Feathers Grow Faster Than Corn in July

Our babies are quickly turning into birds. Mom and dad only come to feed the chicks and mom is not sitting on the nest at all... even during the night. I wonder when that started.  I think they are close by as from time to time I see dad sitting on the trellis about 5 feet away from the nest.

When I checked on them first thing this morning they were piled one atop the other... maybe I should say stacked. When the sun broke over the mesa they spread out a bit.

The pictures show the feathers growing super fast with lots of changes since yesterday.  As I noted in yesterdays post some of the tail feathers appear to be fully formed. Still there is so much to see in each picture.

The chick on the right appears to be more developed than the one on the top of the heap. I'm impressed at the
length of the feather shafts that will be hidden once all the feathers emerge.

This is a closer look at part of the first picture. I read somewhere the little dandruff looking things at the end of
some of the hairs, primarily on the head, mean the chick is a male (wish I could find that article again).  Note how
the feathers spread out and cover the chick like a jacket might keep us from the rain and cold.

This picture is from a higher angle.  Lots of poop around the nest and it's only going to get worse. Sure glad it
doesn't offend my nose.

In the gourd garden we now have over 40 plants sticking their leafy heads out of the ground. I was asking Ginger how many she planted and if we would need to thin the crop. She said over 100 seeds went into the ground and no thinning would be required. She has the green thumb and I just carry the shovel and drive the wheelbarrow.  No squash bugs sighted so far.


Whoohoo!!