Robin Red Breast, Part Deux

Robin in the Oak Tree

If you've been following this blog for a while, you may remember a post I did this summer (see my post of May 28, 2014) about a Robin's nest my friend in Connecticut found outside her kitchen window.

My friend sent me a follow-up to that post back in July that I squirreled away and completely forgot to post.  So, now, a few months later (sorry about that!), I've decided to repent and share it with you before too much more time has slipped by and winter sets in.

Donna wrote that a few days after the baby Robins left the nest in the bush outside her window, she saw a Robin in the big Oak tree in her back garden.  He had grass in his beak and it looked like he was building a nest!

She says, "I tried to tell it there was an empty nest nearby that it could use, but instead it hopped over to a fork in the branch [of the big oak tree]."

Upon closer inspection, Donna could tell there was a nearly finished, brand new nest there.

A little chubby Robin on the fence

So here we go again, she thought!

The next day, she looked up at the nest to see two Robins there.  One appeared to be feeding the other, and then flew over to the fence.  That's when Donna grabbed her camera and took the photo (see above) of the bird.

You can see the speckles on its breast.

She couldn't tell if this was one of the birds she had watched hatch the previous little family, but she hoped it was.  Donna had read that Robins can have two broods in a season.

Robin in the Oak tree

It seemed like the Momma Robin sat forever on that nest!  She probably thought it seemed like forever, too.

Momma Robin and her nest

Then one morning there were two little beaks bobbing up above the rim of the nest!

Two little baby birds

The Mommy bird was quite busy feeding the young ones

This little guy is posing for the camera

Some days later, Donna writes, she got the feeling something was wrong.  She didn't see any activity in the tree!

No adults were stopping to feed the babies, although the baby Robins shouldn't have been old enough to leave the nest yet.

The next morning she found the reason:

The fallen nest

Sadly, she concluded a predator must have found the nest, and it had fallen out of the tree.

Donna was very sad about this.  She had been enjoying her little avian neighbors!

Then, that same day, she was puttering around in her garden and saw a little mound of grey in the tall grass.

A baby in the grass

It was one of the baby Robins!  It was still alive!

In her excitement, she got too close, and discovered the little guy's parents were still around.  They were not happy with her!  They cheeped loudly in alarm and the baby went running into the safety of the brush pile behind him.

His stubby little tail feathers show he's still too young to fly, but he was still alive and his parents were still watching out for him!  That was comforting.

The next day, Donna saw him again.  She tells me she was careful to stay back that time,.   She didn't want to alarm the little family.

The little Robin baby

That was the last time Donna saw the little Robin.  She hopes he was able to get good cover in the tall grass until he was able to mature enough to be able to fly.

That's what she hopes, anyway.

I hope so, too!