Never enough

This is not a fledgling from the downstairs nest. Those are still nestlings and totally helpless. This is a newbie I met in the park today.

Today was cold, uncomfortably cold and it was quiet in the park, very few warblers. I did see the common yellow throats, a redstart, a magnolia and a water thrush, but one here and one there is very quiet birding. I was listening to the redstart sing and happened to glance to my left. There sat Fuzzball, an obvious just-out-of-the-nest robin. Maternal instincts right off the Richter scale. It was windy and cold and there sat this baby. I decided to stick around, because I wanted to make sure that Papa was being attentive. If he hadn't been I'm not sure what I would have done, but there was no way I was going to leave this baby alone. In about five minutes Papa Robin arrived with a meal and the fun began. The soil under the branch the baby was perched on was rich in worms. Papa did the yoyo feed, up and down. Feed baby, go down, dig, pop back up with more food and baby kept scarfing it all down. Finally, Papa knew when enough was enough and flew off. There could be a second baby in a nearby tree, but I didn't hear any other baby calling for food. This very well fed baby sat and looked contented. Nap time.

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