Bird Watching

Today, I had a very exciting afternoon. I felt like I was watching the Discovery channel outside my back window. I will preface my story by explaining that we usually don't have wildlife in our neighborhood since it's a relatively new development (that was probably a person's cherished farm at one time). I have never seen a squirrel, a raccoon, or a possum. Only boring animals like birds and frogs; perhaps an occasional stray dog.

So...today I was checking out our garden (which is actually doing pretty well) when a baby cardinal literally fell from the sky about a foot away from me. I think it was taking its first flying lesson, and failed. The dogs immediately pounced on the yard invader. Fortunately they didn't attack it, or else I would be blogging about how I spent the afternoon crying. Instead they just stood there sniffing it until the mama cardinal dive bombed them.

I have learned from watching animal shows on TV that this was one of those moments when nature needed to take its course, so the dogs and I went inside and took a front row seat at the window. All 3 of us were fixated on watching the little chick hop around the backyard. The mama and daddy cardinal were flying from the chick to the fence and back again. I tried to go outside to get a picture of the little family, but the parents would fly away every time I opened the door. I would even try to trick them by standing really still and hoping they would mistake me for a statue. But they wouldn't return until I went back inside. Birds are smarter than they look.

Now, like most Discovery channel features, the helpless chick's life was in danger ("Watch out Baby Bird!"). As it innocently hopped around our backyard chirping for its parents, I noticed a couple of mockingbirds gathering on the roofs of homes adjacent to ours. Very menacing; couldn't mean anything good. then one by one they began flying into our backyard. It was go time! The male cardinal would swoop down and chase them out.

It was JUST LIKE on TV! That was very cool to watch.

Well, eventually the baby cardinal found its way out of our backyard. It actually escaped through the opening that one of our dogs used to use as a way out. Now it is in the side yard (the side without windows) so our little show is over.

That was our excitement for the day. Other than that, I pureed some peas for Kara and washed the dishes...and nothing cool happened while I was doing that.