The baby scrub jay that my neighbor saved from certain death (click here) has fledged and is spending lots of time in the shrubs in my backyard while his parents try to teach him how to survive. Baby birds are irresistible to me. Their exaggerated Walt Disney cartoon beaks are so cute. I watched Monday afternoon as the little guy tried unsuccessfully to figure out how to bathe in the cool waters of the fountain. He couldn’t coordinate his body movements to get the bath he seemed to want so badly. But, his instincts kicked in when a hapless honeybee flew into his mouth.
In the first shot the bird cocks his head a bit as the bee flies directly at him. Next, the baby bird had enough instinct to clamp his beak down on the bee but sadly, not enough instinct to hang on and swallow. In the final shot, the bee makes a quick getaway and is seen as a blur flying out of the beak. The good news is that the little jay finally did manage to splash a bit of water on his body so at least some of his instincts finally kicked in.
