Little Birdies

You never know what you'll find down country roads. A few weeks ago, my parents discovered a little family of phoebes nesting near the ceiling in a corner of the pool house. We arrived just in time to see the babies peering cautiously over the top of their nest, then easing slowly up to the edge and finally taking the leap away from safety and into the wild, blue yonder. The thing that interested me about the whole process was the way the babies left. You would think when it was time to go, their instincts would tell them all to go, fly away, together. That's not how it happened though. They went one by one, the last one edging along the board away from the nest for hours before finally leaving. I wonder why and what he was thinking.

The girls loved the whole process. They would stand on tiptoe and peer up at the nest, carefully counting the babies and giving us a daily tally. My little niece Anya set up a chant of, "Fly birdies, fly" that Ella quickly echoed.

For me, it was a perfect opportunity to remind the girls of a favorite line from Little Women, Beth's counsel to her sisters that "little birdies in their nests agree". I showed them how small the nest was and I think they got it. Just in case though, I followed up with my usual question, "and what happens if they don't agree?" "They fall out and get eaten." (Raise eyebrows and stare pointedly) "Exactly".

Family bonding

And then there were three

I'm outta' here