Crisis in the Adams yard

This morning I was about to fix a down spout in our front yard. I stepped towards the spout and my foot hit a small bird and it let me know in no uncertain terms that it was not happy. I looked down and saw a baby Grackle. It was no real surprise since the Grackle have a nest in the small evergreen tree about 5 feet from the corner of the house where the spout was. However, the cry of the little one alerted mom and dad and suddenly I became a target for angry diving Grackle. I rushed in the house to find my camera and returned to find at least four baby birds scattered about in the front of the house among the rocks and shrubs.

Needless to say, there was panic in the yard. Chirp ... chirp ... chirp ... warned the adult birds. They were relentless in their insistence that I move away from their little ones. I took several photos and a few of them are shown below. Note that one of the little ones didn't make it - I didn't notice it at first because it was difficult to see in the rocks. By this afternoon the birds had hearded some of the little ones in a row of Lilac bushes about 30 yards from the tree and behind our house. I don't know how they got them there. I did see a squirrel run for its life from the Grackle protecting their young.