I’m a little sad today. I think a wee friend of mine has died. The local blackbird couple (Mr and Mrs Twitters) hatched a female baby blackbird and, for a couple of days, I noticed the young bird in the back yard of this house I live in. The mother bird was keeping a steady stream of worms and things coming to the young one but the little bird didn’t seem to want to eat very much, which is unusual for a young blackbird. Earlier this season I used to natter with the male blackbird sometimes. It was funny. He’d be singing away trying to impress the girls and I’d start making noises out of the window like trying to copy his songs and stuff. Of course, this would get him all flustered and he’d fly to a closer spot on my window and start singing even louder and more complicated tunes. I have to admit he always outdid me but it was fun winding him up anyway. When he finally did get a female blackbird partner and they started nest building I used to feed them little goodies and they got quite used to me. They were especially fond of apple cores, I recall. Anyway, you could really tell when they had finally hatched out a youngster because it was quite a frenzy of hunting worms and things and then flying back to the nest with a beakful. I laid on as much goodies like apple cores and things as I could and felt a little proud that I was sort of helping out. Then eventually, it was time for baby to leave the nest. Baby ended up in the back yard right in the exact spot what I used to feed goodies to Mr and Mrs Twitters. With blackbirds, as with many other kinds of birds, they’ll hang around for a few days or a few weeks and help feed the youngster and sort of watch out for its safety during these early times when first out of the nest. The young ones don’t quite know what the world’s all about yet so they need a helping hand, really. Unfortunately, this young one seemed reluctant to eat and I was becoming very worried. I didn’t see them in the back yard yesterday morning and I am afraid that maybe the baby one has died for some reason.
By TIMO