Apologies to those of you accustomed to more frequent ‘pile posts. My lack of activity here has been due to a great deal of activity elsewhere. The is a logjam of potential posts in the wings.
Speaking of wings, todays post features a few days in the life of some nestlings in our raspberry patch.
June 28, 2014
Baby catbirds.
Catbird babies, June 28, 2014
The speed with which they grow is astonishing.
June 30, 2014
Once the eggs are laid, there is a 10 to 12 day incubation period before hatching.
June 30, 2014
Once free of their shells, the nearly naked hatchlings will grow so fast that they’ll be out of the nest in 8 to twelve days.
July 2, 2014
Then they’ll follow their parents around for a while, looking cute and begging for food, food, food.
They’re looking awfully cute. July 2, 2014
Maybe I’ll add a few more photos over the next week or so.
We’re hoping they’ll leave their before the berries start to come in, so we can cover the ripening fruit, and get some berries for ourselves.
Before these babies realize how good raspberries taste!
thetompostpile 
beautiful!
We believe these cheeky catbirds here think they own us, and that we provide them this little Eden strictly for their benefit. That’s how they treat us.
Wonderful! This post is right up my alley 🙂 The chicks look just about ready to fledge in that last photo, so I think you’ll be able to get your raspberries. Do post more pictures if you take any! They’re really lovely.
When I checked up on them today, one of them took fright and hopped out of the nest onto a nearby twig. I’ll take their pics tomorrow if they haven’t left yet. We’re a catbird factory around here.
Adorable!