They are about ready to fledge. Not far from us a couple of houses are under siege. A pair of red-tailed hawks build a nest in a tree right next to the deck. Not only does the deck get pretty messy, the owners of the house cannot use it, their next door neighbor had a vegetable garden and can't tend it and if they go out the front door, they have to defend themselves with rakes or anything else long, in order to get to the mailbox. They had the problem last year, were allowed to take down the nest after the chicks had left, but they rebuilt this year. They were advised to take down the tree. The owls have left the nest, the loon in Minnesota is still sitting on her eggs and the storks in Germany lost the last baby to hatch, but four was a bit much to raise, even three are hard to feed. A couple of Blue Jays think I am their foster mother and beg every time I go out. Young squirrels were also told to stay here and since 3 days a racoon spends his days sleeping in the big oak. Not to forget the Cardinal who sits twice a day on a dogwood branch next to the backdoor and sings for his peanut. How am I supposed to get any work done?

TOTALLY ADORABLE!!!!!!! Thank you for sharing all your beautiful babies with us!

Gazania, they were being raised (pupated?) in a butterfly and hummingbird enclosure. There were many of them behind a glass display case.

Oh I'm so glad he's in safe hands now (now that yours aren't but....) and that he'll be looked after. I came upstairs one day to find the cats pacing in the kitchen, back and forth and back and forth, and found two blue jays in there. One was on top of the toaster and the other in behind the blinds. I have no idea how they got in the house but I did take pictures knowing that no one would believe me otherwise. I thought that I would help the one behind the blinds by raising them so he could get out. But when I raised the blinds I got his tail feathers caught and then he was hanging upside down. I eventually got him out and then opened the sliding glass doors. They must have sensed the airflow as they both went flying out.