Summer is here. I only go out from the office at 1:00 pm to go to the gym and back at 2:00 pm but I am wincing and complaining. I don’t look good either, sweating so much walking in that 100 meter walkway stretch.

Then I think about the little bird in the nest outside our window. You see, birdie batch #3 had hatched – this time, there’s only one bird despite the fact that there were two eggs in this latest batch. We don’t know what happened to the other egg. We just woke up one morning to find out it wasn’t there anymore. The lone egg hatched about 10 days ago.

It hatched just in time when the temperatures rose and summer came to Dubai, declaring it’s arrival from the top of its lungs. We were worried for the tiny, fragile creature.

For days, mommy and daddy bird alternately sat on the nest to protect the young bird from the heat. There could never be a clearer explanation of parental love than this. The two birds would sit there, huffing and puffing – hungry and thirsty while the baby bird stays in the shade. We attempted to put food and water but it would only attract other birds, endangering the nest and the little bird.

After 10 days, the little bird wasn’t so little anymore. It got bigger and stronger with time. It even attempted to bite when Pristine extended her fingers to touch it! Look at that face! Mean little fellow!

We’ve seen them feed the little one too.

This morning at 9:00 am, both the mom and dad bird weren’t around. The baby bird was huffing and puffing as the weather got really hot. My mother who stays in our house was worried while we are away for work and school, thought of some ways to help — looked for a box or something to take the little bird in. She was away for all 10 minutes and when she came back, the little birdie had died. 

I wish the birds wouldn’t nest near where we can see it again because little creatures as they are, it pains to know and see another death even though it is expected. We know birth and death is part of nature and it’s survival of the fittest, especially in the animal world. We just didn’t expect to see it this close, right outside our window.