Thursday, August 4, 2011

Early August sunrise

As I write this post, there’s a little bit of drama going on our back yard which was inadvertently my fault but I’m hoping it will all work out well. I’ll get to all that in a moment, however. When it all unfolded, I was quietly sitting with my laptop in my favorite spot here in the living room and looking at some photos that I’d found on the camera disk. My husband told me he’d taken them early yesterday morning on his walk with George.


And they really are lovely.


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He was standing at the western edge of the property; the house is at the lower right of the picture above.



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You can see it better in this one.



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I love how the colors of the sky keep changing.

And although it’s nice to be able to stay in bed before the sun comes up, there’s few things as magical as watching a beautiful sunrise.



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I couldn’t believe this one. These are the true colors of the sky and I love that blue.


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Back to what’s going on outside . . .


In July before we left for Maine, a Carolina Wren decided to make her nest in one of the hanging baskets on the little porch out back.

Here’s what the back porch in early June, when the hanging baskets were small. Right now, they’re overflowing, and the wren fashioned herself a private little nest in the New Guinea impatiens basket at the far right.


Porch in June


The babies were born a couple of weeks ago and there are four of them.



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I took this photo six days ago.
 
 
And tonight, as I do every night, I watered the plant as gently as I could and to my surprise and dismay, I startled three of the babies out of their nest.
 
 
I watched as they flew from branch to branch on the big bush, trying to hold on and finally coming to rest on the ground. Their attempts to get back to the nest failed and at one point, I snuck outside and got the photo below.
 
 
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You can still the little tufts of feathers sticking out of this little one’s head ~

We continued to watch as the mother finally showed up and began directing her brood to the safety of the garden. The light is fading and I hope they all get to where they need to be.

I felt badly about it for awhile, but after reading that the young ones are usually ready to leave the nest in 12-14 days, I realized that’s right on the mark here. I just hope they stay safe.


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36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such a beautiful post... always did love sunrises and sunsets in Maryland. The trees surrounding us here hide the beauty of them.

And isn't that bird just the cutest little critter! He almost needs a name.. LOL

That Janie Girl said...

Beautiful pictures caused by the sun!

And those baby birds....oh!

Gorgeous!!

BB said...

That last pic of the chick made me gasp - divine!!!!
:-)
BB

Michelle said...

Can you keep the cat inside for a couple days? That's what I did when the barn swallows fledged, just to give them a good chance of surviving those first attempts at flying.

A New England Life said...

Kate, one of these days you have to get up early and watch the sunrise with your husband and George. And maybe you did on that particular day. I confess, normally an early riser myself, this summer I've been sleeping in until almost 7 some days.

Hopefully the babies will be safe. Another thing to worry about is the Crows. They love baby birds, and not in a good way. Hope all is well!

Jeanne Walker said...

Your hubby is really getting good at photo taking! The sunrise photographs are awesome! I know how you feel about those little feather babies! I would probably camp out in the backyard to make sure some wandering cat or varment didn't get hold of 'em! I know nature has to take its course, but I believe in helping it out a bit! Keep us updated on these feathery creatures!

Sheila said...

The sky shots are terrific. We have had some beautiful skies here in the Finger Lakes, but they were in the evening after a day of thunderstorms.

Country Gal said...

Lovely photos of the skys ! The Wren is soo cute, we have a family of Wrens in the bird house Papa built , the are busy little things ! Have a wonderful eve !

Rebecca said...

Enchanting. Rebecca

Reena said...

Such a beautiful shot of the little guy ... I had a similar incident a while back, so hard to leave them to the darkness approaching. I am told that is natural for them to care for them from the ground briefly. I hope that is true!

Deb said...

what nice little visitors..

GailO said...

Wouldn't it be nice if we could keep them all safe...that little one you pictured is adorable! What a shot! Just be sure to keep Blackie in tonight:)

That last sunrise pic just took my breath away! Thank goodness for your husband's sunrise photos as it is probably the only way I will see one:)

Cloudia said...

Cheep Cheep!


Aloha from Waikiki;


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(GBS) NewsFromTheHill said...

Since I'm not a morning person, I see most of my sunrises vicariously through photos! That was quite a morning that your DH captured so beautifully.
I think if you keep the cats away, the little wrens will be fine. Fingers crossed!

beth said...

the sunrise.....whoa, i didn't even know mother nature had all those colors in her paint set !

and the babies flying the coop...
all i can say is that i hope they don't ever have to move back home for doing dumb things. that makes for an unhappy mama....

you know what i mean :)

Bluebird49 said...

The skies are beautiful up there. I just can't seem to get a sunrise OR a sunset in my camera! :(

Kay said...

The pictures you post are always so beautiful. I wish we had some of the sunrises and sunsets you seem to capture. Thank you for sharing!

Connie in Hartwood said...

We had wrens that would nest in random items in our garage at our last house. One time, they nested in an empty oil-change container on a high shelf (like a large plastic triangular deep-dish pie pan). Every few days, I would check on the nest to see if the eggs had hatched. Once they hatched, I continued to take the pan down from the shelf and greet the babies every day. One day, I took the pan from the shelf and all five babies exploded from the nest and ran to all corners of the garage. I was frantically trying to catch babies and return them to the nest, only to have each one I 'rescued' hop back out and run to another hiding place. I gave up and let the babies hide, knowing that the parents would take care of them. After this experience, I continued to check on wren nests ... but I stopped doing it WELL before their anticipated fledging date.

Mary said...

*sigh*. So very beautiful! And oh, I hope those babies are OK! That is one he'll of a picture, Kate!

Hope your weekend is wonderful!
xoxo

trump said...

More great images, and some of my favorites. Richard

Kanelstrand said...

Magical colors! The last sunrise photo reminds me so much of a midnight sunset in Iceland years ago... The wonders of nature are one of the few things worth in this life!

Daryl said...

the color of light is just awe inspiring ... and those baby birds will be fine, I am sure ... as for the Fairy Hobmother .. trust me, I wont be winning ..

The JR said...

Wow, what awesome pics by Your Man!


Every year I hate it when the babies start getting out of their nests. I fret so bad about them.

MrsB said...

My friend Liz has small sparrow nest in her ferns on her front porch - she waters carefully and many years of fledges make it thru each season. They will be fine....be aware that the wren will probably come back next year....

Carolynn Anctil said...

That last shot of the sky looks like it's on fire. Absolutely gorgeous. Wow.

Oh dear...I do hope those little tykes stay safe too. That guy looks adorable with his bedhead and slightly miffed expression. Beware, there may be bird poop in your future...

mrs mediocrity said...

wow, it looks like a midwestern sky...just gorgeous.
silly bird babies...so cute. i bet they are just fine!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Exquisite photographs and lovely nesting story Kate. They look old enough to be alright to me.

linda said...

That little wren sure had his feathers ruffled, didn't he?

Keep us posted on the saga ~ I had baby cardinal drama here last week. Worried parents, happy ending.

Beautiful sunrise pics. Worth getting up for isn't it?

Mental P Mama said...

So sweet! They are fine, and the mama is probably feeding them their dinner right now in the garden;)

ELK said...

your husband really captures some amazing sky shots...love this time of morning !!

Gail said...

What amazing photos! That is why my camera is always with me, things change in an instant.

I love the open mouth shot. It just speaks of motherhood.

Lili said...

Another reason why I should become an early riser too, there's just nothing quite like the quiet of that time of morning, especially with a light show like that. What a perfect shot of that baby chick you captured, glad to hear all is well with them too. xoxo ~Lili

Mrs Catch said...

I love those sky photos. Your husband got it perfectly right! Lately I've just used random settings photographing the sky to see all the different effects possible. They're beautiful. And those wrens are soo cute. What lens do you use?

dogear6 said...

We had a similar drama with a baby cardinal. His momma finally got him back into the tree, but he definitely was a trainee. Thankfully the beagle wasn't out when it happened.

Your photos are beautiful!

http://dogear6.com/2011/07/31/sideways-glaring-at-me/

www.dogear6.com

Anonymous said...

You could use some of those sunset pictures for cards. Birthday or whatever.
Yes, its the frugel in me.
Not ready for my blogspot yet just gathering info. Love your site.
Soon we will retire.

GMMixerRS@aol.com

beas natur said...

Wonderful sunsets,this time. I just love your photografs.Keep going!