Ann Margret & Conrad

So Wyatt and I have a bird's nest in our front porch lamp. We first noticed it several weeks ago and have been watching it ever since. At first, the only bird we saw was a small little brown bird so we named her Ann-Margret (from Bye Bye Birdie) (Mom's idea - awesome). We couldn't tell if there were eggs in there or not but she'd fly out of there every morning when I'd leave for work and then she'd be back in there when I got home at night. We were starting to become pals. Well, I got home from work one day and Wyatt tells me that there is a bird stuck in the lamp. I said, "Is it Ann-Margret?" He says, "No, its a bigger bird with red on it's chest." I went to look at the lamp and sure enough, there was a much bigger bird stuck in the lamp. Now I know you've all had an experience with a bird flying head first into your closed window or seen one fly into one of those big mirrored office buildings - it's awful and it's just so obvious that they don't understand the concept of glass. This bird could not for the life of him figure out how to get out of the lamp. He was flapping around and spreading his wings as far as he could - it was awful. I will be honest, at first I thought he was either trying to steal Ann-Margret's nest or (worse) that he was one of those egg stealers and had gone in there to eat her babies... I did not feel so sorry for him then but I wanted him out so that Ann-Margret could come back! Wyatt very carefully took the lamp down and crazy bird flew out, then Wyatt starts yelling for me. He said, "Cat, Ann-Margret had already laid her eggs." I'm thinking, oh no, the crazy bird ate them, or he stepped on them. Then Wyatt says, "The eggs have already hatched!" AHHH!! So then I was really worried that this bird squished them or that because Wyatt was touching part of the nest that Ann-Margret would never come back - I gathered up my courage and looked into the nest and saw 3 semi-feathered blobs of chewed grape bubble gum... that's what they looked like - the best part was, as far as I could tell all 3 blogs were moving. I told Wyatt to put the lamp back up and I went to google to see how to raise super brand new baby birds since I just knew Ann-Margret was not coming back. Thankfully I was wrong. By the time I got back downstairs with tears in my eyes to tell Wyatt that everything I had read said to just let nature take it's course... Ann-Margret was back in the nest!!! :) To make a long story a little shorter... this big boy bird has come back several times - he has now figured out how to get in and out of the lamp and we're assuming he's the daddy - his name is Conrad. The babies are thriving and I've even seen Ann-Margret feed them a few times. I'm sure she and Conrad had a hysterical conversation about him getting stuck in the lamp - I wish I could have heard that one. So, sorry for the super long post but it's been an exciting time watching this new family build and grow and struggle and survive. Here are a few photos and a little video of the babies.