Leaving the Nest
We have lots of birds that build nests and raise their babies in our yard. We have had baby Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Robins and even Hummingbirds. The latest addition is a family of Carolina Wrens. Their home is in a birch tree outside our bedroom windows. Each morning for the last few weeks, we have heard the mother and or father singing a beautiful song. Unfortunately, they choose to begin this serenade very early in the morning. Despite the early hour, their sweet song manages to blend into our morning dreams and when the time is right, it becomes our wake up call.
I get the first cup of coffee for the day . . . doesn’t the first cup of coffee always seems to be the best? . . . and make my way out on the patio. Even these last few weeks of temperatures 95degrees and up with heat indexes of 101 and up, the morning air smells sweet and new.
The rabbits must get up with the Carolina Wrens, because the Schnauzers have their noses to the concrete patio, sniffing every inch to make sure they know where each tiny paw stepped in the early hours before we made our arrival. Even though we live in the city, an occasional possum or raccoon makes its’ way into our yard and give the dogs a really exciting start to their day. It makes for lots of running around with their noses to the ground, back and forth, running then stopping, trying to find out exactly where it went and what it was.
But, back to the Carolina Wrens. This afternoon when I came home, my husband was on the patio. He loves to watch the wildlife in our back yard but this afternoon he was quite amused. He has anxiously been waiting for the babies to make their appearance. They have been chirping for several days. Their house is so full of sticks, we don’t know how the mother manages to get in to feed her babies. Yesterday, we thought they might be “stuck” so my husband gently attempted to remove a stick or two. The sticks wouldn’t budge so he quit for fear of upsetting the parents who were watching from a nearby tree.
Today, the babies were peeking out of the hole in the birdhouse, but would not come out. Mama and Daddy were in other trees in the yard, chirping, singing, fluttering around, doing everything they could to coax their babies out of the nest. Nothing worked. We watched and waited, eager to see them as they made their appearance, but they never came out. They chirped, sang and cried for the parents to come back and feed them. Mama or Daddy even came to the house, peeked in the hole made some loud chirping noises fluttered around and then flew off in disgust. It reminded me of how much we humans are like nature, even nature sometimes has trouble getting their young to leave the secure, safe, familiar home where they were born and all their wants and needs are provided. This parental “urging” by the mother and father Wren lasted another couple days.
Finally, the young ones emerged from the safety of their birth home. The nest is now empty and the mornings are quiet. The parents are now flying about the yard proudly watching the young ones spreading their wings and learning to fly.
Like the Carolina Wrens . . . parents have to sometimes “dance and flutter “, giving words of encouragement to the young ones who are about to leave the safety of their parents homes. Don’t worry parents . . . the nest isn’t empty for long! They come back and bring more with them.
