Thursday, July 13, 2017

Flying Flag / Birding Babies

Design - "Happy Flag Flag Day"
Designer - The Trilogy
Fabric - 32 cnt Natural Light linen
Fibers - WDW - 2 strands over 2 threads
Started - 20 July 2012
Completed - 25 July 2012

All I can say: Boy there are a lot of stitches in that-there wavy flag!

I am still blessed to be able to watch parent / child bird actions most days.  On Monday I saw a California Scrub Jay parent and fledgling, but was not able to get a photo.  Still I do have several other birds to share.

In the morning a female Downy Woodpecker comes by and feeds her fledged son.

He is a fat little bird!

I had a young Robin come by the other evening.

He seemed a bit bewildered...

...and lonely. He finally flew off on the lawn and began looking for worms.

Large groups of California Quail flow back and forth along the edge of the berm.

The grass has grown and they seem almost to float along.

I've seen single parents, mixed couples, single sex couples, and a trio of two guys and a gal looking after the chicks.  So everyone pitches in.

They are dear little things.

They have the most mournful 'peep' when they get separated from the larger group.  

It about breaks my heart to hear them.  Thankfully within 15 minutes or so they are usually reunited.

I was right!  The Evening Grosbeaks stayed around this year and nested and raised their young.

Here a male feeds a young female.

She followed him from the feeder to the berm.

Fluttering wings and an open mouth.

In past years I have a hard time distinguishing a young female from a male Evening Grosbeak.  This year I figured it out.  This is a newly fledged male - see the large white patches on the wings and his head is the faintest of yellows. Score for me!

6 comments:

Maggee said...

Awesome about the Evening Grosbeaks! Yay! Does that mean they will stay around all the time now? Or do you think they just missed the migration deadline last time? So many Quail... lots of cuteness there right now. I have Happy Flag Flag Day in my stash... wasn't feeling it this year. Maybe some other year. Hugs!

MaryO said...

Wonderful! What a show! The quail are delightful, so sweet. Thanks Beth

MaryO1230

LaNelle said...

Fantastic photos!! Love the Grosbeaks....but all baby birds are so cute❤️

Karyn said...

Oh those babies are precious! When we visited my sister in No Ca, she had a nest with 4 blue jay babies that hatched and we got to watch the parents and babies right outside of her kitchen window...it was so much fun. They have now flown the nest and my sister still misses them all.
"Happy Flag Day" looks great! Isn't it funny how simple the smalls look until you get in there and realize that they take longer than you think lol.
Thanks for the pics, Beth, you are so fortunate to have so many wonderful birds around you.
Have a great day

Carol said...

Such darling baby birds! Tis the season, I guess :) We have been thoroughly been enjoying watching a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers flying in and out of the whole they've drilled in an old willow tree as they feed their babies :)

Cute flag finish, too, Beth! Yes, they do take a long time to stitch!

Margaret said...

So wonderful to be able to witness all the burgeoning life and parenting going on around you! Thanks for sharing the experience.