It started with walking the dog, camera in tow just in case. We hadn't gotten far, maybe a block from the apartment, when we came upon a very noisy tree. I recognized all the little peeps as bushtit calls.
Bushtits are adorable, super tiny, super fast, and, for me, super hard to photograph. I couldn't resist the challenge. I looked down at my dog, apologized, and pulled out my camera. Little did I know what level of cuteness I was about to get into.
It took me a minute to find where the majority of the peeping was coming from. I had hopes that it might be fledglings.
It was.
But the angle and the lighting were really poor. I mostly got shots of little bird butts.
These little ones didn't stick around on that branch for very long. I tracked them to another branch and slowly, quietly, moved into position, raised my camera.
This is what I saw:
How many babies were there??!!
They were climbing all over each other. I got some video.
YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT. It will make your day.😍
When a parent (or helper) bird showed up, they did this:
I don't know how the adults keep track of who is getting fed, but they're doing a good job. The fledglings all looked healthy and happy.
I hope you've enjoyed these little bushtit babies as much as I have! I wrote a blog about bushtit nests, which are really unusual. The blog also gives a little background info on the bird. You can check that out here.
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Thanks for stopping by!