The Big World, Part 2

Home alone, last kid in nest. What happened next was a surprise.

Papa offered food, but did not actually feed kid.

Baby coaxed out of nest and up the tree, absolutely parent-instigated. This is similar to the hawks branching, but they do it on their own.

Baby now above nest.

Parent still has food and baby is a tree climber.

Fledge now?

No, baby is just going further up tree.

Now?

Not yet.

Now?

Not yet.

Nice view from here.

Baby on different upper branch. Parent right there coaxing.

Parent pecks baby's side.

Parent pecked baby's head.

NOW!

Safe landing. Nothing tentative about this tot.

Previous fledger sitting in bushes.

Third fledgling all over the place,..... in wood chips, on path, now up on wall running back and forth.

Across driveway heading to flower bed. This is one gutsy fledgling.

#2 fledge comfortable in bushes.

This concludes the in-nest robin family. They're now out and about. Papa will feed them for a month. After that they have to be self reliant. This is hard work for Papa. They're no longer in one neat little spot. In the meantime Mama will be building next nest and incubating next clutch. This nest will not be used again.

There are oodles of juvenile robins in the garden, more than I can keep track of. They seem to be falling out of the air. While sitting on th ebench chatting with a neighbor yesterday afternoon one of them practically flew into my lap. First flights are not expert in any way. That they get from point A to point B in any safe manner is a miracle.

Each posting is about 2 days after the actual event. There's a lot happening in the garden. The last of the kids fledged on the 5th.

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