, the nest is empty.  

The birds have gone, 

and what had been a constant blur of activity

 is nothing more than a few discarded feathers.  

Silence mutes all that was colorful 

and it is time to reestablish

 our significant place in an ever changing world."

-- Marci Seither