Feb 19 2014
Flowers chicks are probably wishing they had stayed a bit longer in their shells, given the cold temperatures and rainy weather. During the last week, the rain has turned the yard into a soggy mud puddle. Flower has rarely left the nest as she had to shelter her chicks and I have kept my distance so I don’t scare her off. Today was the first break in the weather and I saw her fly over the house so I took the opportunity to peek into her nest. Her chicks were wide awake and active. You can see in the video that they have their beaks open hoping to get some food. Their eyes won’t open for another week so being close to them doesn’t scare them as long as I am quiet. They are obviously healthy and doing well. http://youtu.be/aKe8bjxjBSA
Other than the feeder which I keep well stocked with fresh sugar water, (4 water to 1 sugar ratio) Flower has to find fresh bugs for her chicks. She searches around the all the green plants like the cedar trees and ivy plants. She looks for little flies at this time of the year. There really isn’t much else and surprisingly, she finds enough to feed her two chicks every half hour or so, plus enough for herself too. Here is a look at her feeding the chicks just after I had a peek in the nest. It’s an amazing process to witness. http://youtu.be/YU8cf6tI5zA
Eric