Fly away baby birds...

 So, its pouring down rain!  Suppose to rain for the next 4 days...yay. NOT!

About three weeks ago, I noticed some Carolina Wrens (little tiny birds) were making a nest in a potted plant on my balcony.  I was thrilled and horrified by this, as there are raccoons and squirrels that are always wandering around on my balcony...I was sure they would kill the babies once the nest was complete and the eggs were laid.  

So, I put the table the plant was on, on top of another table, raised it up really high, then I moved all the furniture that was around the stacked tables...then I used shortening to smear all over the table legs and table top to discourage any climbing, I was trying to make it too slippery...I also started feeding the birds and squirrels from the opposite side of my balcony, the furthest point away from the tables.

The Wren laid 5 eggs.  So for the next 10 days, I watched as the eggs hatched and mom and dad feed them nonstop.  I took pictures of their growth..which did not seem to upset mom and dad...

On Saturday, I took a picture, there are four birds (the 5th egg did not hatch), they had feathers and were very vocal, I thought to myself, well in the next 3-4 days they will leave the nest.  On Sunday (the very next day), we went on a Jeep ride...when we got back home, the nest was empty!  No birds, no signs of struggle, just one lone egg in an empty nest.

I was so shocked and surprised!  When a bird leaves the nest, they just fucking leave...wow!  The birds could "double clutch" and lay more eggs in the nest...but really, I don't want them too, so I put the tables back to their original spots, I kept the nest in plant, maybe next year they will use that same nest...The egg, I placed in my container on my alter, with the raccoon skull...it now lays in a place of honor...the baby bird that didn't hatch.  sigh

The little egg with the red stripe, is the Carolina Wren egg that did not hatch...

On a side note, I found a tuft of raccoon hair embedded in some wood on my balcony, so I put that tuft of raccoon hair inside the mouth of this fully intact raccoon skull...don't know why exactly, I just felt lead to place the hair there....

So anyway, a little of my day in the life of critters!

S, 7