This is very fun! Arla

thanks Vista. this is so much fun.

thanks for sharing this Vista very beautiful pic's.

It is 6 PM and the babies are wondering what they have to do to get something to eat. Obviously nest service at the Vista Shrub Hotel is not meeting their needs yet.

those are great pictures!! thanks for sharing!!

I checked the nest this morning in the rain and thought I only saw two babies, but the rain discouraged me from investigating any more at that time. Early in the afternoon I looked in the nest and confirmed that there were now only two of the babies left. These two seem to be doing well. I thought I would check around the bush and on the ground to see if I could find the third baby. My hope was that it had fallen out of the nest and that I would be able to find and return it to safety. You can imagine my shock when I suddenly glanced up and saw this cat quietly sitting, hoping I would not notice him. I chased the cat off and then turned my attention to the two parents who were sitting on top of my truck and on the ground watching all of this happen. I scolded them for letting their third baby die and to my amazement, they started scolding me back. Probably in this situation, it was good for all three of us to let off steam. A few minutes later I found the cat sitting on the hill planning strategy for later on. This could be a long couple of weeks coming up.

OK.......on my Blog yesterday I entitled it......"I thot I thaw a puddy tat......I did....I did....I did" I then chronicled the cat I found at the base of the bush. I scared him away at the time, but I was concerned about a return visit. I even went out at midnight by flashlight and checked on the nest to see that everything was fine (other than I scared the mother). Today's blog title might be....."And the cat came back.....he couldn't stay away......the cat came back......the very next day". The nest is now vacant. So now I am left to determine what I should put on the blog for the kids. Do I tell them the truth? That a cat came and "took" the birds? Or do I take LAST YEAR'S pictures and put them in the blog, as if nothing has happened? I have mixed emotions on what to do and say. Reality?.......or "they lived happily ever after"? I could tell the story of the couple who left the care of their expensive prize cat in the hands of a neighbor while they went away for a week. After being gone for two days, they called the neighbor to see how the loved cat was doing. His quick and blunt response? "Oh I am sorry but your cat died yesterday". This news ruined their vacation and when they returned home the husband went to the neighbor and told him how HORRIBLY he had handled the situation. "What should I have done?" asked the neighbor. "You should have come up with a plan to ease us into the situation and delay telling us the sad news so that we could somewhat enjoy our week of vacation. For instance, on the first day you could have said something to the effect that 'the cat is on the roof and won't come down'. Then the next day you could have repeated this. On the third day you could have said you called in help to get the cat off the roof and they were coming the next day. This type of reporting could have gone on until the final day when you would then tell us that the cat died. That way we would have had some hope during the vacation and slowly been able to adjust to the possibility of the cat dying. Then to learn right at the end that the cat had died would have informed us, it would have allowed us to enjoy the vacation, and we could have adjusted to the tragic news." Things were tense between them for several months but finally the incident was forgotten and they enjoyed the neighborly relationship again. Several years later, the same couple were planning to go away for another week. Since her mother was now living with them, they asked the neighbor if he would check in on her each day to make sure she was doing alright. On the second day of the trip they called the neighbor to see how things were going. "Well" he said, "your mother is up on the roof and she won't come down"

Oh no, Vista! Vista, tell the kids the truth because they can handle it. Nature is cruel sometimes.