My heart is hurting today for a Mama who lost her babies. For the past two weeks I've been watching from our office window as a mama sparrow feeds her little babies in a nest under the rafters of our overhang. Each time I heard the little babies chirping, I knew the mama had come back to give her babies some food. I would run to the window and watch the mama bird transfer food from her own beak to the babies' gaping mouths. It was precious! As a new Mom myself I related to her persistent mothering. All day long she would go back and forth to bring food to the nest.
I have been showing the nest to everyone who comes over. The kids are particularly impressed. In order to get a better view of the babies, we moved a ladder under the nest the other day. And I fear this turned out to be a tragic idea. This morning I heard lots of chirping but it sounded more mature. I didn't hear the same little chirping I've been hearing when the babies eat. I put my son down for a nap and immediately went to check on the birds. But what I found was not what I was expecting. The nest is gone. The dry grass and sticks are strewn on the steps of the ladder and below. The baby birds are nowhere in sight. They are not on the ground learning to fly as I learned they are supposed to be. I fear the ladder was a mistake and that perhaps it was just what a stray cat needed to get to its prey. I've been outside looking for the babies but I don't see any. The mama is chirping away on the power line, perhaps asking if any of her friends have seen her babies. I just watched her fly in to where the nest was, but when she found nothing, she came back out. Oh my heart hurts. I hope that little bird doesn't experience the same emotions we humans do!
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