Sympathy-Pixie Challenge-Birds and Things

I too often am starting with this.....

My friend Mary Jane lost her brother this week.  Sadly, for her, this has happened twice in as many months.  Life just isn't fair sometimes and this is definitely one of those times.  To Mary Jane and her family, I express my deepest sympathy. 

I want to thank everyone for the sweet comments about our Blue Jays.  May 11th, they decided it was time to leave the nest.  Not without a bit of sadness.  Jay 1, the oldest, decided to give flying a go on May 10th.  I must say, with great sadness, he has not survived.  We aren't sure what happened, we do know that a great deal of squawking was heard .  We believe the owl that lives a short distance away saw Jay 1 attempting to fly.  We think maybe he swooped down and picked up Jay 1.  What was interesting not only the Jays, but several other birds joined in the fight to get the baby back.  We believe the owl dropped Jay 1 and he did not survive. 

The commotion of May 10th, upset the remaining babies and they and their parents all were very unsettled throughout the night.  With all the excitement from the night before, I thought it just might be wise to video the babies, maybe for the last time.  As it turns out....it was. 

I apologize for the poor quality.  I didn't want to be very visible as they were still excited about the happenings from the day before.    I'd like to say, I'm so happy that Momma Jay decided to come back this year.  Watching the babies has been such fun. 

So, now on to what our day was like.  About 2 hours after I'd taken the video, I heard my husband yelling, come quick.  Of course I thought the worse and then saw that all 4 birds were now on the ground and he was trying to keep  an eye on all of them.  It was kind of like herding cats.... 

This is the last shot of them in the nest.

It was amazing that the mom and dad were not yelling at either of us, I think they may have been enjoying our human effort to keep their babies together.  I thought to grab my camera as I was leaving to see what all the commotion was about.  This is what I saw.....

Of course, in a moment of panic..... I only saw 2 of them.  Richard told me to go in the garage, he'd seen one in a mad rush in that direction.  I found it, and put it on the lawn.  But where was number 4?  As we looked for number 4, we lost sight of numbers 1 through 3.  I knew this was not going to be fun!  Richard saw all four of them heading for the back yard fence and saw 3 of them scooting between the slats.  I ran for the deck, to lock the dogs inside.  Glad I did, now there was one on the deck....

Ok....we knew where 3 were....where was number 4?  I think it must be the youngest, or maybe not the brightest.....we found it trying to figure out how the others had made it into the back yard.  Richard saved him and put him with the others. 

We spent the day running off stray cats, who had but one thought on their minds.  Oddly, our two porch strays didn't care about the babies, but one we've named Freddie the Freeloader was very interested.  No photo of him, I was too busy warning him of the dangers of messing with the babies. 
He actually shows signs of becoming a tame kitty, but for now, it's bird priority. 

My shot this morning was very bitter sweet.  Empty nest syndrome has hit home.  Since they've built in the exact same spot for 2 years....I'm hoping to see them back again next year.  Maybe I'll have streaming video (that's a hint kids.....My birthday is in August!)  If you want to learn more about the Stellar Jays....check them out Here  This site is WONDERFUL.  It's my go to bird site.  I also have a wonderful bird book that Paul gifted me. Thank you Paul)  I highly recommend it...  If you want to see beautiful birds and learn about what's living with you in your little bird world, check out:  National Geographic Field Guide to the Birrds of North America.  I have the 5th Edition. 

In addition to the birds, yesterday I needed to get some Banana Bread made for our swim group fund raising event.  Here's what I made: 

I guess from now on, my blog will be cards, flowers and food...... (sniff, sniff).  Speaking of flowers, this one had a butterfly visiting.....

I'm off for now.  But before I go....Happy Mother's Day to everyone.  I'm so very lucky to have the kids (that includes the spouses present and ex) and grand kids that are in my life.  They sure make life fun and very interesting. 

Again.....HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Love to All From Me to You!

Glitter Grammy

AKA: Mary