Branching

Alpha baby is out of the nest.... expanding horizons, but not fledged. Baby was on branch when I arrrived at 9am, back in nest at 10:37, out on branch at 10:58 and back in nest at 11:05. Out again at 11:34 and back in for lunch at 11:50. The last was the funniest return, a mad dash for food, sort of like watching a ski beginner on a new slope. There was nothing skillful about it. The periods of repose are easy on the nerves, but watching this baby explore the branches is nervewracking. Will there be a fall? Will there be an attempt to fly west? Into the river? On the other hand, if all the babies move onto the branches and test their balance skills there it's going to get very funny.

Mama delivered a rat at about 10am. It lay in the nest until noon lunch. I don't think the babies can rip their own food yet. They examined the rat, but they didn't begin eating until Mama arrived and did some ripping. Food pictures will get posted later. The final image of this blog shows the three babies with Mama in nest before lunch.

For now the star of this blog is Alpha Baby who is doing a fine job of testing his horizons.

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