Fledged!!!!

I knew this was going to happen. Got down to nest this morning to find one baby left, Runt. From the parental behavior, they really wanted the kids out of the nest. Runt wasn't ready, but they wanted the kid nest-free. It's not hard finding new fledglings. They don't go far and they make a lot of noise calling for food. One fledgling on branch in pine tree. Other two babies in the bushes a few feet east. Parents catering to kids in this garden space and everyone trying to coach the Runt to fledge. Food being delivered from a branch, not into the nest. Parent calling from nearby tree. Siblings calling. Finally Runt got the message. BUT did Runt fly up or across to an adjacent branch? No! Runt flew down into the woodchips on the ground. Runt is a scooter, back and forth in the ground, under flowers, along the curb. Parent calls from branch. Parent flies onto canopy of building. Parent doing "wheelies" to show Runt that UP is good, but Runt stays firmly on ground. Curb, middle of sidewalk, finally door patrol. Parent tries using worm as lure into the bushes, but Runt totally contented where he is. Watching a fledge is nervewracking because anything can happen,- tangle in bushes, bad plunge leading to death, an untimely meeting with a dog or human foot. At least this little family is out of the nest and hopefully will survive and grow strong. Kids grow big. Parents get skinny.

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Time to leave home???

I will not be surprised if by tomorrow morning somebody has fledged. All the signs are there, stretching and flapping, parents perching outside of the nest space, parents calling from nearby branches, babies following activity outside of the nest and incredible growth spurt and increase in strength. Neighbors are coming back now from the holiday weekend. They stop by the nest to see the kids and the 100% response is, "Oh my God, THEY'RE HUGE".

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Not in my backyard

The robins are fastidious housekeepers. They have to be since the family is going to live in the tiny nest for at least two weeks. The babies eat, then poop (fecal sac) and the parents remove this immediately either by eating the sac, (nutritional value), or taking the sac far away from the nest. Sometimes the deliver is tiny, other times ENORMOUS. This morning I saw a first. The kids are big now, don't really fit into the nest. It's a feather muddle-huddle. Kids got fed and one baby pooped, but its little po-po extended beyond the nest and the fecal sac flew to the ground at the base of the nest tree. The proverbial, when s--t flies. The mama saw that, walked right over her kids and stared down to the ground. That was 9:13:40 a.m. I watched. Mama didn't do anything though. I had to go photograph some caterpillars, so I went off for an hour. An hour later I returned to the nest. Kids still at home. Blob still on ground. At 10:34 a.m. mama flew in with chow and tended to kids. Right after that she flew to the ground, 10:35:47 a.m., took that "trash" and flew it away. Housekeeping inside the nest and out. About five minutes later our human groundskeeper came by with his wheelbarrow checking up on the kids. I showed him the pictures of the mama robin doing her own garden maintenance. His reply, "I watch them, so I don't run over them when I mow the lawn". Thank God!

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Growing Like Weeds

The first sight this morning was Mama robin sitting on a branch outside of the nest and then on a cross beam of the nearby scaffolding. Babies watching her. This is standard pre-fledge behavior the lesson being, see, there's life out of the nest. The next surprise was the kids. They morphed into meerkats with wings overnight. I don't expect a first fledge for a few days, so this was a shock. Time to count nestlings. Could someone have fledged early? I could see three kids. Check the ground. No dead babies on the ground. Wait for first feed. Worms get delivered, three kids jump up. Ah, there's the fourth kid asleep on the bottom of the heap. Fast asleep. No response to food delivery. Asleep? Ill? Injured? Defective? No problem. Mama noticed Sleeping Beauty too and pecked him on the head. Baby opens eyes, but doesn't beg for food. Baby doesn't request food until third worm delivery and then he's the only one fed by parent. But geez, how would you like a pecker for an alarm clock?! And speaking of pecking, after feeding, the parent waits for baby to poop. A clean nest means removing waste immediately. If baby doesn't deliver rear end gets pecked. I've seen this at every robin's nest. Maybe this is where the term "pecking order" comes from. It rained very hard mid-day. Mama stayed on nest wings spread, protecting her kids from drowning. By 4p.m. the rain had stopped. Back to nest. Kids have grown more. This nest is a wonderful muddle of life, but sorting out where everyone is is getting difficult. And don't tell me they're not smiling for the camera.

Growing like weeds

The first sight this morning was Mama robin sitting on a branch outside of the nest. This is pre-fledge coaxing behavior, not due for a couple of days. Then mama moved to the cross beam of the neighboring scaffolding . The babies were watching and as for the babies- they morphed into meerkats with wings overnight. There they were standing in the nest.

After the initial shock it was time to count heads. The possibility that somebody had fledged existed. I counted three kids, then decided to wait till a food deliver flew in. Ah, fourth kid hidden at the bottom of the heap asleep. Really asleep. Or was something the matter??? Sick? Injured? Defective? When food was delivered baby didn't respond. So mama pecked it on the head and it woke up. How would you like to have a pecker for an "alarm clock". Baby, eyes open, didn't rise for food for two feeding sessions, but on the third delivery it perked and it was the only kid that got chow.

After eating the young robins routinely poop. Parents wait to take charge of the "delivery". If child doesn't deliver the goods parent pecks it in the behind. I've seen this repeatedly in this and other nests. Maybe this is what's meant by "pecking order"?

It rained very hard mid-day. Mama sat on nest wings spread, protecting her kids. By 3pm the rain had stopped and the kids had grown more. This nest is getting muddle-crowded, filled with a pile-up of expanding kids.

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Grounder

Down to the garden early this morning. Oh, NO! Grounder still on the lawn cowering along the mesh fence. That means he's been down there all night. I move close and he scurries along the fence line. "Cheep cheep". "Cheep cheep". Papa appears and stops on top of fence. Grounder doesn't know what to do. He doesn't have the vertical thrust to fly up to papa and hasn't figured out that he has to back off to fly over the fence. Instead he pecks at the fence. Papa flies down and feeds him. Grounder can't leave the security of the fence, a playpen of sorts. He sees Papa and siblings in the woodchip area across the path. Well, there's a very simple solution. I go over and raise mesh from bottom and Grounder wiggles under and does the 10-yard-dash, across the path, into the chip area, off to join the family. Freedom! Doesn't stop running. One happy baby doing what comes naturally. Running all over the place. Change name to Scooter.

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