A couple weeks ago I posted about how we had to intervene to save some baby chickadees here. As cute as that was, the cuteness factor was beat last week when the baby chickadees fledged. It’s amazing how just a few short weeks changed the featherless, blind little chicks into fluffy, flying birdies. Four babies took turns stretching their wings and fumbling around in a nearby maple before finally taking off with the parents to a nearby alder grove.

We’ve been delighted and amazed at how many birds now call our little property home. We now have at least 5 breeding pairs that nest here – including chickadees, wrens, house finches and two pairs of hummingbirds. As we’ve added to the landscaping with our small garden, shrubs and herbs we’ve noticed the amount of birds and bugs have likewise increased. It’s not a scientific study or a well laid out experiment, but it is empirical evidence that increasing vegetation also increases fauna.