An owl chick, a chicken chick, a human chick

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While last week was all about friends and family, this weekend was the weekend of chicks! Firstly, there are new baby chicks next door. Actually they are a few weeks old now, but I’ve been ignoring them for the most part. But this guy…

He has a look only a momma could love, am I right? Poor little fella or whatever it is. Here’s the kicker: there are two. When Adam decided to buy chicks, he had Marley and a friend in tow. They got to choose which chick to bring home and, of course, they chose two or three of every kind. Some cuter than others. I should try to get photos of all the chicks.

Also over the weekend, we had a terrible wind. Really terrible. Such a wind that it literally blew bird babies out of their nests. Two such bird babies were common barred owls whose nest was just off the road near our house. When Jenny discovered that one was still alive, she called Adam. He and Richard went over to rescue the little guy. What a pitiful, sweet little thing. They moved him/her away from the road and later we discovered it still on the ground. Adam did some research, spoke to an owl rescue specialist and we went over to “build” a nest.

All it really required was an old milk crate, some sticks and leaves, and a tall ladder. We attached the crate to a tree and, carefully using a pair of leather gloves, Richard climbed the ladder, bird in hand and put it in the makeshift nest. We haven’t seen it since, but I like to believe that it was able to fledge enough to find better shelter and the mother owl found it. The good news is that there are no feathers in the vincinity, so it’s unlikely that a predator got it.

And on to the last chick, whom I mentioned above. She is growing into a funny, sassy, sweet grandie. Having her next door and picking her up almost every day means we get to spend lots of time together. She loves to laugh and we have a great deal of fun together. Then she shows that sassy thing that 11-year-olds have, and I send her home. Just kidding, it’s an idle threat but she believes I’ll really do it. Of the three chicks here, she’s my favorite by a long shot.