A sanctuary for wildlings

Adventures of a bird rescue & stray kitten

As some of you may know from my Notes, I’m a mother of one human child, two cats, and two puppies. I have my hands full with family & household upkeep, and ongoing research projects. Well, a few weeks ago…the most beautiful babies fell right into my lap. Here’s some video snippets that I thought you might enjoy, and this post serves as a timestamp of a unique life experience. I hope you enjoy the clips as much as I do.

April 26th, 2026. My son and I rescue baby birds following a blue jay attack on a nest.
It was a cold, windy, and very wet day. The babies were mostly featherless, so we had to act fast.

Thankfully, I had my chicken heat lamp to keep them warm, and I began to research what native finches eat in preparation for feedings. Note: every year, I watch jays attack the nests of finches roosting in our cypress trees. Nature can be so cruel!

After researching what finches eat, I went with filtered water, finely ground mealworms and wild bird seeds and lightly steamed and pureed vegetables (to make it creamy).
I proceeded to feed the babies by dipping a dropper into the “gruel” and offering it to their open mouths. It felt natural.
I wasn’t sure where this would go, but every 15 minutes for approximately one week, I fed them every 15 minutes.
Here we are three days later, on April 29th:

Sometimes trying to feed wiggling bodies meant that I dropped the food on them, so they also needed a warm bath. :)

May 1st:

May 6th, I decide it’s time for them to get some sun and outside sounds:

We do this every day, after this. I try to keep them connected to the world I hope they’ll soon re-enter.

And then, this happens:

Stray kitten rescue! Gosh. Who can say no to a face like this? My son named him “Bartholomew.” Emphasize the MEW. He’s a talker! We had to bottle feed for one day, and I slowly introduced ground beef with water and some pureed zuchinni/squash/pumpkin with pasture-raised butter. He loved it!

Here’s “Farty Barty” enjoying his foot for a snack.

So here I am, bouncing between bird feedings, kitten feedings/potty training (he needed help the first few days, he was too small to go on his own), and my other animals!

Talk about feeling like an exhausted new parent. I was reminded of the early days of diapering/feeding/tending to my baby boy. :)

Here are the other goofballs I am caring for in-between baby-care:

Back to the birds:

By May 14, they’re feathered and content hanging out on my patio. I bring them in each night so they’re safe in the closet. As they get stronger, they’ll eventually venture out and come back as they wish.

Then, they took their first flight. Also on May 14th. I was stoked to catch their first launch on camera. Then again, I’m watching their activity like a hawk!

After spending the 15th flying from chair to table and back to the chair… on May 16th, one bold birdie decided to do the big jump off the top floor patio. :)

I know that baby finches rely on their parents to feed them for a while after leaving the nest, so I’m prepared to walk the property to feed as necessary. As I went down to look for the baby (I heard his call), I found him hanging out here, and brought him back up to reunite with his siblings).

I expect this will happen more frequently. It shows me that they’ll soon be ready to launch and rejoin their wild family. Ahh. This has been the most rewarding experience. It was tedious, time-consuming…but worth every second.

I gave him another nice meal and now he’s taking a little nap in preparation for his next adventure.

Ta-ta for now!

If you would like updates on these sweet ones, you can catch snippets in my “Activity” section or Notes. :)

Love, Kat