Almost Ready!

I came home this afternoon to find Bonnie on the front deck watching the birds. Mom and Dad Robin have become used to us and go about feeding their family whether we're there or not.

They've been working hard and the babies have really grown. Below is a shot of one of the babies I took today. It's almost as big as the parents.

One of the babies, I think it might be the one pictured, took off from the nest and flew about 2 feet to another branch in the tree while we were watching. Then it appeared that it became frightened now that it was out of the nest and didn't know what to do next. It just sat there for about 15 to 20 minutes, hardly moving.

The other babies sat very quietly in the nest as though they were thinking, "Oh, man, is he in for it! We'd better be extra good so we don't get the over spray."

Meanwhile, mom and dad kept bringing in the food and ignoring the missing baby, until finally he worked up the nerve and flew back to the nest.

Now, perching on the edge of the nest, he appeared to be telling his siblings about his adventures and telling them that they're "chickens" not ROBINS.

Three Babies!

We've been away for a few days and when we returned today we found that there are now 3 babies in the nest.

We watched for awhile and mom and dad were kept busy trying to fill them up.

We're Grandparents!

We've been wondering the last few days, if there are any eggs in the nest or not. It's been a couple of weeks since this all started and the nest is located in such a position that we can't see down into it. Since I didn't want to use a ladder for fear of disturbing the nest or scaring the parents away, we've had to settle for waiting it out.

This evening I went out on the front deck just as one of the adult birds flew from the tree. I glanced up at the nest and saw a little head with open beak pointing skyward. I assume that the adult had been feeding it, and the young one was still looking for more after it left.

I watched for a few minutes and the head disappeared below the edge of the nest, but didn't re-appear while I watched. Nor did I see any other little heads.

The Storm

Last evening we had a thunder storm, which seems to have broken our heatwave. However, the winds were very strong and the tree in which the robins built their nest is young and it was knocked around quite severely. I expected to awake this morning to see that the nest or at least the eggs were gone.

As I left for work this morning I checked to find Mrs. Robin in her place on the nest.

Although she looked a little bedraggled, she was hard at work, performing her duties.

I've gained a lot of respect for these little creatures over the last few days!

There are a lot of people, supposedly of higher intelligence, myself included that should take a lesson in dedication and work ethic from this little lady.

Motherhood In Waiting

The nest is complete, the eggs are laid and Mrs. Robins job is to sit on the eggs, with only occassional relief from Mr. Robin, until they hatch.

We've watched her sitting there, hour after hour without even a book to read. The tree is on the west side of the house, getting the full afternoon sun, and she just sits there. The last couple of days our temperature has been in the low 30's C (90degees + F) and she just sits there.
Our son and his wife were out for a visit on Saturday and took some pictures of her, and she just sat there.

Her duty is clear and nothing will disuade her from completing it.
Amazing dedication.

The Nest

A couple of weeks ago, when I got home from work, I found my wife sitting on the front deck. As I approached, she put her finger to her lips, cautioning me to be quiet and tapped the chair beside her for me to sit.

When I was settled, she pointed to a small maple tree about 10 feet from the deck. I peered into the branches and saw a birds nest. As I watched, a robin came flying in with a mouthful of straw and other building materials.

We watched as the bird worked, placing the material and packing it into place in the partially finished nest. Shortly another bird appeared, obviously it's mate, with a load of nesting material in it's beek.

My wife informed me that she had been watching this process for some time. The fact that we were sitting there talking didn't seem to bother the birds to any great extent. The birds were oblivious to us and to our dog who was wandering around on the deck periodically giving low, throaty growls at the cat that was tantalizing him from across the street.