At least two of the babies are fledging today. I don't know what has happened to the third baby. I was going to look at the nest this morning, and lo and behold! There was a baby on to of the nest bush. It wasn't until later I saw the second one inside the bush but away from the nest.
The Baby #1 sat there for a long time, while mom and dad flew around. I guess they were encouraging it to take the flight. When it finally did, I was not prepared for that. My camera had just gone into shut down mode!
Baby #1 flew over the fence and into the crepe myrtle. Immediately a blue jay showed up! Wow!
Mom and dad went into battle mode! They drove that jay off with a flurry of wings and actual body hits. I never saw where the baby had flown to.
I also saw mom fly to to the wooden fence where she could see Baby #2 still in the nest bush and see Baby #1 in the tree.
The jay is now aware the babies are there. He has flown into the patio where Baby #2 is still sitting in the nest bush. Momma drove him away this time.I guess the Blue Jays kill the new cardinal babies. Classic battle of red and blue. Mom is in the nest bush now feeding Baby #2 again. I am sure it is harder now that the fledglings have split up into different trees. I wonder if they will come back to the nest tonight?
I wondered about that third baby. Remember he was not as responsive as the rest when I would look at the nest? I expected to see a dead thing in the nest, but when I held the camera up to snap the photo, it showed an empty nest! I hope that means they all were able to make it! If so, I imagine the one still in bush is that third last baby. And the fact the parents are still feeding it is a good thing. I am glad the babies are out of the nest. They took the next step in life, and it was a huge one.
Maybe next year I will see one of the babies here raising a nest full of grandchildren!
