baby bird!

The catbirds have fledged! Or at least, one of them. Saw it on edge of the lawn near garden. One of the parents was on the deck railing while I stood outside (much closer than they usually get), chat-chat-chat at me constantly. I figure now the parent was probably warning the chick to stay still, and it sat absolutely motionless for a long time. Later in the day I saw the fledgling again (or another one of the brood, no idea how many there are) in the far back yard, edge of lawn near fence. The parent once again was making alarm calls, the baby sat very still, just a grey lump in the grass.

After a while I noticed there was a hawk sitting in the tree above. I walked across the lawn in an arc, not near the baby bird but angling towards the hawk. It flushed and flew away. Small birds around me immediately stopped yelling. Went back to garden edge and sat with my youngest, we watched as the parent approached the young one, flitting for a long time on the fence, on a shrub, on the edge of compost bin, until apparently it felt no danger was near, then it flew down and fed the baby- three times put something in its mouth. My daughter laughed to see the baby bird still holding its mouth agape for more, as the parent flew away. She helped me pick caterpillars off the collard greens, to set on a stepping stone in the perennial bed, and we watched the parent come back, pick them up, and feed them to the chick.