Eggs to "fly"

Springtime at my house means that the birds have been busily building their nests in the ivy since March and we have our first (of many!) crop of baby birds learning to fly. There are several that invariably drop out of the nest and get squished on the driveway. But most of them survive and they are starting to learn to fly. That involves "gliding" out of the nest onto the ground (a good 20 foot drop!) and landing...much like the Allied gliders did on D-day in WWII...heavily! They generally hop around for a few days...we usually find several that we put in the bushes so their parents can find them and feed them. Then they start flying around...usually very low level (a few inches off of the ground) and fluttery, with an uncertain guidance system. This morning one nestling was flying away from me (a good thing since I'm viewed as "danger"!) but was heading straight for the chain link fence and could not figure out how to climb and fly above it. He ended up flying into the fence and hanging on the chain link, nearly upside-down, until I had passed by. Then he "gracefully" plunked to the ground, hopped around and flew off to the bushes...flying a mere two inches above the asphalt. This rite of passage is applying to my own hatchlings at home...my youngest son is getting married Friday. He's left the "nest" for a couple of years before but didn't have too many adult responsibilities while he lived in Argentina. This time he's going to have to fly through rent, bills, insurance and lots more "grown-up" stuff. I'm sure that he and his bride will have a few "kerplunks" in the next little while, but it is time for this little birdie to fly. He's ready for grown-up manhood! I love this kid dearly...but I'm excited for him to be off building his own nest!