Wednesday, August 11, 2010

My Song Sparrow Series - Discovery

 (One of the dangers of leaving too much time between experience, photos and actual posting, is getting dates and times mixed up. Last post had some such errors - which I've corrected. The photos of the mother sparrow on the nest were taken on the 14th, not the 17th. My apologies for the mix up.)
I was getting a little anxious because of the heat and wondering if the eggs were viable. When the mother didn't get off the nest, the last time I'd checked, I was concerned that either she wasn't feeling well, maybe due to her neck injury, or that the eggs might be hatching. When I could, I would watch for her to leave the nest and come to the feeders, so I could go out and see what, if anything, was happening.
Three days later, our paths crossed, so to speak - I was at the window when she came to eat. I grabbed my camera and went out there, almost at a run.
I peaked in and this is what I found....
 I was so excited, I could hardly hold the camera still enough to get a photograph of this brand new baby! It is unfortunate that I hadn't checked the nest sooner in the week. Ten days had gone by, so I'm really not sure exactly how old the baby was at this point. It looked pretty new - maybe a day or two - but, for my purposes I called this Day 1.
As soon as I touched a branch with my camera, the baby's head immediately popped up,  eyes barely opened but beak opened wide, and it made the tiniest "squeek" baby bird sound. I knew it would be OK because the mother was eating at the feeders and would be bring supper really soon.
(Next time: The First Week of Growth)
(Photos taken 07-17-2010, Canon Rebel, Xsi 1.4 lens)

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