The Robins

There has been plenty of activity with the robins over the last few days.
June 20th: This is the hanging basket of flowers (with the nest) on our front deck.

The next few pictures are not the greatest because I was inside the house, looking out. I witnessed some amazing moments, for example: hungry baby birds (I saw many feedings as well but wasn’t able to get a decent photo); trying out their wings (not going anywhere yet though);  and, three baby robins checking out the world. June 21st: Ken peeked into the nest before leaving for work Thursday morning and when he did, one baby bird flew out! We didn’t peek in anymore after that but I noticed (from indoors) that the nest was a lot quieter for the remainder of the day. I’m quite certain another baby left the nest early Thursday morning because I saw only one baby getting fed throughout the day and that baby wasn’t as lively as the others had been the previous day.

June 22nd: On Friday morning I noticed the remaining baby robin sitting on the top edge of the nest. Even though I took this picture outside, the baby didn’t leave the nest.  It sat there for about seven hours before it flew away. I thought that would be the end of our wonderful adventure with the robins but the baby birds couldn’t fly well and didn’t go far. They spent a couple days in a variety of spots in our front and back yard.  A neighbour has a cat that is allowed to roam free and we were afraid it may attack the baby birds. At one point, one of the baby birds was perched on the fence near the cat. One of the adult birds went and sat protectively with the baby for a while. A few other neighbours (not the ones with the cat) were outdoors at the time. Several of us were keeping a close eye on the cat/bird situation. It was especially scary when the cat was walking along the same fence the baby bird was sitting on! The mom and dad birds are very protective of their little ones though and when their baby was in danger, they both swooped down on the cat and frightened it away.

Mommy, or daddy, bird was never too far away from the babies. They didn’t swoop down on me but I knew by their ‘tone’ (a certain warning sound that I have become familiar with) when I was getting too close to their babies and I would back away. The hair on their heads stood on end as well, much like Little Bear’s back hair stands on end when he’s being protective.  The mommy and daddy birds continue to feed the babies even after they left the nest (for how long, I have no idea).

The last of the baby birds left our yard on Saturday, June 23rd. I think they’ve made their new home in one of our neighbour’s trees because the mom and dad birds haven’t gone far. I see them on the roof of our shed from time to time. They continue to get food from our lawn and fly into our neighbour’s trees with their catch of the day (or hour) so I’m assuming it’s for the babies.

I won’t likely be witness to anymore of this bird family’s story but it will always be a very special memory.