The Empty Nest

Tinkerbell, our resident hummingbird, has done a marvelous job raising her babies.   On Tuesday I noticed one of the babies sitting on the edge of the nest and flapping his wings as if he were about to take off.   Apparently this was a test flight maneuver because the next morning there was only one baby bird in the nest.   And now this morning, Thursday, there are no babies in the nest.   Norm and I were concerned that perhaps the baby bird had fallen out of the nest.   We went outside to look around the ground near the nest.   Suddenly I heard a familiar peeping and looked up to see one of the baby birds fly towards us and land on a branch not far from their nest.   He sat there for a minute as we looked up at him.   I think he recognized us as we came outside and wanted to let us know he was okay.   In the past few weeks I went outside often to sit near the nest and talk to the baby birds, so he must’ve recognized me.   Norm and I went back inside the house.   While we were in his office I saw another baby hummingbird, or perhaps the same one, land on the branch of our other pine tree which is in front of his office window.   He sat there for a few minutes.   I’m sure it takes them a few days to get used to flying around looking for food on their own.   I think we might put a hummingbird feeder in the front yard so we can watch for them.   I miss them already!

This first video was taken on Tuesday.   You’ll see one of the birds sitting on the edge of the nest testing his wings.

[flv width=”540″ height=”438″]http://www.normradio.com/video/finaltestbeforeflight0504.flv[/flv]

The second video was taken on Wednesday.   This is the baby bird who wasn’t quite ready yet and stayed another day.

[flv width=”540″ height=”438″]http://www.normradio.com/video/lastdaymaybe0505.flv[/flv]