So just before recording tomorrow's Hidden Almanac, I thought "hey, I bet the chicks need a rock" since they've been sharpening their beaks on the plastic bin.
So I go into the kitchen, where on the windowsill I have a piece of hexagonaria (fossilized coral) from Michigan. It's been up there for close to 18 years, and it will be just the thing. So....
I open up the bin with the babies in it, put down the rock, and the chicks PANIC. The rock is now between them and their bed! Oh no!
So I move the rock to the other side of the bin and everyone runs under the heater and I think "well, that's that for tonight" and close things up.
I've got a podcast to get out the door! Time to set up the microphone and get the script ready and make sure the recording software is good to go. All the usual stuff. Meanwhile, there is a ruckus brewing in the baby chicken bin.
The chicks are AGITATED and there is a flurry of thumps and peeps and more thumps and louder peeps from the bin.
So before I can start recording, I need to see what is going on. And I open up the lid to find both chicks on top of the rock, or trying to both be on top of the rock.
And so I had to move the rock. And get the chicks to settle a little. And I really wish my phone had been charged, because I couldn't get any photos.
I'm not sure what was going on, but either the rock was in the wrong place, or they were playing "queen of the rock" or something. In any case, tomorrow's Hidden Almanac will have extra peeping in the background.
(Also, I'll have to grab one of my USB-C cables to keep in my office so this lack of pictures doesn't happen again.)
(Fortunately @ursulav@twitter.com wrote baby birds into the story-line for times like this)