For the past several years, a pair of cardinals have built a nest in a bush outside our screened porch. In the past, I have been able to look through the screen and have a good view of the contents of the nest. However, this year the cardinals scored a rather large piece of plastic, which they used to line the nest. It was so big that it came up several inches behind the nest and made it impossible to see inside. My view was blocked. I had resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn’t get to see the babies this year, so I was rather surprised the other day when I went out to change the hummingbird feeders which are located close to the nest, and spied a fledgling sitting out on a branch of the bush.
“The only way to live is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle, which is exactly what it is: a miracle and unrepeatable.” ~ Storm Jameson
walking on a country road 
Adorable. The chick really blends in with the foliage.
He really did. For a couple of days, he moved around to different spots on the bush, and it was hard to refind him because he was the same color and no bigger than a brown leaf.
These are stunning photos!
Thanks, Peter! He was such a cutie sitting there all by himself.
Junior is kind of cute! 😉
He’ll be a beauty when he grows up. 🙂
I almost didn’t see it. It’s so well camouflaged. God sure cares for his world.
He was well hidden, but his loud chirping certainly gave him away. 🙂
They are beautiful birds Rebecca. I have a pair that nest in the barberry bushes – I never see the nest, as it is well within the bush, but the pair are always tweeting from the fence or in/around the bush. I’ve never been lucky enough to see their offspring though.
Both the parents and the fledglings make a lot of noise. It looks like that would draw the attention of predators. I am always relieved when they leave my little bush and fly off to safer places.
I don’t blame you – remember what happened a few years ago to my friends’ baby robins? I was documenting local robins in a nest here and she was documenting daily reports on the growth of the robin hatchlings in a nest in Richmond, Virginia. They both hatched around the same time. They were getting feathers and bigger, almost ready to fledge when a black snake got the family. She saw the whole thing and was horrified … the robin built the nest on her front porch and she had to pass it every day so it was easy to look in and snap a photo of their progress,
A lot of years they don’t make it. So many factors are against them (hawks, snakes, cats, thunderstorms, etc.). I’m pretty sure this year this little fellow made it. 🙂
That’s good – yes there are predators everywhere. I’m worried about my two gray squirrels at the house. I’ve not seen them since Easter week and we have had Cooper’s Hawks in the neighborhood. I give them peanuts, but it is in an area tucked into the bushes so they are safe. But that does not stop them from eating peanuts in the middle of the porch or driveway. They used to beg before I gave them peanuts before going on a walk, then come running over afterward again – they have not been around. I sure hope I see a sign of them – a friend of mine suggested they went to another neighborhood due to the Hawk, but I was such a sucker for them, I don’t see that happening and giving up peanuts which they loved.
I know exactly how you feel. I hope they turn up soon.
Thanks – yes, me too Rebecca. I never wanted to make them sitting ducks. I have jays and cardinals getting peanuts there too and no way to account for them as they come and go. But the squirrels were regular visitors – if I was a few minutes late leaving, Grady had begun going to the side door … I had to smile every day with him and his pal or mate.
The little critters certainly have a way of charming their way into our lives, and we are blessed.
Yes they do charm us and we fall under their spell. I feel my whole morning experience of interacting with all of them has kind of fizzled, between the ones at the house and with the Park still closed.