Sunday, July 08, 2007

Nature post...get out the granola.

Baby bird update: When I first walked up to the nest, one bird in the back was enjoying a stretch, his (lime-green) beak up in the air, but as soon as he realized that I wasn't Mom, he plopped down into the feathery safety of his brothers and sisters.

Yesterday, I got the cutest video of two of the babies with their crazy lime-colored beaks resting on the rim of the nest, their beady eyes blinking at me...wishing I would offer them something to eat, probably!
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I try to only go to the nest once a day to disturb them as little as possible...yesterday for video, today for a photo. They'll start to fly soon...let's hope they avoid the backyard because May Bee brought me another dead bird yesterday. She wouldn't even drop it to play Frisbee!

After I ran shrieking into the house, Mike went out with a plastic shopping bag and disposed of May Bee's treasure. ICK! This is not the first dead thing she's brought us, either. Below are the pictures of the (not-so-healthy and much-chewed) squirrel she brought to our doorstep in June.


May Bee's exercise this morning: 2 miles around Red Bud, 3 times down the slide (twice on the little one & once on the big one), and Frisbee in the backyard

Misha's exercise: 1.5 miles around the park and bullying May Bee into giving her the Frisbee after Little Miss did all the hard work of catching it

Kristy's exercise: slapping mosquitoes...tons of mosquitoes...



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you mean, "Ran shrieking"? I thought Texas gals were tougher than that! What's so hard about giving a dead bird a proper burial? When I was a child, I used to hold "funerals" for my deceased pets, and all the neighborhood children would attend. I would place the remains of the deceased pet in a box proportionate to its size --a garlic box for a goldfish, a Cracker Jacks box for a parakeet, etc.-- and then bury it in my father's garden plot. There was always a "graveside service," with a brief eulogy that usually included the words "dust to dust, ashes to ashes," delivered in the presence of a few "mourners." Then a few weeks later, we would go back and disinter the remains, out of curiosity to see whether it had gone back to dust or to ashes. That's what kids did before there was tv!
Love,
Mom

mad4books said...

You've ALWAYS been tougher than me! Always! Remember chasing me through the streets of San Antonio, circa 1972, with a flapping moth? There was quite a bit of shrieking that day, too. (If 9-1-1 had been invented, I'll bet people would have dialed it, convinced that I was being abused!)

I'm just a city girl who enjoys *occasional* forays into scenic forests and state parks. Truth be told, mangled squirrels, chewed birds, moths, and wharf rats on engine blocks are better handled by my mom...

Anonymous said...

why, oh why, are you posting pictures of decomposing rodents on here?

bethany gail

Irene said...

OH NO!! POOR, POOR squirrel. D:

Sandra said...

Must have 'dead rodent alert' prior to posting dead rodent pictures.

I nearly squeezed my mouse to death ... hihi, get it? .... I thought it was funny ..... :)

mad4books said...

Funny, indeed! Poor mouse...