robins

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.