I've been watching a webcam view of baby falcons, fascinated as every day they grow bigger and stronger. In the beginning they just huddled in a helpless lump. Now, 2 weeks later, they are beginning to have more individual forms. I've become somewhat preoccupied watching them, running to the computer in the morning to count the babies (4) and make sure they're all still all there, panicking if the mama is away from the nest for too long, fussing over the runt and hoping he survives. According to the website, it takes 6 weeks until they fledge the nest.
I also had an up close and personal experience with baby birds in the nest this weekend. A mama robin had built her nest on the boat trailer at my in-law's camp in the Adirondacks. They were just hatched, with scraggly feathers, scrawny necks, and bulging, closed eyes. We even bought a styrofoam container of trout worms and left it out for the mother to "find" to feed them!
