OMG, Evelyn! If you knew how many baby mockingbirds I hand fed while working at Audubon, you'd die! People would bring in baby birds all day long, and you couldn't convince them to leave them alone, so my job was to take care of them and get them prepared to be released back into the wild later on. One of the reasons we do not encourage people "rescuing" the baby birds is that there comes a time when the bird has imprinted so strongly on the parent bird, it will not take food from a person. You can cram it down their throats, but it will just sit in the crop area and not be digested. So removing them from the parent's care is often a death sentence. Now if a whole nest comes down (like during a storm) sometimes there is no recourse but to rescue them and try to feed them. And I know techniques have improved GREATLY from the days I was involved in bird rescue. So the odds might be better now. But lordy, lordy...I must have handraised at least 200 baby mockingbirds in a couple years time. Not to mention jays, grackles, thrashers, titmice, and maybe 1,000 mourning doves! (My least favorite baby birds of all time.) Anyway, your picture is a trip down memory lane for sure. Saintp, the length of time it takes an egg to hatch varies from species to species, but usually it is not very long. A week or ten days, often. I'll see if I can find out about bluejays. I don't remember. Maybe I never even knew. But the info is probably out there somewhere. Will get back to you later. Marcia

The nest may be infested with mites, or something. If the baby doesn't want to be there, something about the nest is not good. There is a rehab facility in Walnut Creek, The Lindsay Museum, phone number 925-935-1978, located at 1931 First Ave. I don't know whether you live in that area. This URL has addresses and phone numbers for various rehab facilities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. http://www.parentspress.com/wildliferehab.html If you live in another area, you can call your local animal control for rehab referral. Lorna

ttodd, Spectacular close-up shots....simply amazing! amysrq, Isn't it wonderful? As many times as I've watched it, I never get tired of it. Nature's wonders. goldgirl, There have been a few times I've sat down to watch my Hummer visitors, only to notice a couple hours later how quickly time had gone by and I hadn't accomplished a darn thing. Watching those little jewels becomes addictive....be careful! :) Mine have gotten so used to me being outside working the gardens, they don't even flinch when I walk by. In fact, a few actually follow me around and some actually look right at the camera when I'm ready to take the shot. Addictive, I tell ya. In a goooood way. :) For all the Hummer Juicy I make, I need to take out stock in C & H Pure Cane Sugar. Coming in for a Landing. I'm changing the plants in an old iron bird cage and my visitor sits on the bird cage door, watching what I'm doing. This guy just kept fluttering in front of me, checking out the thing in my hand....my camera. Lunch Bell for the Newbies. I added color to the Juicy so they would see it. After they learn where it's at, I no longer add the color. I'm stringing some Morning Glory in through Chix Wire of a homemade topiary. This little Jewel stuck by me all day so I called him "My Groupie".

Never mind. I went out this morning and the nest is destroyed and babies are gone. I feel so bad :( I wish I had been gentler when searching. I know it's my fault. But once it happened there was really nothing I could think of to do to make it right. Oh well.. :(