For those who've been following the progress of the mockingbabies, we're sorry to report that they have all apparently been taken by predators as of this afternoon. While the nest was fine yesterday and feeding activity continued at high levels, today we discovered the nest is empty. The remains of one chick lay on the ground below, while the other two were nowhere to be seen, nor were their parents. Clearly, predators of some type, most likely hawks, were able to access the nest and take the young despite their parents' best efforts.
While nature lovers know that the circle of life is true and inevitable, it's still rather sad for us to see this nest that we've watched so closely end in failure. We hope the parents have lived to fly off and start again. As for us, My Florida Backyard seems strangely empty now, but we know that wildlife flourishes all around us and that there's plenty of life left to observe and love.
