I'm suffering from empty nest syndrome

No, seriously. My nest is now empty. What nest do I speak of? The bird's nest that is on my front porch, in the corner of the awning. I have had birds in it pretty much non-stop since last summer--even had one live there this winter--but it is now empty. I did catch some pictures before "my" babies left though.

Here is one of my momma bird. They are House Finches.

And these are "my" babies.

Don't you love the feathers sticking out on each side of his head? There were actually three of them, but you can only really see the two. If you look closely to the right of the picture, you just can see the third one's head. He was camera shy, and the best shot I got of him was his tail feathers.

All three of "my" babies.

These pictures were taken the day before they left the nest. I was trying to get a picture of momma feeding them, but never got the shot. And daddy was just being stubborn--I tried on multiple days to get a picture of him, and as soon as I would get my camera, he was gone. I guess the camera shy baby took after him.

I actually got to see one of the babies leave the nest--the one in the center of baby pictures. He was a camera hog, and not the least bit scared of me, so I have lots of pictures of him. I came in the day after these pictures and it was like he had been waiting for me. He looked straight at me, squawked a bit, almost like he was saying goodbye, and out of the nest he jumped. With me standing right there, watching every move! It took him just a second to steady himself, but then off he flew. The other two were still in the nest, perched on the edge, but by the time I made it in and got my camera, they both had flown away also.

So, I guess it was a wonderful, but very sad day for me. I had watched as mommy and daddy perfected the nest, laid their tiny eggs, hatched them and helped "my" babies grow and leave home. The mommy and daddy birds had even gotten used to me being on my porch and thought nothing of flying in and out of the nest, feeding the babies while I sat and watched. The daddy had to squawk at me occasionally, but I never kept him away.

And now they are gone, even mommy and daddy. And my nest sits empty.