{oh birdie...}

Just when I thought I'd saved the day, lookie who we find...

We couldn't just leave him on the trampoline so we had to put him on the grass once we were done mowing. (If we put him back in a nest, he'd probably just bounce out.) He eventually hopped between the fence boards into the neighbors yard with his little mama squawking and following close behind. Poor little thing, I hope he doesn't get eaten by a hawk, or a snake, or the neighbors dogs.

*Another update: My neighbor told me it was a mockingbird baby from the look of the mama and I looked it up to find that she was right! I learned that mockingbird nestlings and fledglings are hard to tell apart because they only live in their nests with mama for about 12 days. Then they jump out of the nest and hang out on the low branches of the tree or even (in our instance) the ground for about 4-6 more days until their feathers are fully developed allowing them to fly away. During those ground-level days the mommy brings food to her baby until it is capable of feeding itself. And, best of all, mockingbirds (a.k.a. "mockers") are known to be very aggressive in their efforts to protect their young. They are actually known to be just as crazed while their babies are still nestlings if humans - or anything, really - get too close to their home. I wish I would have caught Devin trying to move the baby on my camcorder. It was hilarious. He was totally under attack.