Everything felt like a drama unfolding in front of our eyes. We opened the gate leading outside and we saw the first flight of this little sparrow. It happened in slow-motion. It struggled to fly but it managed a little until it hit the back of the car (not moving) and fell to the ground. I ran to grab my camera and I came back in time to watch the chaos unfold.
As the little sparrow sat on the ground, not knowing what to do (I think) I saw the mother and the father sitting close by, chirping madly.
The father looked down at his child, and I can only imagine the thoughts going through his mind. Worry, stress, anxiety, what if a predator shows up?
The mother kind of looked up to the father, almost like she searched for inspiration or hope or help. Maybe she looked at him to see if he was looking at their baby.
But both of them were chirping and anxiously moving around. The obviously heard and saw us, thinking we might be predators. But we slowly walked back into the house to see the chaos unfold in front of us.
All the while, the mother and father went crazy above him. The little feathered friend just sat there. I think it was a little tired after the first flight and a little disorientated after hitting the car. Their nest is quite close to the car, and every day when I walk past the nest, I could hear the chirping of this little guy. It was only a matter of days that they would kick him out, I knew.
Because of all the movement, the parents did not come close at first. They sat on the fence, looking down and looking at as. But then suddenly they were gone... We wondered why they would leave the baby there.
But soon the dad returned! With food in his mouth. And we knew that the father knew where their baby was.
Before feeding the baby, it flew up to the fence, food in mouth, to the fence. I think it wanted to lure the baby to fly up after his father. It is not easy being a parent, neither is it easy being a child!
Whilst I monitored this situation, the dad sitting on the fence, 
She also brought some food! Also presumably luring the little baby to fly after her.
But as soon as I turned my camera to film the mother, we lost sight of the baby bird. We could not find it. When the coast was clear, we looked under the car and everywhere it could have gone, but we could not find it! It must have flown after the father, because we could hear the chirping but we could not see the little bird.
But we also saw the father and mother going crazy around the property. They flew around us, chirping and presumably searching for their baby. Or maybe they chirped like this to call for the little baby to follow them. I am not sure what happened as I lost sight of the little baby. Maybe it flew after them. We did not see any predators, no cats, no dogs, no birds.
We can only hope that the little baby bird is fine.
Being a parent is not easy and from the looks of it very stressful. Nature is cruel. If you cannot fly, you will probably be left behind by your own parents. I am not sure. All I hope is that their pretty baby is fine.
What a crazy couple of minutes that unfolded in front of us like a drama. But how lucky were we to witness the baby's first flight?! Only if I could have captured that on video.
For now, happy birding and keep well.
All of the photographs used in this post are my own, taken with my Nikon D300 camera. The musings are also my own.