In Which a Baby Fledges

Yesterday I found a sweet little northern mockingbird fledgling in my Texas ranger bush out front. Mama and Papa Bird were flitting about, screaming at me to keep away. It had disappeared when I went to church, and when I returned I let the dogs out in the backyard, as usual. She, who had been Bird Killer just a few days before, started barking and prancing around the rose arbor. Guess who was sitting atop the arbor, with Mama and Papa sitting in my nearby desert acacia? Within the hour, as the sun sank beneath the trees, it was gone, hopefully to its own snug nest for the night. Herewith, Baby Bird: