As suddenly as they arrived, they have departed.
Our avian patio neighbours spent yesterday morning feeding the chick in the crook of the rose bush into which he had somehow clambered during Saturday night or early Sunday morning. When we returned from our hike in the late afternoon, we purchased a bird feeder and some seed and hung it from a beam over our sliding patio doors.
It took about an hour before the Juncos noticed it and began to feed from it. The exhilarated chirping of the chick could be heard emanating almost invisibly from within the rose bush as the parents brought back seed for him. Then, the night fell and the patio became quiet once more.
Early this morning, Sarah could find no trace of the birds. Later in the morning, I went downstairs to see if I could determine their whereabouts, but they were nowhere to be seen. They have gone, taking our beloved baby Junco with them. We forgive them; after all, they are his real parents, not us, although it’s been easy to forget that at times.
Sarah has just arrived home from work and swears she just saw one of the adult birds feasting at the new feeder, before flying off to the place where, presumably, the other adult and the chick now reside.
Hopefully, we haven’t seen the last of them. They really brightened up our rather lifeless, petless house and made us realise how much we miss not having animals around the domicile.