Beware the squirrels as they may raid your nestlings.   Sue Wetmore


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Jane Schlossberg <[log in to unmask]>
> Well, I am not sure, but I think I feel as though I have become a  
> grandmother...
> Yes, there is now a nest of miniscule, featherless hatchlings! They popped  
> out sometime early this morning, and from a quick look, I cannot tell if there  
> are two or three chicks. I took some photos, but they are so small and  
> cryptically colored that it simply looks like some dried grasses inside the  
> nest, 
> so I am not sure if it pays to post them. I will try to get some shots  
> tomorrow, I am certain they will have grown a good deal by then! Right now, they  
> are about the size of, well, I guess, a quarter. 
>  
> It is all very exciting. Mom is a very doting parent and will stay on the  
> nest as I look in from a distance of two feet or less, though she darts off and  
> flies back a few times. I confine my viewing to less than a minute or two 
> once a  day.
>  
> I have not heard the male singing the past two or three days, but I do see  
> him frequently searching for food for the female, and now for a nest of 
> ravenous  chicks. 
>  
> Several peewees must still be nesting nearby, as they are probably the most  
> vigorous songsters in the woods here. Late arrival, and late nesters.
>  
> Yesterday, as I sat reading on my deck, two scruffy chickadee fledglings  fed 
> on some seeds I had laid out for the red squirrel, chipmunk and gray  
> squirrel that were feeding next to me.
> The male hermit also landed to grab a seed, but I think the presence of all  
> these scurrying (not me) mammals spooked him off. Where's a camera when you 
> need  it?
>  
> Well, sorry to ramble on about this event, but I am bursting at the seams  
> with pride and excitement!
>  
> Jane Schlossberg
> 
> 
> 
> ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at 
> http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour