The Quest of Parenting

  On the Bayou, I watch a myriad of critters as they go about their daily fight for survival.  At times, it may be a struggle just to find a meal.  At other times, inclement weather can cause problems.  Still, life goes on and the critters usually adapt to whatever is thrown at them.  A recent thunderstorm dumped a hefty amount of rain in just a half hour.  The torrential downpour would have spelled tragedy for any wee babes that might be just out of a nest such as the fate that beheld our Red-bellied Woodpecker babes last month.  I worried because I knew that the cardinal family had just fledged four youngsters earlier in the week.  Although they had the appearance of being mostly grown, I was not entirely sure they knew much about survival.  This deluge could have been a final blow to any that were weak from hunger.  After the storm blew over, I went out to check on the tots.  I really did not need to worry about these little ones as their parents were on the ball!  Cardinals are some of the best child-rearing critters I have ever seen! 

  When I opened the gate that leads down the board path, I was happy to see the cardinal family rummaging around on the ground under the bird feeder.  The woodpeckers had already made short work of most of the sunflower seeds but, at the same time, emptied the smaller seeds on the ground. Mama and Papa Cardinal were teaching their eager brood to scavenge for a meal.  My little ones would be A-Ok!  

  Once I realized that all four had made it through the storm, I had to start giggling.  Those poor birds looked like drowned rats!  They were soaked! This brought back a surge of memories.  Several years ago, I fostered two tiny, orphaned mockingbirds.  When brought into my care, these two did not even have feathers!  They both survived and still come back to see me occasionally.  A lot of folks do not like mockingbirds but I have a hearty respect for them as they eat a lot of garden pests!  It was after the two birds "flew the coop" that a similar storm hit the Bayou.  The little female, Shelby, came back to stay inside with me but the male, Knox, was nowhere to be found.  Like any good mother, I fretted over the absence of poor Knox.  Suddenly, during a lapse in the rain, a noise at the screen door told me that my "prodigal son" had returned. Poor little Knox!  He was soaked.  It took a good bit of doing but I dried and warmed the little tyke until he, too, was resting comfortably on my floor lamp.  These two little ones were all too happy to stay the night inside once again.  

  There was a huge difference in the two sets of youngsters.  The cardinal brood had their true parents with them through a tough time whereas the mockingbirds had a bungling human acting as a mom.  I am just happy to say that both are doing well at surviving the storms in their lives.  Good job!