This story started out as a single blue egg, which was laid on May 3, 2010. I immediately went to my online resources and learned that American robins lay 1 egg per day, up to 4 eggs on average (some can lay as many as 6, but it's rare).
Sure enough, 4 days later I discovered 4 little blue eggs in our nest! Our mama bird must have been an average kind of gal, because she stopped at 4 :)
Baby robins were born on May 19, 2010 and they were instantly hungry!
It took me a while to realize that only 3 of the 4 eggs actually hatched. 4th one was a blighted ovum... The natural selection works its wonders in nature too..
Mama robin worked tirelessly to feed her hungry offspring and warm them up.
From my bedroom window I could see the nest very well and every time I would sit down to nurse Nicholas, I would watch the life unfold right outside my window. Mama and papa robins flew back and forth all day long bringing fresh worms to their babies, protecting them from predators, and cleaning the nest.
Om May 27th the babies lost all but a little mohawk of their baby fuzz.
And started growing real feathers.
Then we went to Park City for 4 days and I missed my feathered babies. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I came back and saw the following in the nest:
Babies weren't babies anymore! They lost all of their fuzz, got real feathers, and looked more like mischievous teenagers. Now ready to fly! It was June 2nd.
It was a "The Birds" moment for me. I went out in the backyard and saw the baby birds sitting on the edge of the nest ready to fly. I also noticed that our backyard was full, and I mean FULL of chirping birds. Not only robins were there to support their fellow birds, but also finches and other creatures whose names I, the amateur bird watcher, don't know yet. I thought for a split second of running in and grabbing my camera, I turned around and then the mama and papa birds literally tried to attack me! The next thing I knew baby birds were flying across the lawn while their parents were circling around me and chirping very loudly. Other birds cheered on all around the trees. The babies made it safely onto the tree across our yard. Then suddenly I realized that something has changed... The yard was QUIET. All the birds were gone, just like that. Weird...
Sure enough, 4 days later I discovered 4 little blue eggs in our nest! Our mama bird must have been an average kind of gal, because she stopped at 4 :)
Baby robins were born on May 19, 2010 and they were instantly hungry!
It took me a while to realize that only 3 of the 4 eggs actually hatched. 4th one was a blighted ovum... The natural selection works its wonders in nature too..
Mama robin worked tirelessly to feed her hungry offspring and warm them up.
From my bedroom window I could see the nest very well and every time I would sit down to nurse Nicholas, I would watch the life unfold right outside my window. Mama and papa robins flew back and forth all day long bringing fresh worms to their babies, protecting them from predators, and cleaning the nest.
Om May 27th the babies lost all but a little mohawk of their baby fuzz.
And started growing real feathers.
Then we went to Park City for 4 days and I missed my feathered babies. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I came back and saw the following in the nest:
Babies weren't babies anymore! They lost all of their fuzz, got real feathers, and looked more like mischievous teenagers. Now ready to fly! It was June 2nd.
It was a "The Birds" moment for me. I went out in the backyard and saw the baby birds sitting on the edge of the nest ready to fly. I also noticed that our backyard was full, and I mean FULL of chirping birds. Not only robins were there to support their fellow birds, but also finches and other creatures whose names I, the amateur bird watcher, don't know yet. I thought for a split second of running in and grabbing my camera, I turned around and then the mama and papa birds literally tried to attack me! The next thing I knew baby birds were flying across the lawn while their parents were circling around me and chirping very loudly. Other birds cheered on all around the trees. The babies made it safely onto the tree across our yard. Then suddenly I realized that something has changed... The yard was QUIET. All the birds were gone, just like that. Weird...Now the babies were out in the real world.
Good-bye, baby robins. Thank you for giving me hours of entertainment and joy! Good luck in the real world, be careful out there!
Good-bye, baby robins. Thank you for giving me hours of entertainment and joy! Good luck in the real world, be careful out there! I am still amazed that it took less than a month (from May 3rd to June 2nd) for the baby robins to incubate, hatch, grow, and now fly away... Life goes by so quickly!
P.S: As of today, I still see my baby robins come and visit me in the backyard. They sit on the fence and "talk" to me :) Call me crazy, but I can recognize them. They're all grown up in size but still have the spotty chests compared to the adult robins who have orange-colored chests.
Life goes on!
3 comments:
That's pretty awesome to see all that unfold in your backyard. We definitely aren't in tune with nature as humans used to be.
oh man what an awesome post!! made me tear up! that was so interesting to see their progression. life is amazing!
ohhh, so cute!!!!!! loved the period with chubchiki
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