An Empty Nest

After 4 weeks of watching mama robin incubate her beautiful blue eggs and then care for her adorable fluffy babies the nest is finally empty.

(Fledged - August 1, 2009)

I watched the babies fly out the day they fledged. At first the brave one tested one wing outside of the nest.



Then it hopped onto a branch and just wobbled a bit.



Finally it took flight for a very short distance as mama bird waited for it to land on the ground. Then it's sibling made the leap. Finally the 2 of them (one egg sadly never hatched) hopped under the protective shelter of a conifer where mama was waiting. They seemed far too young to my inexperienced eyes for them to leave the nest, but it was getting crowded in there as they grew. Of course mama will continue to watch them, guide them, feed them, and care for them until they are much older but all of that will take place away from the nest.

I must admit I'm sad to see them go, but happy they are starting a life of their own. I used to talk to them every day when I went out the back door to water the flowers and they always stared at me with those big beautiful innocent eyes.

(Eggs laid July 6, 2009)

(2 days after hatching - July 22, 2009)

(7 days after hatching - July 27, 2009)

(10 days after hatching - July 30, 2009 - not quite ready to leave the nest, but almost)

And so life goes on.... another miracle has unfolded before me.

They Hatched!

This morning I heard the sounds of sweet peeps coming from the burning bush outside our great room window. I quickly ran to get my camera since I knew that sound could only mean the robin eggs have finally hatched. They must have hatched sometime late yesterday because earlier in the day when I looked there were still only eggs in the nest.


Look at how precious they are. So very small they can't even lift their heads up to feed but Mama is bending down to feed them and Papa is standing guard while she does. I only see two hatched in the nest and there were 3 eggs. I'm not sure if a third baby is hiding beneath the other two or if it just hasn't hatched yet. Either way I hope it's still alive.

I'll keep photo journaling this wonderful sight and share it with you as things progress.

Where's Waldo?

Let's play a game of Find Waldo.


Hmmmm.... What's outside my great room door?



A closer look and you'll see some leaves.



The leaves belong to a large burning bush that is right beside our deck and just a few feet from our French door.



Well nothing looks unusual here. But I hear something rustling around in there. Let's gently move some leaves.



How beautiful a robin's nest! The vivid tiny blue eggs in a color so perfect only Mother Nature could have created it.



The mama robin has been nesting for about a week now. The nest is very close to the outside edge of the bush and at eye level. I barely moved the leaves to get this picture and made sure I didn't touch the nest. Mama squawked at me the whole time so I quickly took the picture and retreated back in the house. I think she built the nest during a particularly rainy period when we weren't using the deck so she probably thought it would be a quiet location. Well surprise - with the weather being nicer the windows are now open and we are going in and out of that French door. At first mama robin flew off every time we even looked out the window. She seems to be a sensitive one and flew off when our TV was too loud. But now after a week of putting up with us she seems to be used to us and realizes we mean her no harm. We can now walk right by her and she doesn't fly away. She doesn't even mind Ellie hanging out on the deck! I think the eggs will hatch in about another week. How exciting it will be to watch the babies grow.


Let's see what else is in my yard....

Notice anything in this picture that doesn't belong?



Let's take a closer look. Can you see it now?



How about now?



Yup that's a rabbit hanging out in our lettuce bed.




This rabbit was quite large, but so very cute. I couldn't chase him away because his big brown eyes were adorable. As long as he doesn't dine too much I'm okay with him hanging around. After all I think there's enough lettuce for all of us! Bon Appetite little fella!