Well, one of our babies flew this morning. He certainly didn’t do it in the standard way, though – after leaving the nest and flapping around a bit, he decided to land, but apparently didn’t quite know how to do that yet, as he ended up hanging by his feet upside down from the ledge:

Our bird thinks he’s a bat!

He hung there for a long time – long enough that I began to worry that he was somehow stuck. Then, finally, with mom and dad birds flying ’round and ’round him, showing him how, he let go and flew away with them. A little unsteady at first, but then doing better, over to the neighbor’s yard (the one who doesn’t have a pool – a good thing). They stayed right with him and will, I hope, get him back home again when it’s time.

Meanwhile, the last baby is all alone in the nest and looking a bit perturbed without his constant companion:

 
Hey, where did everybody go?

I’m guessing he’ll go later today or tomorrow morning. We’ve never had them fly more than one day after the first one. But then, this brood has been different in so many ways – so all we can do is wait and see.

deb@shinder.net     www.debshinder.com
"Never enter a battle of wits unarmed."