hungry mouths to feed (lots of pics)

Over the last 3 weeks (I think) I've really enjoyed watching the baby birds grow in one of our oak trees. Sadly, they are all gone. I don't think they were old enough to leave the nest, especially the youngest. Either they have moved their babies to a safer place where the giant predator (me) wasn't able to stalk them or they tried flying and out of necessity, had to find a new home, closer to the ground... Well, we hope it's one of those two options because we don't want to think that our dogs ate them when they fell out of the nest.

The babies were born a few days apart and there were three of them. I really enjoyed taking pics of them (when I wasn't getting dive bombed), and their parents. Now that they're gone, I can choose my favorites.

So the story begins:

I first noticed the nest from the bathroom window.

After I spotted a robin laying in it a couple days later, I tried harder to see if I could see any eggs (the next time no bird was in the nest) and sure enough, three little, blue eggs.

For the next week or so, all I saw were the 2 parents. They were ok with me being close at first.

The finches we had had babies so I was already prepared for how ugly they were. Baby birds are featherless, with huge closed eyes...a gross sight to behold! Here's my first glimpse of 2 of the babies.

The only shot I managed to get of the babies in the process of being fed. It was fun to watch them feeding.

Mama bird cleaning house.

The whole family. The 3rd baby had just recently hatched, a few days later than the other 2.

They started to get a smattering of wispy feathers but in this picture, one of the ears is still visible.

This stare meant Mama was unhappy with me and was ready to chase me off if I didn't back down. I felt her fury a few times.

In this one, you can see a set of teeth? inside the beak. I hadn't seen that on my tiny baby finches.

The largest of the babies started stretching his wings and I caught him in the process of flapping.

I hadn't been able to check on the babies for a couple days so when I came back to see them and they looked like this, I couldn't believe how much they had grown!

Preening

Here she goes again!

They really grew up quickly...not that they're adults yet but they have most of their feathers in and they are learning to use their wings.

Then, a couple days ago, I discovered that we were left with an empty nest. :o(

The End.