Came home today mid-day and found no Steller’s Jays in the nest. I was shocked. They did not look ready to fly to me. Of course, I am not a Steller’s Jay. They must have left recently as one was hanging out in my lilac bush (which is a truly ugly bush, doesn’t produce flowers well, and is a huge disappointment to me that I will tear out). I got a couple of shots and when I went back to my car — it left. So, I guess they can fly.
I feel bereft. Good-bye little Jays. Long life!
mother. wife. friend. teacher. writer. reader. photographer. birder. quilter. blogger.
Liza Lee Miller 
So now you are truly experiencing empty nest syndrome. But I’m sure they will do very well out there in the wide, wide world.
We’re never quite ready for them (the birds, that is) to leave the nest, are we? ;c)
They haven’t gone far — as it turns out. This morning, I was awoken to the most raucous but odd-sounding noises. Weird attempts at a Jay’s squawk. Then, a bird tried to land on my bedroom window screen. My husband and I looked at each other. “Dumb babies?” he said. “Yup.” I peeked out the window — there was one dumb baby on the ground looking like a wanna-be Steller’s Jay. Too cute!
It’ll be fun to watch the parents teach the babies how to do everything, especially get food on their own. What a great thing to watch unfold.
And then they were gone! Congrats little ones and enjoy your life!
Aw, Liza. I know how you feel. I didn’t think the barn swallows were ready to fly from my porch but I came home from work one day and all five were gone! I was shocked and so sad because I didn’t get to say good-bye.
Glad your babies are still around your yard for you to see!
I was in Florida for a couple days tending my fledgling and noticed that the Coopers hawk twins are out of the nest and tearing up the neighborhood in their own right- not sure when that happened in the month that we’ve been gone but they look like full grown hawks now. In case you didn’t know, ours don’t work that way. They go, they come back, they go further, they come back, they go…I’ve known parents to fly to another state just to get away from them. Your photos have been, ahem, stellar. Thank you for those.
another school year over- congrats on the hard work and all those little minds you’ve touched in good ways. And good luck with that list. 🙂