We’ve got a blackbird nest in the clematis right next to our back door. We’ve been watching them sit on the eggs and feed the resulting chick for months.
The other morning we woke to find the chick happily sitting out in the open on the paving in the middle of our back yard.
There are cats that regularly patrol around our neighbourhood as well as larger birds, so after a bit of deliberating I stuck some gloves on and carefully moved it back onto the nest.
Next day it was out again, so it is obviously ready to fledge, but this time it stayed in much better cover so hopefully it learnt a lesson!
It’s currently hiding underneath our daughter’s toy car. The parents are still actively feeding it and we’ve blocked up the usual easy-access approaches for the cats.
It’s high drama to see if it will learn to fly and get up off the ground before it becomes a meal.