The Fledge!

The fledglings, minus one who had already flown the nest. They are grey with little white marks under their eyes. Good camouflage. 

It only took 24 hours and the youngsters were at the edge of the nest, flexing their wings, doing deep knee bends, flutter, flutter. I watched the first one fly off the nest and was received by papa across the driveway. The other two took lots of time deciding. Ma was chirping wildly at them since morning and I finally decided I needed to do other things. Awhile later and the nest was deserted and quiet was restored.

The adults will be keeping the kids secluded in their hidden places while the little feathers come in. They really can fly yet (no tail feathers have come in) but can have bursts of instinctive flight. Since I've been researching cardinals I know they won't be setting another set of eggs in this nest. They start all over. In fact, mommy is probably out there getting ready to construct a new nest while pa takes care of the young'uns. It was a lovely day for the testing of the wings!