In Our Next Episode . . .

It's time to stop watching those daytime soaps {do you though, really?} and come over to my front porch - because that is where ALL THE DRAMA is truly happening . . .

When last we met, the aviary world had been turned on its head as Blythe Cowbird cruelly abandoned her two eggs in an unfavorably small - and otherwise occupied - nest built and owned by Frank and Francisca Finch on the Lee Family front porch.

Hoping her intimidating offspring would squeeze out the competition of the Finch's three soon-to-bes, Blythe remained on the down low, keeping her eye on the nest and swooping in if intervention of any kind became necessary.

As such, necessity dictated that Blythe 'off' at least one of the three Finch eggs to give her babies a better chance at a successful life, and so without batting a bird eye, she stealthily removed an egg from the nest in the early hours of the morning without remorse or repercussion. As egg number three joined two and one in the file marked "Finch Family Mysteries", Blythe tweeted sinisterly and perched back on her branch to watch the rest of the story unfold.

Within a day, Blythe's selfish desire was made reality as one of her two eggs hatched in the nest, producing a brown, featherless, bulging eyed son named Guido. The birth was in great part due to the faithful and watchful care of Francisca, who though endearing, was also a bit thick in the head and seemed not to notice that she had been sitting on two eggs much too large for her feathered derriere to cover and much too large to inhabit a carefully crafted microdwelling such as her own.

Unfortunately for Blythe, her willingness to cast off her parenting duties to another also meant a lack of awareness to the daily goings on outside of the cozy hanging basket home her son Guido now shared with his soon-to-be sibling and two small Finch eggs.

A large human male {gasp! shock! say it isn't so!}, once tipped off to the birth of Guido, quickly removed Blythe's second egg from the nest and placed it gently in the soil of the hanging basket. Blythe, realizing that her dastardly plot had been exposed, quickly removed Guido from the nest while no one was watching. In her haste she failed to remember that she is not built to carry such a load, combined with the fact that Guido's eyes had not yet opened and the entire extraction went awry, leading to the unfortunate demise of one Cowbird at a very early age.

Back at the nest, Francisca happily, and most cluelessly, continued her motherly duties without recognizing that her room had suddenly become much roomier. In two more days time her twins, Filippe and Flora were born, completely oblivious to the drama that had proceeded their entry into the world.

Meanwhile Blythe, ashamed and forlorn over the loss of Guido, kept her distance from the Finch nest, knowing her arrogance had cost her two of her precious eggs - for there sat her other egg, rotting in the soil of the hanging basket. Blthye vowed never to neglect her parental responsibilities again - at least not until five days from now, when she will, without fanfare, lay at least twenty more eggs in nests not of her own building.

And the little Finch family, hoping for five new offspring, but perfectly fine with just two healthy little ones, lived happily ever after. That is until the day they found out their sweet Fillipe had a very large tumor on his neck and may not survive life outside the nest. {seriously}

{Cue suspenseful music}

Stay tuned for more drama and adventure in our next episode of "Days of Our Bird Lives". . .