VPID Null 03 - Baby Birds

It's the nature of things that most often catches my attention, perhaps that, more than other thing on earth. Today I watched two baby birds, no longer nest bound, following their mother about on the grass growing between towering sunflowers. What got me caught up in their chirping excitement was that the mother was picking up various bits of food from the ground and feeding it to each of them in turn. Each of the babies fluttered their wings pushing them back in demonstrations of gratitude. Then they'd gobble down the morsel and dutifully hop and/or flit off in whatever direction mom went. Truthfully, I've never before noticed this behavior in the past. I thought that the chicks dropping like stones from the nest were destined to go it alone, to sink or fly as it were. Now I know better: chicks, like children, need nurturing far beyond that moment when they step into the world... free as birds.