Football, Philosophy and the Natural World: My Little Cheep Cheeps

Proud Parents:
Cheep Cheep (on left) and Cheeper (on right)

For the most part my little patio garden is devoid of any living things besides those that creep or crawl....or shimmy (is that what snails do?). But every spring, for the last 3 years I have noticed that a couple birds (actually 4 last year) seem to find my hanging spider plants an ideal location to nest. But never before has it resulted in chicks. The first year it rained and a gutter broke and practically washed all the dirt out of the pot along with nest. Last year a ornery old cat came and knocked the plant over, (I still don't want to think about what happened after that).
So this year I made sure I moved my hanging spider plant to be both out of the rain, AND in a place that felines can't reach. And just like clock work, my little birds came back! There were only two this year (I had 2 doves also last year, but I think the cat ate them because there were feathers....lots and lots of feathers...)
And sure enough they made a little home in my spider plant! When I got home from Alaska, about two weeks ago the pair, Cheeper (Momma bird) spent most of her time in the nest, while Cheep Cheep (Poppa bird) spend most of his time "cheeping" at me and trying to distract me from said nest.
Then about a week and a half ago I was outside watering my plants when I heard the weirdest noise. It was like a high pitched screeching noise. Kind of like an "eeeeeeeeee". Then as suddenly as it began it would stop. Meanwhile Cheep Cheep was practically having a heart attack and jumping all over the place, fluttering around me, and getting much closer than normal. That was when I realized I was getting awfully close to the nest with my watering can. So I backed away and took a seat at my patio table and waited. Soon Cheaper was back, and she took a sort of incremental path to the nest watching me the whole time while Cheep Cheep was STILL jumping around making a racket and trying to distract me. She wouldn't fly up there if I was looking right at her, so I had to hide behind my sunglasses and turn my head a little in the other direction. Then she'd go from her lookout on the fence to the olive tree....wait, and check on me...then from the olive tree to the bistro table.....wait, check on me again....and then quickly up to the nest, where I immediately after heard "eeeeeeeee".
My birds had babies!!! Hooray! I was super excited. It sounded like two or three, but I never got close enough to actually look in the nest because I was afraid that Momma and Poppa would have a heart attack and die, or worse, abandon their little ones.
For about a week after that as soon as I got home from work I'd open the sliding door and listen to my little avian family. And it was always the same routine. Cheep Cheep was the lookout, and first responder whenever I stepped outside on the patio. He was relentless in chirping at me and never stopped until I went inside. Cheaper was a diligent mother going back and forth, back and forth, with food for her babies. I think she trusted Cheep Cheep to keep me distracted because she never went out of her way to ward me off. She only made sure I wasn't looking when she flew into the nest with her mouthful of green little worms and insects.
I managed to take a photo of the nest from afar by holding up my camera, and zooming in, but it's not a great shot, and I didn't dare try to get any closer for fear of attack by Cheep Cheep.
And then on Sunday morning I noticed a strange silence outside when I opened the sliding door. I stepped out, and Cheep Cheep wasn't there to holler at me. I got close to the plant and whistled, but still nothing. I have no idea how long baby birds take to leave the nest, but it seemed awful quick. I looked around on the ground hoping I wouldn't find little chicks with broken necks anywhere. I didn't.
Then on Monday when I got home from work I almost got dive bombed my Cheep Cheep on the way to the front door. I was like "What the heck?!" as I hurried to unlock the door and rush inside. I peered out the window, and even then Cheep Cheep was fluttering in front of it trying to distract me. I tried to see if maybe somehow the little chicks got out of the nest but couldn't fly, but Poppa was having none of it. I gave up.
Then on Tuesday I was walking to the front door again after work and a little tan and brown striped bird flew up and crashed into my screen door, then got stuck fluttering in the corner of the building. It was swerving (as much as a bird can swerve) all over the place, half falling then, flying up, then tumbling back through the air. At first I thought it was injured.....but then came Cheep Cheep and Cheaper to the rescue (yes she joined in this time). They practically dive bombed me, and there was birds chirping, and flying things everywhere, and me freaking out in the middle of it all. Finally Cheeparito (the baby) managed to remove himself from my doorway and I was able to dash inside. I spent the next half hour at my kitchen window watching the FedEx, UPS and mailman get harassed by the worried parents. It's much funnier when it's not happening to you. I only saw the one chick, so I don't know if there were others that died or what.
Yesterday I was finally able to grab a couple photo's of my little family or squatters. Cheeparito doesn't look like mom or dad, but he is also much harder to see on the ground than they are, so maybe it's to protect him. I am wondering if his feathers wont change when he is older. I've heard of some birds laying eggs in others nests, so that's a possibility too. Either way he's pretty cute.
As of yesterday he can fly...sort of. And all afternoon he fluttered around the yard and bushes and mom and dad were right behind him. Cheaper is feeding him still. Or maybe she is trying to teach him what to look for and how to feed himself.
You might be wondering how I can tell Cheep Cheep from Cheeper, and it's mostly based on behavior, and the fact that Cheeper always feeds the baby. She stays on the ground looking for bugs and whatever only paying attention to me when I am super close, while Poppa is always between us, and ALWAYS watching me and ALWAYS making noise.
Anyway, I don't know a darn thing about birds really, so all of what I've written is just based on what I saw. Who knows? I could have it backward. Maybe the dad's feed the babies and the moms do all the guarding? I don't even know what kind of birds they are! But I've enjoyed observing them and learning a little about them through good old fashioned observation. Here are a couple photos of the happy family!