Jeepers creepers, where’d ya get those peepers: Chickadee fledlings
We’ve got babies! Three of the chickadee babies nesting in our birdhouse fledged yesterday. They are absolutely adorable: fluffy and puffy with tiny yellow beaks. First we found two, and then three, amigos taking voyages of short flight, and hopping around the yard. We are also hearing a lot of plaintive peeping because, unhappily, Mama and Papa are no where to be seen. We are concerned about these little ones since we are not sure they know how to forage for their meals yet.
For today, we’ve made a few excursions into the yard to check on them and enjoy their cuteness (although Maggie-the-cat is on house arrest for the time being). Of course I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures. I put on my biggest zoom to give them wide berth. Here are a few shots of our chicks.
Postscript: Sadly, one of the three chicks didn’t make it overnight. We read that only 20% of chickadee babies survive their first year. The weather over the past couple days isn’t helping either: cold and rainy. But we are crossing our fingers and claws that at least one of them beats the odds and strikes out on his own.
Want to see more fluff and stuff? Check out Delicious Baby Photo Friday!
3 comments
Like little penguins! So cute. But where are momma and pops? Have they gotten airborne yet? If not you can put them back inside the
box, they may have fledged too soon. My bluebird babies fledged
a few days ago and that 1st night we had awful storms. I worry so
about them!
Ah, a short life can still be a good life. Peep peep!
MB, It’s possible they did fledge too early, though they were able to take short bits of flight and were fully feathered. We also had an awful storm—10 degrees below normal temps and rain—the night they fledged. Not sure about the parents. We saw them yesterday. I read it takes about 24 hours for them to get strong enough to follow their parents to food and avoid predators, so we hope the other two who did not die did just that. I DO feel protective of them and worry also!!