A Look at Fungi

For our gallery of baby birds, little junior, the spitting image of their parents, we start where they start, an egg in a nest.

 
The mute swan here, is turning the eggs before settling down once again.The parents take turns incubating the eggs.
When you see this little fellow you see where Hans Christian Anderson came up with the story: The Ugly Duckling. But, like the saying goes, only a mother could love that. and they do.
They are very protective of their young as the same pair mate for life.

 
We are all know Canada geese. Again though, they are really protective of their off spring and they make a very comfortable nest.Once the eggs hatch the young ones are up and running as the ground nesters usually have to be very vary of predators.
 
   

Then of course they have the run of the place.

 
 
Those higher up the nesting chain have a little more security, but of course there are always some predation.
 
As we stay with the nests constructed by the birds, one of the strangest is that of a very small bird, the Bushtit. Its a long woven sock shape with the entrance hole near the top on the side.
 
 
Basically, all the nests are built to either deter predators or hidden to the best of the birds ability. This nest of the cactus wren explains why it has the name cactus as the thorns of these cactus plants keep a number of predators away.
 
The eagles take care of the safety requirements themselves.
 
Juvenile bald eagles don't resemble their parents for a long time. After three or four years though, they become very elegant looking creatures, worthy of the accolade bestowed on them by the United States
 
 
 
Anothere juvenile that has different colors to its parents if the White-crowned Sparrow. It can be easily be mistaken for the Golden-crowned Sparrow.
 

You can see here that the lighter brown stripes on the head of the juvenile could become the black stripes here on the Golden-crowned Sparrow and the light yellow becoming so much darker.

We all know the robin, but again, they do look a little different as juveniles.
 
 
They hide behind rocks in the gardens waiting for the food train to come back. They also think they are invisible when perched safely in a tree.
 
 
Woodpeckers, those hard working woodworkers, manage very well in raising their youngsters
 
 
It may look a little bit of a squash here though and they are probably still growing. Here we have a male flicker on guard duty sstanding on a broken branch above the little ones.
 
 
What surely must be the smallest eggs produced by birds are those of the nummingbirds. Here we have a little rufous waiting for someone to come back and feed her. We have an adult female on the right.

There are some very hardy birds, not only do they survive in areas that receive enormous amounts of snow, they also nest and have their families before the flowers bloom.

 
Although not a perfect copy of his parents at this stage, this young gray jays, will soon resemble those favorite birds of those that hike in the mountains. With many common names like camp robber, whiskey jack, these Canada Jays or Gray Jay are friendly with everybody.
 
 
 
As we move down from the mountains to the rural areas we find a young Pine Siskin receiving a tid bit from one of its parents. These young birds never seam to get enough and their wings flap endlessly when one of the parents is in the area.
 
 
The European Sparrows are constantly doing the same thing. The urban or city life style suits them admirably.
 
 
 
Moving in to the garden bird feeders, other groups of birds bring their young members along. Here we have the Junco on the left and a juvenile House finch with tuffs and all.
 
 
 
Here they are a little more demanding.
 
 
 
We close off at the water dishes. The Red Crossbills need a lot of water due to the chemicals in the pine seeds that they feed on, opening them with their specialized bills. The male and female are here and baby junior is sitting comfortably on the right.
 
   
 
Now, here is a youngster that does not look like the adults, it is also one that will not be liked when it is an adult, the European Starling.
 
 
 
Although this is another juvenile, you can see where he is going. The Red-winged Blackbird is a favorite of many birders.