there's a family living on my porch

no, not a human family (although with the high number of homeless in pensacola its not un-likely). i've got a bird family! and it is just about the cutest thing. my sofa is in very close proximity to my back porch and with my oh-so-lovely vertical blinds pushed back, i have a clear view of their activities. so i decided to take up a small bird-watching hobby on the side.



first i noticed that as soon as i put out my geraniums, a little house finch took home to them and built a nest. pretty soon there were three eggs, and then there were five.



unlike some species, daddy bird is very involved with his family. while mama sat on the eggs, he would bring her food and check up on her (he's the red one below on top of the begonias).

now they have just one little baby (whom i have yet to get a picture of for fear that they will see me and abandon the nest). now that he is here, mama and daddy usually are off getting food, but i can always see them watching. i've seen them on the roof and heard them carrying on to each other. who knows what about. sometimes when i sit on my porch they really make a fuss--probably worrying about the baby. this morning he was sitting on top of the nest stretching his wings--looks like he's about to take off!

its kind of cheesy, i know, but i've always been interested in aminals. and i got a fancy new camera for christmas so i've been dying to try it out. i put on the zoom and got some really great shots (like the one above of mama watching me from the stairs). its amazing how quick of a process its been. the eggs were laid about a month ago, baby was born a little over a week ago and now he's getting ready to be on his own. crazy, huh?