Baby chickadees

These baby chickadees are off to a great start in life. They’ll be flying away soon and I can’t imagine what their future holds. Five tiny nestlings, five different futures.

They’ve had the very good fortune to have hatched inside a nest box provided by our dear friend, nature lover Greg Grant. Outside a beautiful, wild landscape is waiting for them that seems lifted out of a storybook. 

When Greg told me they were chickadees, I was amazed. I hadn’t realised a chickadee was a real bird – I thought it was just an affectionate folk name for all birds, like dickybirds. Or crickaballs as my sister used to call them (there’s a story behind that but I won’t go into it now).

I’ll show you a glimpse of Greg’s garden outside the nest box in the next few weeks: I’ve been meaning to for far too long. Setting aside all his other credentials, he’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.

In case that description makes him wrinkle up his nose, I can also vouch for him being a man of action. He heroically saved me by taking immediate action when he spotted that fire ants were swarming up my leg. I had put my foot on a mound while trying to get a picture of a rose. Not a single one bit me.

I think this is the rose, though Greg may be able to correct me:

So that’s my promise for the future, made as a response to this week’s photo challenge.  Make sure you hold me to it!