My previous post trumpeted the arrival of one of the two chicks in the backyard hummingbird nest. As expected the second chick hatched the day after.
Today though when I got home from a trip to the office, repeated looks at the nest revealed no mother, and macro shots snapped of the nest’s interior were mysteriously inconclusive as to the presence of any baby birds.
A search of the ground revealed a small clump of feathers embedded in which seemed to be some bird poop, but on closer inspection it was both dead chicks, pictured below next to a large section of the paper-thin shell I’d found yesterday (you can make out the beak of the one in the foreground).
There is much sadness at Hummingbird East tonight, tempered only slightly with the frail hope that perhaps momma cleaned house because there might be more eggs to come.
On a positive note, the two chicks of Hummingbird West are growing strong.
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