I am sure it will come as a huge surprise that I find baby birds absolutely adorable. I know… I know… kittens, puppies, hatchlings: it’s so unusual to find these creatures cute! I am a real outlier here, folks!

I am sixteen feet tall, did you know that? My height gives me a big advantage when it comes to finding and observing baby birds. I am often able to see right into nests. Some birds build their homes way too far up in the treetops for me to see into, but an awful lot of birds build at or below my line of sight.

The other day I stopped by a pine tree some blue jays nested in last year. The nest is still there, though it is not occupied at the moment. I wonder if the blue jays will return in the Spring? I’ll keep you posted!

Last year the mama blue jay laid four speckled eggs in early May. I stopped by every day for almost three weeks to see if the chicks had pecked their way out of their shells yet and then one day they finally did! There were four naked, shaky, teensy baby birds huddled together where the eggs had been.

The mama and papa brought food to the nest many times a day to feed the hatchlings.  Blue jays love nuts and insects.  I watched the papa feed his chicks a few fat caterpillars one day.

Blue Jays grow quickly. After a few weeks their feathers grew in and the hatchlings were easily recognizable as the blue jays they were.  They all left the nest three short weeks after they hatched.  But what a glorious three weeks those were! I was lucky enough to be able to watch them grow into strong birds who were ready to spread their wings and fly.