Nest Update II

Our little cardinals hatched right on time, as far as I can tell. Here they are about a week ago while momma bird was taking a break from incubating:

She's been busily sitting on and fussing over those eggs for about two weeks, turning them this way and that way and keeping them nice and warm. I did not see hide nor hair (beak nor feather?) of the daddy cardinal until a couple of days ago when I saw him bringing some food over to momma bird. 

Today I noticed them both hopping around in the branches of the tree, leaning over the nest to plop juicy morsels into sweet peeping beaks that were popping up and and down, and there has been so much incessant chirping over the past couple of days so I assume the eggs had hatched in the last day or so.

I popped my camera up there to take a picture while their parents were away finding more food for those hungry, hungry babies. 

I didn't see any egg shells in the nest...or on the ground...so...evidently the momma bird sometimes eats the shell to regain calcium or will fly the debris away from the nest and drop it elsewhere. Who knew? Not me. (But these people did).

Once the babies are older, daddy bird might take over the feeding full time so that momma bird can start building a new nest elsewhere. And then by the time she's ready to incubate her new clutch this batch will be flying off o their own, probably in just a week and a half or so!