justice league of mama birds

the other day i went out into our backyard.
to see if we have any tomatoes yet.
our tiny garden is near a robins' nest
built in our swingset fort.

around the nest, in the fort, on the fence,
were more than 20 mama birds,
freaking out.

i immediately thought they were
stealing the baby birdies,
or trying to kill them!
(so sad, but true)

i started clapping and shooing
them away.

as i got closer i saw a GIANT
blacksnake curled up in the nest,
eating one of the baby birdies!

the mama birds of all kinds,
not just robins,
were united together,
trying to get rid of the snake.
it was amazing.

mm took his trusty hiking stick
and poked and prodded the snake
until he got annoyed and left.
he dropped the birdie that was in his mouth,
but turned and picked up another!

after some more poking,
finally he gave up,
left the birdies,
and slithered through the grass
back into the woods.

the justice league of mama birds
followed him the whole way,
squawking, screeching, pecking,
letting him know not to come back.
wow.

if my little birdies are ever in trouble,
i can only hope the justice league of mamas
will be there for me.
or at least mm with a stick.

p.s. two of the three birdies survived.
not too bad.