Leaving the nest is scary!

The nest may be empty, but the babies are still babies! We've been hearing the distinctive sound of a baby robin that has fledged - left the nest - but still acts helpless and gets fed by its parents. Today Dad spotted one! We're pretty sure that it's not one of the babies that left the nest in the pine tree last week, because it is still too small - it has no tail feathers at all yet, hasn't been out as long as that.

He seemed rather unsure as to how he had ever gotten up onto the fence int he first place!

After taking those pictures I spotted movement in the lilac bush and thought it was another baby robin. It was a baby bird, but not a robin! Check this out:

Actually, there were two of these fledglings - the other is hidden behind the leaves to the right. We might have had a harder time IDing them if there hadn't been a very agitated adult grackle scolding us from the power line just above! This is what the adults look like (they're related to crows): 

photo from wikipedia

Maybe those iridescent blue feathers on their head take a longer time to come in, and that's why the baby's head is so scraggly-looking!

 
It almost looks like a little vulture.

Meanwhile, the european tree sparrows already hatched one brood in the birdhouse in the front yard, but before they could come back for another, a pair of wrens cleaned the nest out and took possession of the house! Since then we've seen the sparrows going back in, so it would seem they've won this round. They'll often have three or four broods in a year. Plenty of baby birds still to come in our yard!