More August fun summer time pictures. Family hammock time plus Elmo in my shirt.


That is my nekid baby trying to get Becki to follow her.
Nekid Olivia, Danica and Max.

Happy Birthday Olivia!! The big 2.

This morning Olivia and I where on our way to storytime again, Olivia in the stroller, I getting my walk in when we came across a baby bird. It was in the middle of the sidewalk and I almost ran it over with the stroller wheel. As we got closer I thought it looked strange and it was a little fluff ball of a thing. I picked it up only because I felt it was in harm's way in the sidewalk. Little mites, millions it seemed, began spreading out over my hands and wrists. Eek! I thought then that this baby bird was in more trouble than I initially reasoned. Normally, we should leave baby birds where they are without interference so I didn't know what to do. I called our local wildlife shelter and while I was leaving them a message I saw a neighborhood kitty cat. In my humble opinion, kitties should be indoor only because they hunt these very same birds. So because of the mites infestation and the kitty cat, I made the decision to skip storytime (hope Olivia would get over it) and head home with bird and baby and get the car.



I had an old hand towel with me in the stroller we had used to wipe rain off slides at playgrounds and I picked the baby bird up with it. It was a little chilly and breezy in the shade this morning and I think it really helped the baby bird warm up. He had been shivering slightly and this definetly was warmer for him. We got home and placed the towel and bird in box and took him in. They told us it was the right thing to do on the phone (when the called me back within about 5 mintues . . . very cool). The mites where worse than normal and they felt that the mommy bird must not have been in the picture any longer. He began chirping and beeping in his box on the ride there, which was a good sign. He had a little pep in him.

We gave him to the shelter and a naturalist said his outlook was looking positive. And the mites? The mites only like birds so I was okay. We left him there with the baby bird "doctor" and headed home. Not too long after Olivia asked about storytime but seemed to understand that we missed it so we could help the baby bird. She loved the whole adventure and seemed to really enjoy helping baby bird.



Here is a link to a picture and an audio clip of what the baby bird was an American Goldfinch. Pretty cool. And here is a picture of a baby American Goldfinch. Our baby bird was younger and with less head feathers, more bald like and less plumage over all. He was teeny tiny.







Not so cool that I didn't take any pictures myself. But here is a little video clip of Olivia at the playground after our adventure, taken on my cell (poor quality sorry!)

And here is a little video of our kitties listening to the American Goldfinch song from the website I posted here. Maddie wants to get inside the computer now.

And here are some Cool Facts:
-The American Goldfinch changes from winter plumage to breeding plumage by a complete molt of its body feathers. It is the only member of its family to have this second molt in the spring; all the other species have just one molt each year in the fall.
-The American Goldfinch is one of the latest nesting birds. It usually does not start until late June or early July, when most other songbirds are finishing with breeding. The late timing may be related to the availability of suitable nesting materials and seeds for feeding young.
-The American Goldfinch is gregarious throughout the year. In winter it is found almost exclusively in flocks. In the breeding season it feeds in small groups. Whether it maintains breeding territories is debatable.
-The American Goldfinch is mostly monogamous, but a number of females switch mates after producing a first brood. The first male takes care of the fledglings while the female goes off to start another brood with a different male. (copied from this website http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Goldfinch.html)

Thanks for reading and take care!

Our local library hosts a toddler story time every week that Olivia has grown to love. This story time, I was left in the dust as Olivia preferred to sit with our friends Thea and MacMac (Max). New baby Beck is in the stroller behind his mommy.

And here is a picture of another friend Simon, hanging with his mommy Ruth, not shown.

At the end of the story time the kids get to drag toys out of boxes and go nuts. Olivia is shown here practicing jumping and bouncing like the red ball.