Bye Bye Birdie

We came home from a long weekend out of town and found our little Robin Family bursting out of it's temporary housing arrangements.

The chicks had changed so much in the 4 days that we were gone.  They no longer looked like alien lifeforms, they looked like birds.  

This morning I followed my old routine and dragged a kitchen chair out onto to the porch.  I raised my hand slowly over my head, trying to hold my camera nice and still. This time felt different though; just four days ago these baby birds' eyes were still tightly closed and they slept most of the day, this time 4 pairs of black eyes watched me warily and four sharp beaks turned menacingly in my direction.  I'll admit it, I was a little nervous.

      

Then, the thing that I never thought would happen did- one of the birds spread it's wings and jumped out of the nest, splattering my arm with warm bird poop on it's way down. I was so shocked that I screamed, jumped off of the chair and ran back inside the house, shutting the door firmly behind me.  My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking.  I was rattled by what had happened but mostly I was worried about the baby bird. 

I called Kedar at work.

"I was trying to take a picture of the birds and one of them got scared and jumped out of the nest- what should I do?"  It all came flooding out of me in one breath.

"Ummm," was his intial response.

After a minute, we decided that I should leave the birds alone for awhile (probably what I should have done to begin with).  In a little bit, I would go find the bird and (while wearing rubber gloves) lift it gently back into it's nest.  This seemed like a faulty plan at best, but I wasn't sure what else to do. 

I never had the chance to initiate this plan.

After hanging up the phone I went back to the window.  Father Bird was at the nest and he was none too happy; his feathers were ruffled and his chest was puffed out.  He flitted from the edge of the nest to the ground looking frantically for his missing baby.  Once he found the grounded bird he made one quick trip back to the nest, then stayed on the ground near his recovered chick.

My eyes followed his line of sight back to the nest.  I was amazed as one by one, each baby bird stood on the edge of the nest, made a few test flaps of it's wings and then bravely jumped.  We had birds everywhere; in the bushes, on the lawn and on the porch.  Mother Bird had joined the throng by now too. 

The baby birds stayed in the yard for a little while testing their wings, Mother and Father Bird keeping a close watch.  It was captivating to watch.  Aubrey and I stayed at the window until the last bird was out of sight.  As I watched, I couldn't help wondering to myself, Did I force them to leave the nest too early, or did I just give them the incentive they needed to spread their little wings?  I hope they'll be okay.  

Later, when I was sure they were all gone, I went back out onto the porch to recover my chair.  I was a little sad thinking that our observation of the "Robin Family Saga" had come to an end.  It has been amazing to watch the whole process; the parents' dedication to their little family, the strength of their parental instincts and the incredible transformation those perfect blue eggs made into little birds.  I was a sad to think that was over. 

Then, I noticed what they left behind and I didn't feel quite so bad.