Empty Nest

The last bird flew the coop this morning. When I opened the living room blinds this morning, I saw that the bird was standing on the edge of the nest - just like his siblings had done yesterday afternoon. I called Pippi and Harry to hurry and come downstairs - because I thought the bird was going to fly soon.

They came and watched.

A parent bird came and fed the little one.

He settled down into the nest and I sent Pippi to get dressed.

I even let them eat their breakfast in the living room, so in case the bird decided to fly they wouldn't miss it.

About quarter after eight, I opened the window so that they could hear it and be clued in if something was happening (they were also reading the comics at the time). And I reminded them that in 15 minutes we were going to have to leave for school whether the bird had flown or not.

But as I turned my back to go back into the kitchen they both started shouting: He flew! He's gone! He flew away!

And so they didn't miss it - I did - but I saw the two yesterday, so that's fine with me. I'm so glad they saw it.

"It's not like it's a once in a lifetime experience or anything," Pippi said.

"It might be," I reminded them - you usually don't have the opportunity of a nest right outside your window. After all, how often does a person get a chance to see a bird take his first flight - and know it's the first flight?

And now the nest is empty. And as far as my question as to whether the birds come back to the nest. It doesn't appear they do. They've achieved their freedom. Good for them. I'm just so glad we were able to observe them from the time of their hatching until they flew away.

Flying the Coop

Mere moments after I took this picture, while I watched from the window inside the house, these two birds flew away. I saw their first flight. I knew the one standing taller in this picture was ready to fly. I was surprised that they both took off at the same time. I was even more surprised when the first bird flew right at the window screen (which thankfully I had lowered a moment before - I had opened it in the hopes of a better picture). He grabbed at the screen with his feet and clung there for a second - as I stood on the other side too surprised to do much. His brother had flown away with no obstacles. After a few seconds, the first bird flew away also. They leave a sibling in the nest. The third bird seems quite content to have all that space to himself.

Now - the question is - do these robins return to the nest tonight. I guess I'll find out!

Birdy Update

I think the birds are going to start flying soon. They're spreading their wings. And the three babies barely all fit in the nest anymore. One of them keeps standing up and flapping. Any day now, I think he's going to give flight a try.

I love the fact that this is all right outside my living room window and I can sit on the sofa and watch it all unfold.

The Baby Birds

I've been watching the baby birds the past couple of days. I'm thrilled that I'm able to do that while sitting in my living room. If I want a closer look I can go up to the window - or even out on the front stoop - but I can happily see them while reclining on the love seat.

And what I observed the other day was the mother (and the father too) bird feeding the babies about every 20 minutes. Even when one of the parents weren't there, the babies often had their beaks open - even while they slept - in the hope that a delectable morsel of worm would drop into their mouth.

When the mother (or father) did appear with some food, the birds all bobbed their heads up and down - trying to be the one who got his beak closest to the food and therefore got fed. I couldn't tell, from my vantage point, if all the babies got fed every time, or only one or two. But I did see that that mother spent her day digging up worms to feed her hungry crew.

I remember when my children were infants - and they wanted to nurse every couple of hours. It was exhausting, and I remember wishing for the day when they would eat at regular meal times. Perhaps Mother Robin is wishing for the day when her babies will be able to dig up their own worms.

The babies are getting bigger now. They are losing their fuzz and have feathers. They have the red breast markings of a grown-up robin. I imagine that soon they will be learning to fly.

My children are getting bigger too - they're testing their own wings - as they skip rocks down at the creek for half an hour before we have to leave for Mass tonight.

I'm glad that it takes human children a lot longer to reach 'flight' than it does for birds. The years I have with my children are precious to me - they've progressed past baby, toddler and even 'little' kid stages. They're big kids now. Pippi is even a tween, I suppose.

Watching the baby birds grow from hatchlings to fledglings is reminding me to appreciate all the stages my own kids go through.

And it's just plain fun to watch the birds in their nest every day.

Poetry Friday - Kind of

It's almost Mother's day, so people are posting poems about Mothers. That makes perfect sense.
However I've been watching the mother bird outside our window today, with her (at least) three little hatchlings. And decided to compose a ditty (I'm afraid to really call it a poem) about her.

Baby Birds and Mama

Little beaks open wide
Hoping for some food
Mama feeds them
Bits of worms
Then settles down
Snug inside her nest
Her babies safe beneath her.
Is this what we call babysitting?

One Egg Hatched

I was sitting, in the living room, working on my lap top, and gazing out the window (you can see how much working was going on) and I noticed that the robin was standing on the edge of her nest looking in, as opposed to sitting nestled snuggly on top of her four eggs.

Naturally, I had to sacrifice work time to go to the window and see what was up. And I was glad I did.

What I saw was a little newly hatched bird. So new that it was like a little wiggly pink ... something ... (I'm kind of at a loss as to how to describe it) it didn't have feathers - but a little bit of fuzz here and there. It was moving very awkwardly, as if it couldn't figure out what moving was all about. And while I watched, it managed to get itself into position to put its head up, and open its beak. That was when the mother bird put the little bit of food she was holding in her beak, in the babies mouth. The baby immediately opened its mouth for more (the mother ignored it.)

Later I saw both mother and father robin looking at their newly hatched baby. Then the mother settled herself back in the nest again (I guess it's okay to sit on your babies if you're a bird) and I suppose will wait for the other eggs to hatch.

I'm so glad the robins built their nest where we can see the baby birds from the living room window. It's quite a treat.

Nesting

The robins are back. Can you see the bird in the picture (her beak has a ray of sunshine on it.) This time they were considerate enough to build their nest where we can easily see it from the living room window. There are four little blue eggs.

I love the thought of the little baby birds being right out our window when they hatch. And with the window view we don't have to worry about scaring the bird awy when trying to see in her nest from the front steps. It really was very considerate of her.