Baby Blackbirds

For the past month or so we have been watching the comings and goings of a pair of blackbirds that chose to build a nest in a clematis right near our living room window.

As they were building the nest it was very visible as the plant hadn't yet started to bloom. It wasn't very high from the ground but luckily we don't have many cats passing through our garden. 

We kept our eye on the birds activity from eggs to little bald babies

and the cute fluffy stage. (I think they look like grumpy old men here).
 While I thought they were relatively safe from cats I noticed we were getting more visits from magpies and crows (there are more birds nesting in the hedges at the moment) so I kept coming out to shoo them off.

Only one day after that last photo they all left their nest and were hiding in various places near the back of our house. One hopped in to our kitchen and ended behind the freezer. As we were putting it back near the nest site the baby's chirping alerted the parents who then began the shout and swoop at us. The parents were still coming back to feed them yesterday but today there is no sign of any of them. It was nice to have them so close to the house and watch them grow.