I wonder how many insects it takes to create these four birds, considering a good deal that is brought in will go out as poo, the quantity of insects caught and brought to the nest by the parents must be astonishing.

Yes, it must be a lot of insects. The parents must be exhausted.

A few years back we had Crows that made a nest in a huge gum tree next door and
when the baby hatched it turned out to be a Pallid Cuckoo.

Pallid Cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Long story, but it was an
incredible thing to watch. The baby Cuckoo became larger and larger and these poor
Crows couldn't keep up with the feeding. We don't usually feel sorry for Crows here,
but they were so totally exhausted and this massive baby was larger than they were and
still was a baby. It was a relief for the Crows and all of us when the Cuckoo finally fledged.

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I actually felt sorry for the Crows, because they ended up exhausted and with no babies
of their own.
When I was watching the Red Tailed Hawks from Cornell, the birders kept saying not to
anthropomorphize but it was difficult not to do that.
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Here is a fascinating BBC article of a Cuckoo in a Reed Warblers nest.
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It is quite common for the European Cuckoos to use the nests of very small birds.

What I find fascinating about the Cuckoo is; The Cuckoo is a migratory bird, it winters in sub Saharan Africa, it comes here in early summer, lays its eggs and then heads off back to Africa - When the young Cuckcoo fledges the nest of whatever bird has raised it, it knows it must fly south to its wintering grounds in Africa...

Sadly the Cuckoo is yet another bird on the endangered list, numbers have fallen dramatically over the last few decades and is now seldom heard or seen - I haven't heard or seen a Cuckoo this year.

2 from today, and at 18 days old fledging the nest is imminent, they have even stated to exercise their wings by spreading them and giving them a few flaps (as you can see in the second picture)

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This nest ain't big enough for the four of us - 19 days old

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There was no photos from yesterday, it was a cold miserable wet day and I knew they were having flying lessons in the garage, didn't want to open the door in case I frightened them and they went out into the cold and wet.

Today was all blue sky and sunshine, and by the time I got up they were all gone, first big day out. They have returned this evening but sadly there is one missing, they are always vulnerable on the first few days and are easy meat for the sparrow-hawk! Lets keep our fingers crossed for them tomorrow, by the third and fourth day their aerial abilities are usually good enough to dodge predators.

21 days old today and 46 days since the beginning of the nest.

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Let's hope the parents are feeding that
missing fledging out there. It is possible.
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I sure hope the missing one is alright!

Thanks for all your wonderful photos, Cormorant.

It's really been just an amazing effort on your part to show us their progression from the beginning of the nest to fledge.

This is the first time in my life that I have spent so much time at home (I would rather be working, honest) so it is the first time I have been able to devote so much time to studying them. It's fascinating... and very therapeutic watching wildlife, far better than popping tramadol
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Lucky I have the camera, I'm popping enough opium that with out the camera I may wonder if I am just imagining it all....

I think we will see a little more of these three - they will probably overnight in the garage for the next week then they will just be occasional visitors until they head south in September.

I don't think we will see No.4 again, we have a very active Sparrow-hawk here and he often gets one - and good luck to the Sparrow-hawk, they are very beautiful birds in their own right.

All three have returned safely after a big day out, they were gone early this morning and returned late this evening. They seem to have taken a liking to the chain saw

We're little lumberjacks and we're OK
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