On Monday, I was at Balyang. I sat down at the mating tree and looked over at the nest where the mudlarks liked to hang out.
They were gone.
It was a bit of a surprise. They were there the day before, but I decided not to photograph them and look for bugs with Sethy instead.
I felt a bit sad. I’d been watching them for weeks. I know it’s silly to bond with chicks, especially considering not all of them will survive. But I’d watched those parents working their butt off for weeks. I wanted a happy ending.
I heard the chicks calling. I looked a bit higher. It turns out the babies had left the nest and were sitting one branch up!
On Tuesday, I went down with the goal of getting more photos. I only had a one hour trip the day before, as I’d spent the bulk of the day at Buckley Falls with Sethy. I looked at the branch above the nest.
They weren’t there!
Again, I heard the chicks squawking. I looked up. They had made their first flight across the water and were high up in a tree near one of the seats. 🙂 It was pretty awesome to see. The parents are still feeding them and they are very much hanging out in a group. You can also clearly see the chest markings. I’ll be looking into them later to see if they are indicative of anything.
I was walking home when I saw a mudlark flying into a tree. Normally, I wouldn’t care. But this tree is very well defending but a protective willy wagtail.
It turns out another mudlark couple are at the start of their family journey. And the cycle continues 🙂
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