This spring, the tree directly outside our guest bedroom was chosen to be the nesting site to a pair of Blue Jays. What fantastic front-row seating to one of the miracles of life! Unfortunately, however, we only discovered the nest once the nestlings got noisy and quite vocal around feeding time, just a few days before they left the nest. Feeding time was quite the early-morning alarm clock to our recent house guests - lol.
Yesterday, as I was folding clothes in the laundry room, I glanced out the window and noticed two little dark eyes surrounded by a mess of blue and gray feathers staring directly at me. The fledglings were out of their nest and about to embark on their first great adventure of life! I quickly grabbed my camera and headed outside. As I snapped a few quick images, I realized just how fragile and dangerous those first few days out of the nest were - the fledglings are unable to fly, rely on mom and dad still to feed them and are completely vulnerable to predators. I had Eli run and lock up our two barn cats immediately and hoped that there weren't any other furry hunters in the area looking for a quick snack!
We've kept our eye out for the babies today, but so far there hasn't been any sign of them. Hopefully they are hiding well and staying out of trouble. It would be great to see them set up residence in our backyard with all our other woodland creatures. You've got to admit, they are cute!
~Heather
