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Mom is gone

17 years ago

Hi all,

Apparently, something has happened to my backyard mom. She is gone. Dad is diligently feeding the 4 babies from their 3rd clutch. The babies are 13 days old today. While I am very saddened by the loss of mom blue , I am thankful the babies are not any younger. Here are a couple of pics of her from earlier this summer.

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Comments (5)

donnalovesblue
17 years ago
Mac60, how long has she been gone? Is there a possibility she's still around, but a little scarce and perhaps is letting Dad do most of the work? The reason I ask is that although my Mama didn't disappear completely, Dad was doing most of the feeding several days before fledging...a little older than your babies are now. A couple of times, I thought she had left for good, but I guess she was taking some time off and letting Dad do all the work.

Sorry to hear about Mom and I'll keep my fingers crossed that she is safe somewhere. Kudos to your Daddy blue who now appears to be a single parent. I'm sure the babies will be fine.

Donna
lisa11310
17 years ago
I had a Mom that refused to feed the babies after day 11 (If I remember) she did this 3 nestings in a row. She was scarce to say the least but she was always back in time for fledging. I hope your Mom is just taking a little rest.
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mac60
Original Author
17 years ago
She disappeared sometime Friday. I watched for her all day Sat and Sun, but she was no where to be seen. I was so wishing that maybe it was just a little "vacation". I do fear that a hawk has gotten her. I am trying to help dad by placing mealworms and grasshoppers in the feeder. He is working hard to keep those babies fed. Just hoping for the best.
Mac
janie_may
17 years ago
What wonderful photos! The first one just cracked me up!

Yes, it is sad to loose an adult but as you said, thankfully the kids are old enough for daddy blue to take care of. I lost my first and favorite female when she had two 10 day old babies in the box and daddy did a great job taking them to fledging even though he picked up a new female only two days after the loss of "Ma"....

I think/hope your male will do fine on his own and especially with your help. Placing grasshoppers and meal worms close by means less time travel time for him.... a good thing! Good luck, hope all goes well.
mac60
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for the comments. Yes, that first photo made me laugh too. I sure did a double take when I first saw it.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your favorite female. We do become attached don't we?

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