Natural selection...

Bad news comes in pairs.. 

I went to the backyard to check on the Yellow Vented Bul Bul chicks.
One of them was missing.
The last time I saw them both was this morning.
In a short span of time, the hatchlings were growing at a rapid rate.
It took merely days for feathers to grow on their body..

The chicks calling out for its parents..

This was the last shot of them together

I have been warned.. 

When I posted the photos of the chicks and its parents feeding it on Facebook, some friends had warned about natural predators like crows and such.
In the real world term, its natural selection.
That's why animals give birth and lay as many eggs as possible so that their hatchlings could survive.
As humans, we mourn the loss of our child and it could be hard to swallow.
For the bird, I guess its tough luck, better chance the next cycle.
I really doubt it that I would witness another nesting in our backyard, nevertheless, capturing the pictures of the egg till it hatched and eventually the chicks growing up to this point, was a real excitement.

Last of the Bul Bul chick.. 

The odds are stacking..

It's kinda funny that the adult Bul Buls were not guarding its young.
There all sorts of predatory creatures in our neighbourhood from the Brahminy kite to crows and other slithery critters.
I suspect that the crow or myna might have some part in the abduction and killing of the young chick.
Way I see it, the surviving hatchling has a 40% chance of survival in the next few days if nothing gets to it.
I really hope to see this young Bul Bul grow and fly away from its nest.. 

A surprise visitor at our backyard..

Our little jungle

I went to my backyard to check on a family of cats.
Apparently, the dogs had sniffed out some kittens on the pandan leaves.
To my surprise, I found a bird's nest on the Bougainvilla tree which was planted by Michelle, my wife.
Upon closer inspection, I found two eggs inside it.

The bird's eggs...

There was a little commotion when I checked out the content of the nest.
In the distance, there was a Yellow Vented Bul Bul. 
I guessed that it was the mother that flew off after I opened the backdoor.. 

The female Bul Bul incubating her eggs

A game of patience... 

I've never captured a female bird nursing her chicks before.
And this was a great opportunity to do so.
The nest was almost at eye-level and since it was just a few feet behind my toilet on the ground floor, I thought it would be good to set up a hide and observe the Bul Bul.
I made some reference with a book by D&K on birds. 
Seems that it takes about 10 days for the eggs to hatch. And another 15 days for the chicks to grow its feathers..

The day finally came: Our Bul Bul's chicks

A new arrival..

So, there I was, preparing to go to work on Tuesday after a long break.
I noticed that the pair of Bul Buls were not around. 
And when I checked their nest, two chicks had just hatched.
Probably a few hours earlier.
I was very excited to see the featherless chicks that were huddled together.
Then, in the days to come, I set up a hide in my toiled and peeked out to get a good view of the chicks in their nest.
Each time they felt the bougainvilla tree vibrate, one of the feistier chicks would extend its neck out.
Then, the mother came with food.
This was repeated every 10 or 15 minutes.

The mother feeding its young

A new beginning: the proud momma and her chick

Eating machines...

It seems that the young Bul Buls are eating non-stop.
They have a voracious appetite with the parents working around the clock in search of food
I don't think this is an issue as the neighbourhood has an abundant supply of insects and larvaes.
It would be very interesting to observe the Bul Bul chicks in the days to come..