Fledgling Rescue

Blue Jay 

A few weeks ago, on one late afternoon, we noticed  our cat, Oliver meowing at a window. when we looked out, we saw a fledgling blue jay sitting right outside the glass. My dad went out and nudged it on his finger. It was very calm so we all got to hold the bird. We then went to the front yard to try and find the parents.  A little while later they showed up and started fussing at us. We put the blue jay in a small red oak tree in our front yard. We wanted him high enough that a cat couldn't get to him, but low enough that it wouldn't hurt him if he jumped out. The parents fed their baby until nightfall and the little bird spent the night in our tree.

The next morning, we saw the parents feeding the bird again but this time, with the help of a mocking bird. The mocking bird was also dive bombing the neighborhood cats to keep them away. We think they must be friends.

After the baby had been fed, the parents coaxed him out of the tree and taught him to fly. He had some trouble with landings, but by the end of the day they were flying together and we see them around a lot.

Baby Mocking Birds 
Last week, we had another baby bird situation. We found two baby mocking birds. One in the front yard, and one in the back. We caught them both and put them in an old Easter basket. Both of them seemed very nervous. we then hung the basket in a tree and went inside. The mom and dad found them immediately and started to feed them. One bird jumped out of the basket about 10 minutes after we hung it, and the other one stayed for about 2 hours and then jumped out with the parents.

We saw them a few days later, learning to fly just down the block. they weren't doing so well at first, but we think they got the hang of it because we don't see the family around.

4th guest, Ground Skink

These two images are of our latest guest, the Ground Skink, which is a common reptile found in many parts of Texas. 

Description:

Also known as the Little Brown Skink, the Ground Skink is probably our smallest guest so far! Their species' average length is about 3 to 5.5 inches, but our was smaller than that!

Native or Not?

the Ground Skink is native to the Southern U.S and northern Mexico.  

Diet: 

We fed this little guy flightless fruit flies, small crickets and ants. 

Habitat: 

We found our Skink along a small stream in a friend's backyard. 

Any Special Behaviors? 

Our Ground Skink hid for many hours a day in some store- bought pet moss, and rarely came out for food. 

Release: 

We released our Skink in our backyard near the same spot we had seen another run by. 

P.S- Sorry we haven't posted in a while, we've been on vacation for the past week!