Help With Expecting Mom

scutler, I too have been enjoying this thread from the start and loving it :)

That's adorable ..and ohhhh so very sweet, Joan! Sure do luv the lil lop-eared bunny stretched out in the shade ..
(Ya know, I think I may have been a chipmunk in a previous life!) .. LOL ..

((huggs))

- Magpye

And I'm stopping by to also give my heartiest cheers - my favorite thread - I'm so pleased that the two pairs in my yard are so peaceful living in the same area - now it looks like I'm going to start checkin out the area to see if I can find a nest (or two?) I'm going to try to get a couple of pictures this weekend to show you all - I certainly don't have the MARVELOUS story that scutler has, but at least the male stays in the vicinity if I'm not closer than 10' (hey, that's progress since just a couple of weeks ago he'd fly away at anything closer than 25'). I may not talk alot, but I'm watching this thread every day!! Love it - Dax

enjoyed todays photo and story, Will be keeping watch!!

Sorry that I wasn't able to fill you in on yesterdays events - just didn't have time. I am SO very happy to hear from all of you who are following and enjoying the saga of the cardinal family. I am hopeful that we may have babies soon, perhaps this weekend. Have much to tell you. Will be back this evening. Again, it is VERY good to know that you are there.

:))

What fun to have such a great encounter with your cardinals. We found a nest in a tree out back. Too bad that when I look at it I only see the bottom of the nest. We look forward to the cardinal babies each spring. They line up on a fence near a feeder to be fed...quite a sight

Hi Magpye, so good to hear that you are stopping by, and I sure would love to believe that the critters can see that we want to be "friends".

Dax, you are way ahead of me. I can't get that close to the male still!

Thanks, angele. Thanks, IRIS. Thanks to all of you for being there. For a while there I was afraid the 13 days of "Here are the eggs, no change" and "Here's the nest with a red dot on top; that's the mom" were getting to be as exciting as waiting for water to boil. It is an incredible experience here, but not always sure if it translates well.

Floridian, hang in there. I looked at the bottom of an empty nest for 10 days. It sounds like the cardinal families are living near you. It's just a matter of time until you venture out early one morning to find one putting the finishing trim on a nest in your garden.

Here is the latest news and a few things I've noticed:

The eggs are looking a bit dull and dry. Must be a good sign...

Thursday night when I took the dog out, I had to chase the raccoon out of the garden. I was a little late taking the birdseed in. Have to be more careful. I left the outside light on hoping that would deter him from returning. Friday morning I was almost afraid to look, but, yes, she was still there in her nest. Whew! That scared me, so think i will try to attach the extra rose branches this weekend if I get a chance when she's away from the nest.

Thursday, when my camera battery had died, I saw a pair of Thrashers in the baby crabapple (only 5' so more of a big shrub for now). They were playing "catch" as they flew over to the fence. I ran for my spare battery but too late. It seems as though my little garden has become something of a lover's lane for birds. That's the 4th happy couple I've spied this week. (and they add so much to the atmosphere of the garden)

Ok, this one surprised me. It seems like at least once each day the male comes by and she leaves the nest and they spend time together - without the kids. Call me a silly romantic, but it actually looks like they are spending a little time each day pair-bonding and working on their relationship. During that interval each day, they go elsewhere in the yard and hang out together in a tree somewhere - like Wednesday when they were in the willow, playing in the sprinkler shower. It seems a lot like a dinner date or a movie.

Here is a quick pic I nabbed of the happy father to be. He's in the neighbor's crabapple (I love that tree!) looking over toward his new family and calling to her. Isn't that sweet.

What a beautiful picture.
Susan
=^..^=

thank you, Susan. Love your signature emotive. How fitting. The male cardinal is so stunning when viewed against that crabapple tree in bloom. I didn't get time to worry about focusing, etc. He was only there for a moment before he flew over to join her.But I was very happy to get this photo op.

check this out. she lets me walk up to her now, but she's not too sure if she likes having that camera pointed at her.

Edited to ask: Is it just me or does she seem to be sitting higher in the nest lately? Maybe it's just wishful thinking.

This message was edited Apr 8, 2006 2:26 PM

It's amazing how quickly they (animals/birds) catch on to the camera.

Can't say that I notice weather she's higher or not. Maybe Magpye can.

Keep 'em coming.

Regards, Joan

Uh. Oh. Those storms that have been moving across US are here NOW. 1" hail hitting house now: looked through French door.saw 1" balls sitting on patio. Fox news just indicated golf ball size hail reported on road coming to my house! Hope she will be ok out there. Hope that tangle of rose vines will be able to keep here safe! Now they are reporting funnel cloud here. Yikes! I anhored arbor in ground with cement but we have wet, clay soil so doubt if it will take much.

Fox indicating funnel touched down nearby.

Just heard that tornado is on ground near here. dog and i are in center bathroom. please prey for us and the cardinals!

Whew! looks like we may have dodged that bullet. one or more tornados appear to have touched down around us but we were not effected. the hail has stopped for now. looks like that storm cell has moved off shore now. it's still raining, but i just had to step outside to check on the cardinal. she is still there. looks like she has (for the 1st time) changed her position. suspect that she moved to find the best cover for her head. Isn't nature incredible? I saw 1" ice balls bouncing around on the patio and even staying (not melting) on the patio. Still that 2' section of rose branches managed to deflect the hail off of her as well as my house did us. I may consider adding more rose thickets to my garden and habitat. They seem to be the ultimate in cover and protection for birds.

Ok, now I know I am a geek! When the news indicated a tornado on ground near me, I turned up the TV volume, grabbed the dog and the laptop, and headed for the center bath. After I got in there it occurred to me that I probably should have taken the PHONE. Oops!

LOL, I was wondering how you were on the computer and in the bathroom with the dog.

How so attached we are to our computers!!

Glad you are OK. I was scared for you and the birds.

Susan
=^..^=

Susan, thanks for thinking of us. Whew! That was pretty scarey! In OK, you are probably a tornado veteran. We almost never have them here. When they said one was on the ground in my community, I was freaking OUT! I was downloading photos from the camera to the laptop at the time. I yanked all the wires loose, grabbed the laptop in one hand and my 4.5lb maltese in the other and headed for the downstairs guest bath. Now I know where my values lie. Actually, the computer (thankfully I have wireless) turned out to be very helpful. I was able to barracade myself in and still keep track of the storm by watching streaming doppler radar in more or less real time. With the laptop I could track the tornado, see that the warning was extended, and know when the coast was clear. All that and I could look at my photos to try to distract myself.

While I was in there camping out, I had time to realize that if that's where I'm going for emergencies, it might be a good idea to stock the cabinet with emergency supplies ahead of time: radio, batteries, flashlight, candles, matches, first aid, etc. And next time, I'm going to try to remember to take the phone along.

With the size of Dave's Garden there must be some of our 'family' that have been affected by these storms, I just got home from work & read your very dramatic experience all at once. I must say I am glad because I was holding my breath while I was reading it and was so happy to see all came through safe, 'specially you scutler & mama birdie too.

Oh Scutler, I just let go of my breath too. That was intense. I almost felt I was there with you. Thank goodness you have a downstairs! I have no basement at all and luckily we we not home last weekend when Nichols got black and had tornadeos to the east and west. We did see the green sky. Catching up on the news here. I'll be back again.

Right after my last post, I lost power. That, of course, took out the wireless router, so no internet. (Now I need battery backup for the router.lol.I am hooked) Power is back but my network is still down. I need to go upstairs and reset it. Just had some large furniture delivered - blocking stairs - need to get that stuff put away. I was having DT's from DG's withdrawal. Then realized I could probably "hitch" a ride on a nearby wireless network, and sure enough here I am! Just temporarily borrowing a wee piece of the bandwidth...

Thank you, angele. Thank you, billy. I don't have a basement either (we are at or below sea level so basements aren't feasible here). I just have a 2 story house; which means that while the 1st story is the safest place to be, I still have to worry about being crushed by the 2nd story if it falls! I guess you are in an area that gets frequent tornados. I'm glad you were away when the recent storms came through your area.

I feel almost "guilty" now, knowing how badly some areas have been hit. The tornado that was near me turned out to be only an F0. But only minutes before the tv news announced a tornado on the ground right in my local vicinity - not just Charleston, but my section of Charleston, I was listening to a guy from TN telling about how he and his mom went into the closet to escape a tornado and how they were sucked out and tossed about and she was killed. That story was still ringing in my ears when I was sitting on the floor in my bathroom alone and holding my little dog. The tornado had been seen on a road just down the street from me, a road that I drive every day to get home! At that point, we didn't know it was only an F0. Anyhow, Last I heard there has only been property damage here: windows sucked out, roofs crashed in, that sort of thing, but no report of serious injuries.

And I wasn't kidding about the hail. I was planting a few things in the garden when the clouds were getting really dark. I sat on the patio - in the rain - and watched in awe as the storm developed. I was tempted to garden in the rain!!! But, having heard weather warnings on the news earlier, I forced myself to go inside when the rain got heavy. I was barely inside good when it began to sound like we were popping corn on the roof and I looked out to see 1" balls of ice on the patio where I had been only moments earlier! No sooner had I assessed the size of the ice balls at 1", when the news announced that 1" hail had been confirmed in my area by a weather service employee.

In my entire life, I have NEVER actually SEEN hail falling, let alone sitting on the ground. I have heard tiny hail the size of rain drops, the kind that melts almost on impact. These ice balls that ranged in size from 1/2" to 1" were sitting undisturbed all over the patio - and they STAYED there.

At that point I was only worried about the cardinal. Isn't it amazing how the thicket of thorns could absorb the energy and deflect the ice balls without any harm coming to a delicate little bird? I just think it is so awesome.

OMG! Scutler!
I have been reading your thread since you started it, when I ever checked in to see how your babies were doing and found this I to forgot to take a breath~ I'm so glad your ok!

Dena

still eggs : (

but after yesterday's theatrics, happy to still have an arbor - let alone a nest with eggs and a bird that still has all its feathers. : )

eggs are looking very, very DULL and DRY and weary. It can't be much longer. The change in the eggs is very noticeable! The specks and spots are lighter and are merging with the main color so that the eggs are becoming a dull, mottled light brownish color.

I find your description of the eggs very interesting. I never knew that about them. You have opened a window for all of us!

Dena, thanks for caring. Last night I wrote you a nice response and then hit the wrong button and "poof" it was gone. I do that a lot. Anyhow, I was too tired to do it all again but wanted to say, "thanks".

billy, I wish that I had thought to get a picture to show the difference. TO LATE NOW!!!

This afternoon as I was working in my garden, I happened to walk by and notice that the mother cardinal was sitting way up high in the nest - so that all of her body was visible and she was eating. I did a doubletake and then realized that she was eating the evidence. When she saw me, she flew a short distance away. I wonder if she did not want me to see the evidence, the piece of shell that she was eating. I took a quick look. One little birdie had just been born!

I have had the most incredible luck during this experience - first to happen a long the moment she was finishing her nest and then to walk by right after the 1st baby bird had entered this world! If you have not had the experience to see a new born baby bird, let me describe it for you. It was tiny, wet, with no feathers, and having a wrinkled skin and garish, redish-purple color - much like a new born human baby. In short it looked a great deal like ET.

I was concerned about having caused her to leave at such a moment. I felt the newborn baby no doubt needed her. I hoped that she would not stay away too long. I ran inside to grab my camera figuring as long as she was away I might as well get a photo for all of you. When I got back she was already back on the nest, so, of course, I did not disturb her again.

When I returned with the carmera to find her back on the nest, I sat down on the patio to rest for a moment. As I looked up, I saw the familiar red figure of the father in a nearby tree. This time he was not clicking, he was singing loudly! He had been there for the birth. I'm not sure how he knew. I'm beginning to think that he has actually been nearby most of the time over the last couple of weeks. I have read that the cardinal pair are always together, that whenever you see one, if you look around you will find the other nearby and that one keeps watch while the other eats. I have found that to be true.Since reading that, whenever I have seen one in my yard, I have looked around for its partner and have always found it nearby - except, of course, for juveniles.

For the remainder of the day, I worked (and played) in my garden. Throughout that time, the click-click chatter of the male was almost constant, and I continued to see him from time to time, here and there about the garden. A few times I thought I heard the chirping of young birds, but it may have been coming from elsewhere.

I had so much to do. I stayed out in the garden pulling weeds until almost dark. I could see the male nearby waiting for his turn to eat and could hear him clicking loudly. It is almost as if he has learned that I will go in near dark. As his clicking grew louder and louder I almost thought that he might be fussing at me for staying so late. As I stepped in the door and turned to close it, I saw him hop from the little weeping cherry to the feeder.

From what I've read the baby birds will leave the nest in 11 days, so around Apr 20th. The "experts" seem to be divided on the issue of who will care for the babies. Some say the father will do so while the mother goes away to build a new nest and start the 2nd brood. Others say that the 2 will share in the duties of feeding them. We shall soon know for sure. As I am having difficulty imagining the male spending time that close to the house when I am home and active in the garden, I suspect it will be the latter and that he will feed them while I am away and she will do so when I am at home, especially when I am working outside.

Yayyy!!! How exciting, scutler!!

Before she actually built this nest, I saw them in that rose thicket a number of times, but didn't think much of it at the time. Lately, I have seen both of them in the other rose thicket at the corner of the house quite a bit. It may be too much to hope for, but maybe, just maybe that may be the location of the nest nest. Which will be both good and bad, as I desperately need to do some serious pruning there!

You really have had good timing.How many eggs did she lay? I can't wait to see photos of the babies, if possible. You have given us all a learning experience. I wouldn't have ever seen this on my own! You've done a good job!

Hi, Marylyn. Yes, isn't it incredible! We have BABIES at last!!!

Oh, thank you so much, billy. I just wish that I had been able to get a picture of the newborn - but I was glad that she returned so quickly. It would not have been a good time to leave the little fella alone for long. As I empathized with the experience, I stayed my distance the rest of the day.

There were 3 eggs. When I looked only 1 little guy had emerged, but I suspect that the others arrived soon after.

I will do my very best to get pictures any time that I catch them unguarded. I don't want to stress the parents by running them off, but will try to get a series of pics whenever they are away. I'll try to capture as much of the progression as I can.

We have 11 days.

Your heart must be overflowing with joy, thank you so much for sharing this experience with us. You are writing about it so beautifully. :)

Hooray, babies!!!!!
I am going to share a picture of a baby sparrow that I saved after the neighbor threw it out of it's nest into the street. It was so tiny, no one thought I would be able to save it.

I did though, his/her name was Tootles. I will give you a couple of pictures. Hate to hijack your thread but they are so ugly-cute when they are first born. LOL

Susan
=^..^=

Here he is at a week old, very hungry. LOL

I probably shouldn't have said a week old. It was a week after I found him, he was probably older than that. LOL

So last one, he actually became a little bird. Loved him a lot. I couldn't keep him though cause he wasn't ready to go free and I had to go to Indiana. So I took him to a rescue place that had a bunch of other birds and animals and she told me he would be set free in her area with all the other little sparrows. I am sure he is happy now. I still miss him.

Susan
=^..^=

Now back to the cardinal babies story.........

Thank you, angele. I am truly enjoying this incredible experience. I hope that you know that each of you is an integral part of the experience as well. The joyful experience needs to be shared! : )

Oh, Susan, what a WONDERFUL story! Please do feel free to tell us about it and show the pictures. "Ugly-cute" is such a fitting description of the little guys! I am so glad to hear that you were there and were able to save him. He's adorable. I know that you must miss him, but I'm glad that he was able to go free and live a full life, and you will always have these memories of him.

And, Susan, how perfect that you were able to provide the pictures.

(Magpye busily [virtually], traipsing about .. to & fro .. and SMILIN' real BIG)
" Here, have a cigar .. A mutual friend of ours, is a new 'birdie' grandmaw!! " ..

Super Congrats, MawMaw Scutler !!

I'll be staying tuned it .. And, I can't wait to see any pitters you manage to pull off!
Jes be careful .. (with them babies and with those thorns!)

- Magpye

Hi there, Magpye, thanks for bringing the cigars!

MawMaw Scutler! How cute. MawMaw is having such a difficult time staying out of things, but isn't that just normal; it's practically my job to be nosey! How else could I keep a prying I on the grands?

Thanks for stopping by on this wonderful occaision.

LOL, yes I do have pictures.....I have a folder with 122 pictures taken almost everyday he was with us.

He looked like a roasted chicken when he first started getting his feathers. A BURNT roasted chicken, LOL. And when he would get his little crop all filled up with food, he looked like he had a goiter. ugly-cute again...LOL

It will be so much better for your babies. They will have their mama and daddy to care for them in the right way. I am so excited to watch as they grow and learn to fly. I will be watching, don't you worry about that.

Susan
=^..^=

As I make this post I see there are 118 replies. The “views” are well over 1,000 I’m sure because I am just one of many who enjoyed viewing your wonderful thread without replying.

The nearest thing I have to a cigar is this pic of what one of your boy babies might look like someday.

Congrats.