Robin rescue?

My next door neighbor was at the door yesterday afternoon to let me know that one of the baby robins fell out of the nest, was running around my backyard and was not able to fly. So I went out back and found this little one in the grass. So I took this image and then put the camera down and tried to gently pick it up and return it to the nest. After a running around the back yard like I was trying to catch a greased pig, I was able to gently scoop the baby up and reunite it with its sibling in the nest. I am a robin hero!....

Or not! The robin promptly hopped right back out of the nest and was attempting to fly but just could'nt get off the ground.

After a couple of minutes, it made its way through some bushes and I hav'nt see it since. Hopefully 'lil robin found a safe haven until it can fly.

White House Photo Op

Chicago Tribune Photog Pete Souza posted this real-time White House photo Op in the Oval Office with "dubya" and Aussie PM John Howard. Check out all 27 seconds of it here

Worlds largest pinhole camera

Check out the legacyphotoproject.com and click on the link for the worlds largest camera. Sometime this month a team of photographers are turning a former hanger on a decommisioned base into a giant pinhole camera. Be sure also to look at the galleries of images from the Legacy Project. Since 2002, they have been working on a long-term photographic study of a closed air base that is slated to be turned into a giant urban park in Southern California. PDN online has a story about it here.

mmmm..... worms!

Now that the doves have moved on I thought I would post a photo of mama robin coming in for a landing with a yummy worm for the 2 babies in her nest. Mama landed on the fence and when she saw that the coast was clear, she popped into the nest and the youngsters chowed down.

They grow up so fast...

It rained pretty heavily during the whole weekend and I was a little concerned that the nests might be affected in some way, well it appears that one of the squabs is gone. Did it fall out? Was it a cat's lunch? or was it ready leave home early? I'm not sure. All I know is that when I went to check, only one squab was perched near the nest.

Later on in the day I noticed the squab in the garden following a grownup learning how to find food. After that they roosted for a while on top of the neighbor's shed.

The nest is now empty and the squab born only last week has taken wing.

Dove update

I had a peek at the Dove's nest today and found that there are 2 squabs. They grow rather quickly don't they! Mama or Daddy showed up and fed them some pigeon milk

Cool fact: Mourning Doves feed their nestlings crop milk or "pigeon milk," which is secreted by the crop lining. This is an extremely nutritious food with more protein and fat than is found in either cow or human milk. Crop milk, which is regurgitated by both adults, is the exclusive food of hatchlings for three days, after which it is gradually replaced by a diet of seeds

A couple of minutes later, the parent flew off to find more food.