To the rescue once more...

[jesshartley]

Today, while watering our plants outside in the ungodly heat, the Valkyrie discovered that the nest of birds (possibly flycatchers?) which had previously been built precariously under our deck had fallen and all four little fledglings (half-feathered at best) were on the mulch beside it. They were impossibly fragile, tiny feet clinging desperately to the strands of the now-ruined nest, stirring but not even old enough yet to properly peep.

We didn't quite know what to do. The nest was not going to re-attach to the fixture where it had formerly been, but the little ones were obviously too young to go it alone, even for a short time. We finally settled on finding a small box which we put both nest and younglings within, and then screwed a plank up under the place where the nest had formerly been and placed box o' birdies 'n nest upon it, essentially putting babies and home back in the location they'd been, but with a box and board support system.

The mama watched us from the nearby oaktree, and shortly afterwards began visiting the area again, so we have hopes she's still feeding/warming them.

A few minutes ago, since we have a huge thunderstorm approaching, the Valkyrie brought to me the fear that the box, being more waterproof than the nest, might fill with water and drown the little birds if we received significant rainfall... so I trooped out again (anxious for an excuse to check on the little guys) and bore a few holes in the bottom of the box big enough to let it drain should the rain get in.

As of a few minutes ago, all four were still breathing and seemed unperturbed by my moving of their home, and the mother was active in the area.

In other news, we're still keeping our fingers crossed about the house. We've not recieved an offer yet, but the gentleman who came back for a second walk-through Monday night asked for (And received) some answers about the chimney/flues, attic crawlspace and surveyor's notes on the lot. Keep your fingers crossed.

Comments

[tonysalieri.livejournal.com]

Awwww! That's great karma you guys are building up. Too bad they don't take good karma in all but the flakiest shops in NYC :)

[sylvari.livejournal.com]

Fingers crossed for both birds and house.

[mythicfox.livejournal.com]

That's cool that you were able to help the birdies... we had a bird's nest in something of a precarious position on under an awning near our front door sometime last year, and at one point a cat got to it. It was a very upsetting mess to clean up... Now we keep an eye out for birds making nests there so we can gently discourage it, as it's a really bad place to put one.

[irismoonlight.livejournal.com]

You're so GOOD. *grin*

Karmic lesson

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

Perhaps there's a karmic lesson in this. You help out one home ...

I'll continue to put positive thoughts of you on my radar, Jess. :)

[srturtle.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad your family was still there to help those little birds! It's a very good sign that the mother stayed with them. Usually when humans have been in a nest the parents abandon the children. She must have known you were kind souls and sincerely wanted to help. :)

[cleverusername2.livejournal.com]

I had a big Cedar of Lebanon in an old house I had. There was a huge thunderstorm one night and I found a tipped over nest and several crow fledgelings that had been dumped out. Unfortunately, because of the cold autumn night, none of them survived. I buried them all by the side of the house. This happened on a full moon too, it was enough to make me kind of creeped out to tell you the truth of it.

Hope they make it.

[courtierka.livejournal.com]

So, how are they doing now? Is Momma still active around there?