birds

What Happened Nest…

By Stephanie

This summer, a pair of robins built a nest on top of my back porch light, right outside my backdoor, and consigned me to using only the front porch for the whole month of June.  And I (and you) got to watch as the eggs appeared, and the babies hatched and grew.  It was magical thing to witness so close.

Also this summer, the family next door moved away.  As she was in the middle of the chaos of packing up her house, my neighbour mentioned to me one day that she always collects a bird’s nest from every house that she lives in.  But her husband had already started his new job on the other side of the country and she was having to pack up the house and move the (5!) kids all on her own, and I suspected that she never got a chance to collect a bird’s nest.

And I have a beautiful nest sitting empty right outside my back door…

So today, we very carefully took it down.

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It came away without too much difficulty and all in one piece.  It was made from sticks and leaves, as you’d expect, but I was intrigued to see string, yarn, and bits of dried grapevines (complete with old grapes!) tucked in there as well.

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We put the nest into a bag to keep it safe.

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And then wrapped it in tissue paper…  just because.

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And packed it up with all the love and care that I package my yarn.  More, probably — this is precious cargo!

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And, just like that, the little nest that gave three baby robins their happy start in life was ready to travel all the way to the other end of the country.

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Where, I do believe, it will be absolutely cherished.

And Then There Were…

By Stephanie

Now, I knew that baby robins grow quickly…  in theory.  But watching it happen right outside my back door has been nothing short of breathtaking.  In less than two weeks, they’ve gone from this…

To this…

And the very next day, they started perching on the edge of the nest, contemplating the big leap down.  I didn’t want them go — I’ve grown so fond of them there, just outside the door.  But they can’t stay in the nest forever.

And yesterday, when I went to check on them, there was only one left, taking his time about leaving — and sinking down into the nest in the hopes I wouldn’t notice him…

When I went to check again today…   the nest was empty. 

Goodbye baby robins.  Take care in this big world. Such a bittersweet feeling…

Crack… Crack…

By Stephanie

And without warning, we went from three quiet blue eggs to three blind, naked, wonderful hatchlings…

The nest is in such a place that I can’t get my head up there to have a look — I have to hold the camera up over it and take pictures, and then have a look at them on the camera to see what’s in the nest.  And, as I looked at the first few images, the babies looked so lifeless…  I was suddenly heartbroken at the thought that they might all be dead.

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And then one of them raised his head up and begged the camera for some food, and I realised with relief that they were fine!

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Fine… and growing fast!   This was them only 48 hours later.  Look at all the feathers coming on their wings.

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And this is them today, only 5 days after the first photos.  Incredible how much they’ve grown!  My first thought is how much work that must be for the parent robins, to get enough food to them to support such rapid growth…!

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Aren’t they amazing?  It’s been well worth not being able to use the back porch through all this lovely weather, just to give these beautiful babies a chance to hatch and grow.

Eggs is Eggs!

By Stephanie

Every day I sneak a quick peak out the window, hiding behind the curtain so as not to frighten our Mama Robin and, every day, I see either just her tail feathers where she’s happily settled down, or catch her warily eyeing me back.

Today when I peeped out, she’d just flown away for a moment, so I quickly dashed out to check the progress…

Still eggs!

(And she’s back on the nest as I type.)

An Announcement (Yes, THAT Kind of Announcement!)

By Stephanie

One of the best things in life must surely be spending a breezy summer afternoon sitting on the back porch, with a nice glass of wine, listening to the birds and spinning wool into yarn.  Absolutely magical!

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Except today I am on the front porch instead of the back, and this is why…

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Last week, while I was away for a couple of days, a couple of plucky robins decided to build a nest on top of our back porch light, right next to the back door.  And every time we go in and out, or even just sit out there, they get so nervous that they leave the nest and fly to the apple tree, screaching for us to leave.  And I really want them to feel secure and comfortable, because this is what’s inside that nest…

That’s right, folks!  We’re having babies!!!

…And hanging out on the front porch for the time being.