A huge clue

The baby robins are still in the nest. In a way that's good. It's cold today and windy. They can snuggle together. If they were out on a branch they could be blown off. I watched carefully. I wanted to see what food was being delivered. Finally, there's an answer to the barfing. The parents are feeding them juicy worms, but mixed in with the worms are tiny twigs from the mulch that's been placed on top of our lawns, brown wood chips instead of grass seeds. It's probably the twigs that the babies can't digest.

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Laughing my head off

Early evening the nestlings get perkier. When I got downstairs at 5:30pm the first born was perched high in the nest watching everything that was going on. When the camera clicked it looked at me. There was a whole lot of shakin' goin' on. If this first born doesn't fledge tomorrow I'll be surprised. Neighbors were passing by, showing surprise at the babies' growth and enjoying their antics. Baby #2 is a bit slower, but who wouldn't be if you had a sibling sitting on you most of the time. It was low light, so I was shooting at ISO 800 at a shutter speed of about 1/25th of a second, not fast enough to freeze action.

At about 6:30pm shortly after having eaten a worm the first born opened its mouth wide and to my amazement barfed up a big brown pellet. If I hadn't seen this on the 23rd I would have dropped my camera. I had assumed that this had been an odd occurance on the 23rd. Today my mouth was yelping, "Holy crap, it's barfing again!" My neighbors couldn't believe their eyes. No sooner did Baby #1 finish when Baby #2 did the same thing. I was laughing my head off. There's such a thing as the bewitching hour. Baby robins have a barfing hour. I went back to the pictures on the 23rd. Same time period. Then I remembered one other picture, the parent robin retrieving something from the bottom of the nest for removal, most likely the barfed pellet. Absolutely amazing. Whoever would have known. I may never see this again. And don't go telling me I'm nuts. This is fun. After ejection is complete life goes right back to normal, preening and dining on more worms.

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Still Two

Getting bigger, but not yet fledge-ready. Maybe they're hunkered down due to the heat and humidity. Mama sits on a nearby branch sometimes and talks to her babes, but they're not taking that maiden flight yet.

I did find a cardinal incubating in the park, too close to the path, but well hidden. Fingers crossed that this nest is successful.

A quiet Sunday with robins

Each morning my first stop is to check on the robin nestlings. The nestling stage can be as short as nine days, as long as sixteen. Yesterday was day #11. Each morning I approach with trepidation. Human interference has been excessive. The two remaining nestlings are doing very well. Their appetite is insatiable. Worms, bugs, berries, drop it down the hatch. They're both noticing the world outside the nest now including reacting to flies that may buzz near the nest. Unfortunately, they also react to loud noises, - car horns, sirens, shouts-, flinch and hunker down flat in the nest bottom. They are flexing their little legs, but they need to be flapping their wings more, strengthen muscles for the maiden flight. They seem a little slow in that area of development.

Both parents are bringing food. Papa stopped n the afternoon to bathe. The catering service goes on all day. A couple of times Mama Robin sat on a nearby branch softly calling to the nestlings. Pre-fledge commmunication? See, there's space for you out here?

Last year the nestlings in this nest were a rock solid trusting bunch, no flinching. Sometimes when light was very low I used a strobe with diffuser to supply fill light. This time I don't dare do that for fear of startling the babies. When the light is dim I shoot with an ISO of 800 or higher. If the images of wings flapping are blurred I don't care. I want these babies to feel secure.

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Hawk fun

I swore I would not go to watch the hawk family every day. It's better to observe every four days. The changes are more pronounced. But this family is enchanting, so I had to watch again yesterday. And this time, because it's the weekend, they had a large adoring human audience. "What's that?" "What's going on up there?" "How do you know?" "How old are the babies?" "What happens next?" And then there were the "experts",....... "close the area for their safety", "close the highway for their safety", "close the river for their safety", etc. - so that when they fledge in about three weeks no danger will befall them. I'm making book that the hawks will know what to do on their own, maybe fly to the nearby bushes, then up into the area trees, eventually maybe to the playground across the highway, that no matter what humans try to control the hawks will do their own wise thing. Hopefully no wildlife preservers will attempt to capture these babies and separate them from their parents. Human stupidity is infinite.

For yesterday the behavior was predictable, look around (this time north for a change), get fed, rest, exercise, nap, get fed again, walk over siblings, chomp some tasty pigeon, That was the meal today, fresh pigeon. At one point Mama Hawk shifted the main course from back of nest to front of nest. Delicious. The tenderness with which she feeds her babies is a joy to watch. Papa was near the nest part of the time being pestered by bluejays.

When baby hawks relieve themselves they aim the little po-po (butt) over the rim of the nest and let squirt. This was met by a standing ovation by the human audience, total uproarious laughter and applause. I'll put it this way, the poop is visible and abundant. The evidence is on the sidewalk below the nest. Standing ovation for flying s - - t.

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