"A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on it's own wings.  Always believe in yourself."

This past weekend I came home to find a friend inhabiting our front step.  This young fella was only a fledgling and still relied heavily on his mother to bring him food, which is why he was sitting about 3 feet from the tree that held the nest.  Each year, we have a Mockingbird that takes residence in this little shrub/tree in our front year.  I decided to affectionately call the little guy Mock, in part to the whole him being a Mockingbird thing, and in part to the fact that he has the most adorable grumpy old man face.  I enjoyed observing him from afar while he was on the front step.. it wasn't until he left the step that things got a little more animated.

 Mockingbirds are known for their "wing display," why they do this is often contested but non-the-less it is definitely something that fledglings learn from their parents, because Mock jumped off the front step and started strutting his stuff. 

Here are a few pictures of Mom from a few days before...

Here is one more of Mock, this time he had spotted me and decided to lay low and not draw to much attention to himself... look at his grumpy little face.

This time of year it is especially important to keep an eye on your pets when they are outside, especially if they like to go after moving objects (My dog Max is always on the look out for a fledgling).  Equally as important, birds are wild animals, they are MEANT to fend for themselves.  If you come across a baby bird, or really any baby animal, unless it is CLEARLY bleeding out, they will be fine, you don't have to interfere on their behalf, I guarantee Mom is somewhere close by (Mock's mother was sitting on the wires above my yard THE WHOLE TIME I was taking his picture).  Remember we live in THEIR habitat... they don't live in ours.