Well, I actually didn't kill a Mockingbird, but I'm reminded of this film (and book) because we have a pair of finches who have nested on the light by our garage. They've raised one brood and are nearing the end of raising a second brood in the same nest. I feel I should name them: Atticus, Scout, Jem and Dill - but of course there are more finches than names.
Peg and I attended a natural history writing workshop last week and the leader suggested we start each entry with a Haiku (loosely defined - basically just a 3-line poem). Mine was
The finches are trying for a second brood
The first offspring left 2 weeks ago, leaving behind a perfectly good nest
Why not fill it with life again?
So, anyway, the finches have been on my mind and I've been taking pictures virtually every day to chronicle their development. I've posted a couple of these photos chronicling the second brood below:
This is the time that many birds are raising their young. So far, I've seen White-breasted nuthatches, American Robins and Grackles either visiting their nests or feeding fledglings. In some cases, I've seen parent/offspring conflict. Briefly, the fledglings might "like" the parents to keep feeding them for a long time, while the parents might "like" to have the fledglings fend for themselves as soon as they are able. I've often seen fledglings chasing their parents begging for food while the parents try to get as far away as possible!
I've gotten a lot of nice pictures of critters at the Lake over the last couple of weeks, though my quest to film an Oriole has so far failed (the darn things sing from the top of the trees, hidden by lots of leaves). And I did my first butterfly Pollard walk for the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network. More later! Until then, get out and enjoy our natural riches!
