one more photo
I took this photo today, and once again, felt that my photography was just so good that it had to be shared. We went to band the young of this nest, and as we walked up, I saw that the female was on the nest. This is quite unusual when the young are that old, because they are able to thermoregulate on their own by that point, and there is no need for mom to brood them. When she saw us, I suspect that she squished down on her babies extra hard to protect them, but I think she was actually being a little over protective. Soon we saw some heads pop out, then the whole baby squeezed itself up. The nest was in the direct sun at the time, and they all had their mouths open, including mom.
