Chrissie’s Robins

Pictures and text - ChristineMusic – Dancing on the Clouds - Ernesto Cortazar

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emlu June/06

First glimpse – May 7 /06

Once upon a time…….

And then….

“Just thought I'd share the latest developments in the little drama unfolding under my porch eaves. It's not quite the eagle-cam, but kind of exciting anyway. Explain to me how something can be so ugly, but cute at the same time? I'll send more as things progress.”

Two Babies –May18/06

“They just keep coming…”

May 18/06

“Here's the latest – four bald, bug-eyed little, little creatures out, one to go…”

4 Babies – May 19/06

“The latest from the porch.  They're all out, now all they have to do is grow.  And get some feathers, and hold their massive heads up with their skinny little necks...Enjoy!”

All out – May 19/06

“Yes the little birdies are still very ugly.  But getting slightly fluffier.  Maybe.”

Ugly - May 20/06

“… a picture of both parents feeding them - that's the first time we've seen that - up til now I'd assumed it was just the momma bird.”

Mom and Dad – May 20/06

“You can see bits of the wing feathers starting - more advanced on the most obvious one, but it looks like there are little dark dots on others that are waiting to poke through.  And,  I stand corrected – ugly is in the eye of the beholder. Really, they look exactly as they are supposed to, don't they?“

Growing – May 21/06

"The wee birdies just keep growing - it's looking a bit crowded in there.  The parents seem to be spending most of their time finding food to fill those beaks.  They seemed to appreciate the fresh crop of worms uncovered when we turned over the garden on the weekend. In the one picture you can really see the wing feathers starting to develop.  Thinking about them trying to fly is a bit of a worry, with all the cat's prowling around here.  They seem to have figured out something's going on... I actually saw one of the parent robins dive bomb a cat that was wandering around below the nest. Enjoy!”

Hungry – May 24/06

“I keep being amazed at how much these guys are changing every day.  They now have their eyes open, and they're starting to actually look like birds.Check out the little guy on the left in the "EyesOpen" picture with the little fluffy tufts sticking out of his head, looking right at the camera.Can't wait to see what they look like tomorrow!”

Eyes Open – May 25/06

Feed me – May 26/06

“Seems the parents are spending most of their time hunting up dinner - they fly in, choose a bright orange throat to stuff some food into, clean up and fly off to find more.  I'll tell you all about the diaper changes next time... Hope you like these pics!”

Getting Crowded – May 28/06

“We had a bit of a panic Sunday evening...  After being away for most of the weekend it looked like the wee birdies were very hungry, and for the longest time we didn't see either of the grownups.  Started to worry, started wondering what it would take for us instinct-challenged humans to keep these five critters alive if the parents didn't return. 

Figuring out what the worm-producing capacity of the garden might be... trying to remember where I'd seen stores with "live bait" signs.  After a while though, we eventually saw mom and/or dad back with a beakload of grub, and felt very grateful for a reprieve from worm-harvesting worries. ”  

May 29/06

Close up - May 29/06

“They're very good at their jobs right now – eating and growing, making feathers, and maybe thinking about flying?  And what seeds of instinctual collective knowledge are growing inside those little heads?”

Worms Please – May 29/06

The Choir – May 29/06

Tomorrow it will be two weeks since the first egg hatched, so from what I've read, the little guys should be ready to try out their wings soon. 

Now for some good news - bad news:  You might notice that there seems to be only four kids in the nest now.  Good news is there's more room in the nest - bad news is we're not sure what happened to the missing one.  One possibility is that number five has figured out how his wings work already and has flown off to start an exciting new life.  The other possibility is that... well... he hasn't.  I'll let you all decide which. 

I finally got a picture of a worm delivery - hard to do since the parents try to stay away if we're on the porch.  It's kind of blurry, but if you look close you can see how they really stuff the goodies in there. 

So those of you who think this way may be wondering... what happens to all that food that goes in?  Why isn't the nest full of... poo?  It's kind of remarkable actually (and a bit gross).  What happens is the parent arrives with a beakload of worms, and stuffs it into one of the baby's gaping throats.  Then she (or he) stands there for a couple of seconds.  The just-fed baby bird sticks his wee butt up in the air, and the parent bird collects the waste in it's beak.  Just like that: food in - poo out.  Most of the time the parents seem to just swallow it (that's the gross part), but recently I've also seen them fly a little ways away and drop it.  Suddenly changing diapers doesn't seem so bad. 

So that's what's new for today.   It's hard to know how much we'll see of them once the flying starts.  Hopefully we'll be able to see some of it, and at least know how things turn out. 

May 30/06

Feeding – May 30/06

“I was gone all day yesterday so I'm not sure what went on, but as of this morning there are just two wee birdies left in the nest.  And I'm guessing they won't be here for long.” 

Then two - June 1/06

“Well as of lunchtime today there is just one robin left in the nest.  There were two this morning when I left, so I don't think this guy's far behind.  This last little guy is spending lots of time standing on the edge of the nest, stretching his wings - looks like a kid standing at the end of a high-diving board trying to get the courage to jump off. ”

Stand up - June 1/06

“It's been harder getting close for pictures the last little while, compared to earlier on when they didn't seem to notice any disturbance.  Seems they've figured out that people and cameras are not in fact sources of food, and have developed a greater sense of fear.  You could see them sitting up and stretching and moving, then they hear the door make a noise and - quick - they tuck themselves back in the nest.  A good thing, really, since this is a pretty important prerequisite skill for surviving in a world full of things much more threatening than a camera.  So the last pictures are much less clear. 

Another thing  I notice today - when the parents are feeding this last little guy, they're not stuffing it into his throat like they used to.  They're passing it to him, and he's getting it in his mouth himself now.  I tried to get a bit of this in pictures through the door - hopefully you can see what I'm talking about. 

So I'll try to keep an eye out this afternoon, and let you know if anything exciting happens. And send these guys some good, anti-gravity thoughts!”

June 2/06

Fuel for Flying – June 2/06

“I figured it was likely the last little guy was going to make his move today.  He's been standing on the edge of the nest a lot, stretching his wings, making some noise... 

plus it's a lovely day, so I decided to go sit on the porch with some bits of work I had to do, and see what might happen”. 

Ready to go – June 3/06

Wings Work – June 3/06

“He starts peeping, and calling back and forth with one of the parents somewhere off to my right.  He starts flapping a bit, and sort of stumbling a bit…  Next thing I know, he steps out of the nest and flies directly towards me. ”

“Lands on the table right beside me, and stands there for a few seconds before he carries on off the porch.”

Saying Goodbye 1 – June 3/06

Saying Goodbye 2 – June 3/06

(Editorial Comment: Wow …)

Moving out – Jun 3 /06

New Wings – June 3/06

“I followed him around for a bit and got some pictures as well as some video.  Once he gotto the neighbour's backyard, one of the parents was right there, and passed him some foodand it looked like the other parent was hanging around too.  So it seems there's somebody watching out for him, at least for a little while.  Such a dangerous world out there, at least until he's able to get some altitude... ”

Deck - June 3/06

Fence – June 3/06

(Editorial comment: This picture is wonderful !!!)

Can’t get me – June 3/06

Safe for now - June 3/06

“So this is the end of the story for now.  I can't tell you how cool it was to get to be there at that moment, after watching these guys for the last few weeks (we first saw the eggs on May 7).  The whole thing feels like a gift.  It's been fun for me taking these pics, and especially being able to pass them on to you, so thanks for reading!”

Keeping watch - June 3/06

Hope you’ve enjoyed !!!

Thank you, Chrissie, for sharing these wonderful pictures and the most enlightening and enjoyable commentary that

accompanied them…..

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