Beaks and Fledglings

Fledgling: a young bird that has acquired feathers for flight and recently left its nest but is still dependent upon parental care and feeding.

Those fledglings kept us busy yesterday evening. Unfortunately one died yesterday as it attempted to fly, but was found on its back on our front porch step in the scorching sun. We tried to revive it, to no avail : ( So now four minus one is three. We checked on them later and realized that there were only two in the nest. We went on a frantic search for the third.

Mama bird was on the far end of our lawn just a squeaking her high pitched one note call. We followed her call through a little patch of woods until we found her babe under a small pine tree. It tried to fly away from us, but we caught it and placed it back in the nest.

We were cozied up on the couch around 8 p.m. with a book when Treasure Hunter bursts in the door and says "HELP! The birds have flown the nest!" We went outdoors to help rescue the fledglings. This time we put them in the nest with their nose to the wall in hopes they would not turn around and fly again!

Sweetness and I went for our evening walk while Treasure Hunter and Cutie Pie kept watch for the birds. And sure enough they tried to fly again! You just can't stop them. But thankfully they were rescued again and put back into the nest.

So "WHY?" you may ask. Because Tigger our cat! He is normally an outdoor cat, but we've kept him locked up in our basement as he is licking his chops. Just last week he killed a bird in the yard that I thought for certain was mama Phoebe. But thankfully it was not.

So now we have to leave today for horse lessons! I'll check back in later : )

The wives tale "Do not touch wild birds in their nest, because your human smell will cause the mama not to come back to them" has proven false in this situation! However, wives tales have a round bout truth in them. I think the reason this tale started was to keep curious little hands away from the nest ; )

Finding our Niche

My oh my where does the time go? We've had a busy busy three weeks. We went on an awesome nature walk with the HS group. Sweetness spied a Scarlet Tanager and pointed it out for everyone to see. The bird sang a sweet lil' song for a few seconds before flying off. Everyone ooo'd and aaaa'd over the sighting and Sweetness won the nature award that day. It ties in really nice with our bird unit this month. The place we visited was awesome. I do not have picture to share this post, but plan to return to the site and take some to share.

Then we had a fun after school picnic with the HS group where we learned to play water balloon toss! We're also making more friends and contacts and finding our niche within the group. This is a wonderful group, but I am learning that some people you want to befriend are all ready too busy for more friends. It's nice to know them, but to build more than a surface relationship takes a lot of time. So we're finding those whom need friendships and building a network.

Sweetness continues her horse lessons each Tuesday, though we've switched to the a.m. instead of afternoon as the temps are soaring here in Virginia.

We're enjoying our bird unit study and the lapbook we're constructing very much. I think we've also found our niche in homeschooling. I've followed a lot of different philosophies, but I come back to the one that feels the best: Learning inspired by the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit and my dear sweet children. So how does that fit into educating a child from a Biblical Worldview? Well, I am to train up my child in the way he should go. Who knows how he should go, but the Holy Spirit? And I wholeheartedly feel that the Holy Spirit will impress upon my child's heart the way he should go. And if that way is not toward the world, but toward the Lord, then by all means, let me follow his lead.

Just look how the Lord has blessed our Bird Unit Study today! Thank you GOD! I feel I am going in the right direction *again* and it is such a JOYFUL feeling!

Birds nest built on our porch corner w/ 3 day old hatchlings.



Mama Bird (Eastern Phoebe)


We held a baby for just a second!