When last I wrote of the house finches (on the blog), back on April 29th, this is what their nest looked like:
[Click on photos to enlarge them.]
Very pretty, very empty.
Then, on May 8th, I took this photo of the nest:
As those of you who follow me on Facebook know, the four blue eggs are house finch eggs. However, the brown-speckled egg belonged to a cowbird, a parasitic bird that lays its eggs in other birds' nests and expects someone else to feed its young (often depriving the host bird's chicks sufficient nourishment).
Then, earlier this week, I glimpsed into the nest and discovered that the evil cowbird chick had hatched:
Anticipating that the four house finch eggs were soon to follow, I went back out to the nest with my smart phone just a few minutes ago to be greeted by this sight:
That image of the cowbird nestling waiting to be fed is going to give me nightmares FOR WEEKS.
Will the four baby house finches survive?
Stay tuned....
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