A face only a mother could love

I'm sure some of you bird lovers are wondering about those 3 robin's eggs. Sure enough, I received text messages of congratulations in my hotel room from family back home informing me I was a proud Gramma of two. Two so far had hatched on Thursday. When I arrived home Friday, all three were alive and well.

Here's a series of daily pictures of the babies starting with Friday.

And finally, today (Tuesday)

Now it's hard to imagine in that (dare I say) ugly mass of flesh that there is anything alive or responsive. But when Mom or Dad arrive with a worm dangling overhead.....

Like stepping on the garbage can lever....up come those lifeless looking little heads!                           

And why not with such delicious offerings!! Yum!

I'm amazed at the dedication of Mom and Dad. I mean, I remember being a new Mom and the exhaustion I felt from no sleep and always tending to the baby (singular)....letting your own needs take a back seat to the baby's needs. But honestly.....I didn't have to do nearly as much as this young couple! They spend the entire day from dawn until dusk searching earnestly for food and bringing it back to the nest, while watching at all times for danger and fending it off. Poor innocent sparrows or finches who might want a drink nearby - they get dived at and told in no uncertain terms to get lost. Thankfully, so far these parents are leaving the humans alone to come and go as we please!

I hope to post some videos of the feedings before too long. It should get interesting as these babies rapidly grow and become more visible and vocal. I've read that often the weakest of three is left to fend for itself while the two strongest are nurtured and taught to survive. I'll have a hard time watching that if it happens, but I've promised myself I will not rescue an abandoned robin baby - let nature take its course. A robin who doesn't learn to survive in the wild, but lives out its days in a cage in a house with worm feedings would not be a good thing!                                                                                     

Here today, gone tomorrow

I've been steeped in "Robin 101" this past week.  I remarked to a neighbour that a robin built a nest by our front door and she said that the sooner we get rid of it the better. I didn't have the nerve to tell her that not only would I not get rid of it...I have excitedly set up a tripod permanently by the front door to capture the moments. I consider it a privilege to watch nature up close in action, even if it becomes a bit of a nuisance. How often except by webcam do you get to view this kind of activity up close? (See the robin building her nest in the previous post here)

I've had to rely on the internet to try to figure out this bird. I had no idea about the nesting habits of robins and I was perplexed by this new porch guest.  Why would this bird spend a full day and a half - I'm talking no breaks or lunches - to build a nest, and then leave it? We kept watching and she wasn't coming back. My husband said maybe it was a 'decoy' to throw off the enemies, and the real nest was elsewhere. I couldn't believe she'd work that hard on a decoy.

Finally, she was spotted for a short time around noon on the nest....but gone again, not to return until the next day at noon for an hour or so.  ??????

I began to read some wonderful stories on the internet from others who have watched robin nesting - oddly enough from ridiculous vantage points. One was built on top of a front porch light...another in the drip pan of a barbecue (barbecued omelette anyone?)...and yet another just under an open deck umbrella...(that woman had to put the umbrella down because of high winds, so she put the nest in their basement until the next day....and you think I'M crazy!)

But the most curious thing I learned was that the robin will lay one egg per day and then leave. She will return the next day to drop another egg, and so on, until she is finished and then she finally stays to sit on them so they will hatch around the same time. I also learned that the easiest way to check out what's in the nest is to place a mirror over it to clearly see the eggs when Momma is off for a worm and a drink. Of course I had to drag out a chair and stand on it to get a camera shot.

Sure enough.....day one.....one egg.

Day two...another.






 

Day three....a third.









 
And finally four eggs.

Yesterday, however, I noticed Momma eating something in the nest. The fourth egg had been fragile and must have broken, so she cleaned up the nest, and now there are three. And so we wait.

Apparently, the eggs are kept warm for about two weeks before they hatch, and then the fledglings take about two weeks to grow before they leave the nest. I am scheduled to be away for a couple of nights next week for work related training and I'm hoping I don't miss any of the hatching process.

The final points of interest I learned was that the robin will return to the same nest again for a second brood in the same season....and that they will return to the same location the next year and fix up the old dwelling if it's still there, or else rebuild. I don't recall any requests from Momma for a permit.

 

Momma is very patient with all the people activity at the front door. Just when you think she is going to stay there while you enter or leave, she quickly exits the nest and returns shortly after. I'm sure she appreciates the stretch of the wings and a quick worm from the garden, drink from the concrete bird bath, and back to settle down on the eggs. Dad is trying to ward off the pesky blue jays who are making their presence known trying to raid nests in the neighbourhood.

This morning when I peeked out the door first thing, I caught Dad putting some food into Momma's mouth. That was the first I'd seen him at the nest and it was so cool to see the support between the two to get these babies hatched and ready to face the world.

Most of us live busy lives....coming and going and not even noticing what's happening all around us in nature. Yes, we sit up and notice when a volcano erupts and disrupts our flight plans, or get disturbed at the ecological crisis as a result of a serious oil spill in an ocean. Birds, insects, butterflies are all indicators of the health of our environment. When we can learn a little of what their world is like, it helps us appreciate the balance, beauty, and necessity of the creatures with whom we share this earth.

Take some time from the rush and check out what you can see outside your front door. It might surprise you what you've been missing.

If you come visit, use the back door

I made you all a couple of little amateur video clips for your viewing pleasure one of which is accompanied by music that will lull you to sleep and make you think you're watching a nature show. Don't worry, I didn't narrate. Check them out at the end of the blog post.

We have a new porch guest that I assume will be taking up residence soon. This lovely lady literally spent more than 12 hours Monday working on her nest right outside our front door, and was back at it finishing up the next morning. She went shopping for materials in my gardens all day long, and brought mud along to hold it all together. I always leave some prime nesting materials around when I clean up in spring, instead of throwing it all out. ("Ooooh, that would be great for lining a nest - I need to leave some of that out! The chickadees can gather up our dog's fur, so I'll spread that around"....etc).

It was so cool last year to watch the cardinals' nest outside the bedroom and to hold hours-old baby cardinals in my hand. It was phenomenal to watch baby blue jays learning to fly in the backyard last summer and enjoy a brief moment of a baby sitting next to me on the swing. I am sure it is those same two blue jay siblings that still stick together and come around to the same tree even now. So this year will be a new experience with a momma robin right beside the door we always use and by the porch lights that are always on. Unfortunately, knowing what I've heard about robins, our lives might be in danger!

I exaggerate....but I don't relish me, my family, or guests being dive-bombed when we're coming and going. So I'll warn everyone I know about momma robin if you value your head...steer clear!....mmmmm.....except for those pesky sales people that come a-knocking. No....I've got my tripod set up inside the door to film the baby robins....but I just might get some great comedic shots of sales people running from our house. This could be all good.

Here's what Dad was doing while Mom was working her little heart out. Why DO Dads seem to have more fun?
(The Picasa 'embed' feature does not seem to be working for the videos. You will be linked to my albums instead of viewing directly here - sorry)

Here's Momma. Stay tuned for the eggs and babies!