My Little Babies...

I lost one of my babies today. We have a lovely tree in our backyard that provides perfect coverage for nests and the various forms of birds that accompany them. A few weeks ago I found a Robin family had taken up residence and there was a clutch of preciously demanding baby birds. Lillian and I spent several evenings out on the patio enjoying the late spring warmth and the sounds of baby birds. I pointed out the nest and the sound the babies made every time a parent would return with food but she wasn't as interested as I had hoped; nonetheless it was a special part of our time. I hadn't expected them to fledge so soon. Robins and Starlings are similar in that the babies fledge the nest but don't leave it for a while. They will often sit on branches or flutter down to the ground and the parents will continue to feed them for several days. We have lost several baby birds this way due to my 'hard-mouthed' dog Logan. The other dogs will follow the baby around until it hops out of reach but Logan views them as delightful squeaky toys and jumps on it the same way she does her tennis ball. Long story a little less long, one of the baby robins left the safety of the branches and was on the ground a total of 10 seconds before Logan located the sound of the chirping and pounced. Lillian and I were sitting in the window 'talking' and she was quite surprised when I began yelling, set her down on the carpet, and ran out the door. I wasn't in time to save the baby. I felt a little bit like the time I watched Benji and she was running up the forested hill with an orphaned mountain lion cub in her mouth, arriving just in time to see the helicopter fly out of sight. I hadn't made it in time. It's very silly to be sad about a baby bird but I find that I just can't conquer my sensitivity for animals. The good news? There are two more babies, at least, and the dogs will be spending all their unsupervised time in their kennel for the next few weeks. Yeah Nature!