I've been taking mockingbirds for granted; they always seem to be in my yard and I haven't spent much time trying to take pictures of them.  I'll start to.

Look carefully at this happy little guy.  See the puffball in his lap?  It's a content sleeping fledgling.  Baby birds generally ought to be left alone, but once in a while you come across one that's been played with already, like this one.  I have to hand it to Donald; he was extremely gentle and the baby mockingbird eventually hopped back across the lawn and mama looked after it - the bird mama, not me.

I expect children to play with available fledgling birds, but this one below was handed to me at work by a grownup.  I had to bird-sit it until lunch and then go find its mother.  They were happily reunited, and she was feeding him lunch, which I never got that day, before I left them.

Baby birds should be left alone, and nests should not be disturbed.  This nest was a few feet away from my bedroom window.  I listened to an awful lot of hungry chirping before I got close enough to get a quick picture.

I'm glad I didn't wait any longer, because I only caught one chick in the nest.  Another chick was hopping around in the branches nearby.  I thought I caught a glimpse of a third, but I did not want to bother them for too long so I didn't stick around to search.

I debated posting two of these next mockingbird photographs; they aren't my best, but the silly bird leapt to the lower branch and the under wing shot was too fun to resist even though it wasn't very clear.

That's my best shot so far of the distinctive white and grey that flashes past you when you are unfortunate enough to get closer to a mockingbird nest than mama is comfortable with.  Squirrel, human, or anything in between - if you appear to threaten her young, she will try to shoo you away.