Anne-Marie Cam

Looking through the pictures of May 8, the last birdy left the nest at 8:11 pm.

I wonder if they’ll ever come back and visit? *sigh*

Bye, bye birdy!

This morning, they’re all gone…
I’ll see tonight if I’ve got their first flights on film!

Today the chicks (I’m not sure if all four are still in the nest, but I think so) have been taking turns, sometimes squeezing up together, standing on the edge of the nest, preening their own feathers, nibbling at eachothers toes (looks like a worm?!), and flapping their wings a lot - I’m guessing they’re getting ready for that first jump!

Our reporter in the field (or rather garden) Lukas confided to me last night that he saw the gruesom event unfold a few days ago (around May Day): Anne-Marie picked at, and tugged around on one of the chicks, turning the limp body over till she got a hold of its rear end, then hauled it out of the nest, and dropped it in the garden… naked and dead… I guess it just didn’t make it, and she had to clean out the body. That also explains what happened to the fifth egg - there’s only 4 chicks in the nest now!

I’ve written a (Perl) script which generates a one minute film at the end of the day from all the pictures taken that day - the films ar written out here. Enjoy!

Did you guys see that??

Within days from egg to actually looking like a birdy?! Those worms do pay off… Check out how big it is! Must be getting more and more crowded in that nest…

I’ve put together a video of yesterdays stills: 20080428

The cool soundtrack has been donated by Giftwood (here’s their myspace page and the track was Big bird).

Have you ever thought about the details of bird hatching? The details inside the nest?

I mean it must be very uncomfortable - first the eggs (have you tried sitting on an egg??) and later on having 4-5 beaks poking your butt all the time…

Then there is nowhere to put your feet without smushing one of your children.

And what about them? How the heck do they breath in there? There are feathers everywhere!

Do black bird mums gain weight while sitting around for weeks? (Well, obviously she’s working it off - as much as she’s out getting food now.)

(This is what happens if you have too much time to think over the weekend. )

Feel free to fill me in, if you have any answers to those questions!

In case you haven’t seen it “live” yet - look at those hungry mouths!

We’re featured on the Birdwatching Blog - there’s some other real nice webcams there too; check it out!