Fledglings and nestlings.

This is the chick (yes baby) Laysan albatross. You may recall way back on one of my original blog postings I wrote about an adult albatross sitting on a nest in a yard. That nest failed. Turns out they were 'just practicing' since these birds do not start reproducing until they are 7 years old! However, here is a successful nest (when I say nest I mean trampled spot of bare ground) with its sole chick waiting for mom or dad to return from the pacific ocean to vomit flying fish eggs, squid, or whatever Fear Factoresque cuisine into its mouth. It reminds me of a scruffy teenager who is really old enough to be on his own, but he sticks around because the fridge is stocked and his clothes get washed. This nestling has almost all his feathers, but his neck and head sport fuzzy gray baby-chick down feathers. It looks ludicrous to me. This bird is huge - as big as a house cat - and it is sitting there waiting for mom or dad to return and bring home some take-out dinner.