We're ending our Sarah's World summer series with "Sarah looks out the window" this week. For links to the other parts of this series, look to the right sidebar under Sarah's World posts.
Now Sarah observed...
“Birdie loves how soft our yarn has made her nest.”
“I think so,” replied Margaret, “because she stays in it a lot.”
“I think so,” replied Margaret, “because she stays in it a lot.”
The girls brought some berries inside from the bush after they ate breakfast this morning. When Birdie came over for some, the cousins were surprised to find out why she had been sitting in her nest so much -- they saw three pale blue eggs with brown freckles!
“Birdie!” the girls exclaimed, “you’re going to have chicks!”
The girls noticed that Birdie was the one always sitting on the eggs. “Look how nice Loudee is,” Sarah said. “He’s bringing some food for Birdie, so she doesn’t have to leave her nest.” Birdie did leave the nest sometimes, but it was never for very long.
Margaret pointed up toward the sky, “Look... while Birdie is sitting on the nest, Loudee is always nearby on a higher branch. Sometimes I see him on the garage roof.”
Margaret pointed up toward the sky, “Look... while Birdie is sitting on the nest, Loudee is always nearby on a higher branch. Sometimes I see him on the garage roof.”
Sarah added, “He looks like he’s keeping guard.” He was keeping guard, and he would make brave sounds from his high perch to scare off anyone that came by.
One day the girls saw one of the neighborhood cats come into their yard. Right away Loudee made some noisy calls, but the cat paid no attention. Sarah thought they should go out and chase the cat away to protect Birdie and her eggs. But before they could get up, they saw Loudee fly down toward the cat and hit his tail! The cat jumped, not knowing what had happened. Here came Loudee again, and this time the cat scampered off!
The girls could not believe their eyes. “Did you see that?!” they blurted out. “Loudee must be the bravest bird in the whole world to be able to chase a cat away!”
The next day, Sarah and Margaret were outside when the same cat jumped up onto the fence. At the sight of it, they remembered brave Loudee and hurriedly chased the cat away. Loudee, who had started making those warning sounds, saw what they had done. He flew down to the berry bush where the girls were standing, flapped his wings, and gave a “hew, hew” to thank the girls for helping protect his family. The girls knew they hadn’t been as brave as Loudee. After all, it was just a silly little cat to them. But they were glad Loudee saw them do it.
Ever since Loudee and Birdie had finished the nest, they no longer woke the girls with their loud chirping and whistling. They did still chirp and whistle, but now it sounded more like soft music. The girls were very glad for the change.
they woke up to an entirely new sound. Going over to the window bright and early, they saw three baby mockingbirds, chirping as loud as they could. “The babies are here!” Margaret said. “But, where are Birdie and Loudee?”
Just then, Loudee came with some food for the hungry chicks and Birdie followed right behind. As the girls watched, the mother and father birds were kept busy finding food for the babies.
Sarah remarked, “Most baby animals are cute, but baby birds sure are ugly! Their eyes bulge out and they don’t have any feathers.”
Her cousin added, “And for babies, their skin looks old and shriveled. Did we look that ugly when we were first born?”
“I hope not!” Sarah cried.
Mom had come into the room as the girls were talking about the baby birds. Putting her arms around them as they watched what was happening outside, she told the girls that all babies are beautiful to their mothers.
Sarah, looking up at her mother, asked: “Even when they look like that?”
Her mother kissed her on the forehead and said, “Yes, even when they look like that.”
One thing the girls had been wondering about was why Loudee and Birdie would fly to the ground whenever the yard was being mowed. They weren’t the only birds that would do that.
“Why aren’t they afraid of the lawnmower?” asked Margaret.
“I don’t know. But all those birds seem excited to get on the grass after it’s been cut,” Sarah said.
Today the girls were going to find out why the birds were so excited about lawn-mowing day. The mower was so loud it was hard to hear the babies chirping for food. But soon Birdie came from the lawn with something for her babies.
“It’s a grasshopper!” the girls cried. Again and again, Birdie and Loudee would come with some kind of bug to feed to the babies.
Then Sarah figured it out! “The lawn mower makes the bugs come out of hiding in the grass and the birds are able get them!” She looked at Margaret and asked, “Do you think all the bugs taste the same? Or do grasshoppers taste better than the squirmy ones?”
“I think they probably all taste like bugs!” Margaret responded as she turned up her nose.
Between the bugs in the yard and the berries on the bush, there was plenty of food for Loudee, Birdie, and the three babies. And the babies grew fast.
The neighborhood cat must have been able to hear the babies, because he tried a few times to get into the yard. But with Loudee and the girls keeping watch, Birdie and her babies were kept safe.
Within a few days, the three babies were starting to look more like birds. Their feathers were coming in and the nest was beginning to look crowded. Since they were starting to move about, they were now bumping into each other. The girls would laugh at their funny antics in the nest. The babies also kept up their noisy morning routine of asking for food.
After a week...
the babies were big enough to get out of the nest and hop about the tree. They no longer woke the girls with their loud chirping for food every morning. So Sarah and Margaret would get up early themselves and go straight to the window to watch them test their wings and fly from one branch to another.
It was clear to the girls that the babies weren’t babies anymore and would soon be leaving to live on their own. One morning, they saw Loudee and Birdie perched together with their three young ones gathered around the nest one last time, and after singing a happy song the three young birds took to the sky.
Sarah and Margaret were waving goodbye to them from the window, thrilled for the three babies they had seen grow up.
“What are Loudee and Birdie going to do now?” asked Margaret.
“Since their babies are gone, they’ll probably fly to new places,” Sarah said.
As the girls were talking, Loudee and Birdie came to the window. Margaret gave a chirp and a whistle and Sarah said, “Be sure to come back to see us, and we’ll take care of the nest for you if you need to use it again.”
The birds responded with “hew, hew,” then whistled a pretty song for the girls and flew away.
“This was an exciting way start to our summer!” Sarah said. The girls stayed looking out the window, remembering and laughing over the fun they had had with their friends, Loudee and Birdie.
This finishes our taste of Sarah's World ... if you'd like to read more about Sarah and her friends, please look for our stories on Amazon using the links in the right side bar. And for links to the other parts of this series here on the blog, look to the right under "Sarah's World" posts.
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