Lately it has been my habit upon waking up to make a beeline for my study with a very special purpose. I have been on chick watch since a mother bird decided to build a nest in the tree right outside my window. So this morning, I run through the house, turn on the coffee machine on the way and glance through the window. The mother is gone. Two possibilities: a cat got her or she went to get some food. I go outside and grab the ladder, and hereI see this huge baby bird looking at me instead of the six tiny little chicklets or so I was expecting. For all I know, he might have been born some days ago and I didn't know it, because the mother still sits on the nest with him. I say “him”, but I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. Couldn’t see and wouldn’t even know where to look or what to look for on a bird. At any rate mother and baby are doing well, and I’m off to work. It’s going to be a good day.