Yesterday started as a normal Sunday. We got up, went grocery shopping, picked up my parent's lawnmower and came home. I went into our room to open the window to the yard. It was going to be a hot one, and I wanted the air to circulate. As I did, I noticed some birds in the backyard.It turns out we had a family of Hungarian(grey) partridges in our backyard. I had no idea what type of bird they were at the time. I searched online to find out. We have seen them around at other times during the year. Usually they are across the street on the green patch.
They stayed in our backyard most of the afternoon. They had 8 babies which were so cute. I was a little wary because we have a neighbor who has an outdoor cat, but nothing seemed to be happening in that department. We all went about the rest of our morning and naptimes.
At about 3pm we heard a loud squeal and some complaining from our backyard. Jonathan and I knew exactly what that meant as soon as it happened. I ran to the bedroom to look out the window and all I could see was the parents and one baby. The rest must have scattered. I went outside to check. I saw one baby by the very back fence and of course the parents flew away. Then I heard the inevitable "Meow" from behind me. She was hiding under our bush. I shooed her away so the birds could make their escape.
Jonathan brought the kids outside and then we began to set up the pool. That's when Jonathan noticed a little 'treat' on the sidewalk by our back door. He buried it in the neighbor's garden, since it is their cat. We saw the parents and the rest of the babies together last night. I hope they are all right. I felt so horrible for them and still do. A neighborhood is no place for wild birds and the cat next door has killed another bird before this one.
Curiously, she never leaves these 'treats' for her owners, but always on our lawn.
It was a nice surprise to see them in our backyard and I felt very blessed to have had such an encounter. Especially in a big city.
