11111111111111111111111111111111111111
We came home one evening to find this little fledgeling blue jay on the ground.
We knew he was a fledgeling, because when I ran inside to Google "What To Do If You Find a Baby Bird," I found a page that said something like, "If the bird is fully feathered, but seems unable to fly, it is probably a fledgeling. Leave it alone and its mother will come back and feed it. It doesn't need help getting back to its nest." If it had been a smaller, more helpless baby, we were instructed to put it back in its nest; or if that wasn't possible, to make a nest of sorts and keep it safe, warm, and fed until it was old enough to take care of itself. (By the way, Lisa at "Are We There Yet?" has a terrific blog post about how her kids rescued an orphaned baby bird. Check it out here!)
I assured the kids that the bird would probably be okay; in fact, just before we went inside for the night it fluttered to the fence and perched on one of the railings.
A day or two later, Moe was distraught to find a dead fledgling blue jay only a few feet from where we first saw our little friend. I tried to assure the boys that maybe it was a different baby bird, but they weren't buying it.2222222222222222222222222222222222222222
A couple of days after that, while I was waiting to pick up the boys from one of the last days of the school year, another mom spotted a tiny baby bird under a bush. I remembered what I had read on the Internet a few nights before, and had a small pang of guilt for not having done more to save the little blue jay. Fortunately I spotted the nest in the bush, and carefully picked the little guy up and put it back into his home. He was still alive an well the next day. All was forgiven.
33333333333333333333333333333333333333
Now that school is out, Moe can say hello to his friends the geese almost every day!
4444444444444444444444444444444444444
I have two tomato plants in pots out on the deck, and they're starting to bear fruit!
Meanwhile, there is a grasshopper eating my basil. I'm willing to share, as long as he doesn't invite his friends.
55555555555555555555555555555555555
Get Thee To Camp!
Moe attended a 5-day nature day camp at a nearby lake. Not a very big one, but much larger than the one by our house.
"Spirit Shields" all in a row. What's a camp without crafts?
Moe helped catch some of these teeny-tiny toads...
...which was probably a factor in his earning this award.
6666666666666666666666666666666666666
Since Moe proved to be an expert canoe paddler at camp, we finally let him take his first trip on the lake in my kayak. Silly Mom, why were you worried? He did just fine.
777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
Catching Critters
The Equipment
The Equipment
Curly and Moe caught this little guy
and this one.
Moe is always on the lookout.
Hosted by 5 Orange Potatoes
That's too bad about the bird. I loved baby birds as a child.
ReplyDelete