... Yep, another magical Little Moment...

Today was a "wow" day for me! After working a half day, I went out to spend a little deck time. There were so many birds out there that I am thinking of installing an air-traffic control tower! I would not be exaggerating to say that there were 40-50 birds in the backyard: red bellied and downy woodpeckers; blue jays; purple, house and gold finches; pine siskins (a new life bird for me!); chickadees; titmice; nuthatches; and another new lifer for me, a black & white warbler! I put the best 8 shots on Flickr if you'd like to have a look.

But the show stopper were the cardinals. It would appear that they have a second brood that has fledged and Mrs. C was out with young Junior C trying to show him the ropes. Young Junior was begging up a storm which is what first attracted my attention - baby birds have a very distinctive sound and I've come to recognize it this summer as I've learned more about birds. So, I sat very still and waited --- sure enough, they came up to my suet feeder on the deck. Mrs. C fed Junior then they both left. A short while later, the elder fledgling who I blipped on September 6 being fed by dad and the younger flew up together. The younger immediately started fluttering his wings and begging ... and big sister fed him!!! I was so stunned that I very nearly didn't get this shot. I was not aware that cardinal young participated in the care of subsequent broods (although this is common behavior in corvids). So, here it is - big sis feeding young Junior. A magical moment for me!

Mitsy-Boo showed up for her afternoon peanuts and I got her permission to post a short video HERE. And in case you are wondering.. yes, I changed her name from just Mitsy to MitsyBoo. You can thank RichieBoo for the inspiration!

Hope the Finch update: I spoke to Giselle last night and she said that Hope is continuing to eat and gain weight and fly around her isolation cage. Her injured eye is, unfortunately, still closed; however, the diseased eye is looking great. She has to be in isolation for another week at which time she will be put in a larger aviary with other birds to see how she does. We hope that they eye will open AND have vision. If it doesn't, she may still be able to adapt well enough to be released - time will tell. Keep a good thought for her, okay? She may yet to turn out to be my own little 9/11 miracle.

Thank you so very much for all the lovely comments and stars on the Mimsy Montage yesterday. In addition to all the birds out back today, there were also at least a half dozen chipmunks running around in a seed-gathering frenzy. I spooked one on the deck and he leapt out of a feeder on my railing - a 10 foot drop to the patio! Little bugger landed on his feet, flipped over once and ran off.