Father Jay looks into babies gaping mouths

The family of seven blue jays that braved an East Village fire escape and a neighborhood cat has left their home. A live webcam on the nest on 5th Street shows nobody home. That means the blue jay chicks have — we hope — fledged.

I’m a little concerned because I didn’t see anything of the five babies since once fell on the sidewalk last week. Neighbors picked him up and put him back. I got to meet some very nice neighbors. The couple who lives in the apartment had been keeping their blinds closed for a month so they wouldn’t scare the jays off. They also let me come up and take some pictures and set up a webcam so everyone could enjoy this unusual urban spectacle.

Normally the jays would be down on the ground a day or two before they learned to fly. I hope I see them at my window sill someday.

Momma Blue Jay looks at fire escape nest

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