Progress

Look at our baby birds just a few days later:

Amazing progress!  In fact, their nest is getting smaller and smaller by the day.  One baby fell out last night or early this morning and was tangled in the tiny branches you can see in the picture.  He was struggling and squawking in front of the nest and it was clear that neither he nor his mama was going to be able to free him.
What to do?  I know that the rule of thumb is not to touch the bird so as not to scare the mama into kicking him out of the nest.  Tongs or a wooden spoon were suggested but I knew that both were as likely to crush his small bones as to help him.  Rubber gloves have an obvious smell to them and therefore seemed little better than bare hands.  In the end, as quickly as I could, I untangled the bird and slid him back into his nest.  We left for a swim meet.
Driving down our road a few hours later, I crossed my fingers for the little guy.  Did his mama smell something strange and kick him out?  I hoped not both for him and for the sake of our girls who check on their little friends several times a day.
Thanks be to God!  All three birdies were still in the nest, their breaths pulling their skinny sides in and out.  As you can see above, one baby was sacked out on his back, beak open in a deep sleep.  It had been a long day already.

Coming up:  a special visitor