Rockin' Robins

About a year ago, I was getting acquainted with my new yard that backed onto a wooded ravine. I loved catching glimpses of all the wildlife that called the forest home, which included wild turkeys, ducks, chipmunks, and garden snakes.

But perhaps my favorite brush with nature in my backyard was when I became the surrogate auntie to four baby robins.

The Discovery

One Saturday I was enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck in the backyard when I heard a ruckus in the garden behind me. Peering over the deck railing, I saw a robin dive-bombing a chipmunk.

Right away, I knew a nest must be somewhere close by; I read that chipmunks will snack on bird eggs if they happen upon them, and little Chip's presence had this robin on high alert. I looked up to the surrounding trees in my backyard but didn’t see a nest in any of them.

I searched around for a few more minutes and was just about to give up when I happened to look down. Through the crack between two planks was a tidy little nest, built upon one of the deck's support beams directly underneath me. Inside the nest lay four blue eggs.

Getting the Shots

The nest was positioned perfectly under the crack, and I found I was able to easily take pictures if I laid my iPhone flat on the deck, with the camera aiming between the planks.

Getting the camera to focus properly was a bit of a challenge but I was able to capture several clear pictures throughout the feathered nursery’s two-week run.

Most of the pictures have been cropped to minimize the appearance of the deck which partially obscured all the shots. I also ran the picture of the blue eggs through a filter on Canva to bring out the vibrancy of the colors. Other than that, the photos have undergone minimal editing.

Watching the Eggs Hatch

After discovering the nest, I made a point of spending more time in the backyard, knowing that my presence would deter predators from coming too close.

A couple of days later, I peered down to see that one of the eggs had hatched. The rest all hatched two days apart. Within a week, the nest was occupied by the ugliest, squirmiest little hatchlings you’ve ever seen.

I didn’t see the parents around for the first few days but knew they must have been tending to them because I read that robins clear the shell out of the nest immediately after the chicks hatch, and the shells were nowhere to be seen.

Watching them Grow

After only a few days, the ugly pink hatchlings had grown into... browner, uglier hatchlings. They almost look like little spikey lizards with tufts of fuzz on their head.

Their eyes still weren't open yet but their feathers were starting to come in and they were chirping a lot.

The Feeding

A few days later, I was trying to get another picture to capture how much the chicks had grown. To my surprise, the papa robin appeared with a couple of worms for his babies and I was fortunate enough to catch it on video.

Afterward, the papa lifted his head and noticed me. (This is the picture in the title image.) However, he didn’t seem at all perturbed by my presence and went about his business without looking up again. Maybe he realized there was no way I could reach them through the tiny crack.

Flying the Coop

Each day I went to check on the birds to make sure they were still happy and healthy. Exactly two weeks from the day I noticed the first egg, the chicks were so big that they could barely all fit in the nest.

Sure enough, when I returned a few hours later, the babies had all departed. I was a little sad about becoming a literal empty-nester but happy that the fledglings had taken their first successful flight into adulthood. (Robinhood?)

A few weeks later, I was standing out in the yard and a robin landed on the fence across from me. He sat there staring at me for a good minute and I couldn’t help but wonder if this was one of my babies all grown up.

I always smile when I see robins hopping around in the yard and grateful I once had the privilege of chick-sitting for these birds of spring.

Author's Note

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