This, my friends, is our oldest pair….both are 19 years old! They have been together for ten years…..both had previous nests / mates before they got together. Both are banded and they hatched in the opposite sides of the metro from each other. What good fortune that they found each other! They are always among the first birds back in the spring, among the first to lay eggs and hatch and among the first chicks to fledge. You can practically set your watch by them! They are so fun to watch…they work so well together. This male is super devoted, so there he was today standing right next to his mate, as they watched over their brood. They hatched about ten days ago and today I was finally able to count the chicks! THREE!!!! What cutie patooties. I could not for the life of me get a photo tho….with the heatwaves, and sun and tiny heads that rarely pop up at the same time…..so the official count doesn’t come until you see ALL of them up at once. But I did see them! They are looking bigger than I expected….so the incubation and hatch date may have been off by a day or two. But it was such a joy to see them and welcome them and watch their amazing parents, side by side, gazing at their offspring. These are the moments I live for. I am sure that I either banded the male, or held him as he recieved his band as a nestling. The female was likely banded by someone else on the other side of the metro….tho I might have been present.
