CHICKS LEAVE THE NEST

The three robin chicks born under the eaves of our house have gotten big in a hurry. Both their parents have been delivering big mouth fulls of bugs all day long. We had a little scare the other day when a goshawk landed nearby and eyed the nest for awhile. Linda could hear a very high pitched shreek from the adult robins which is their alarm call. When we looked out the window it appeared that the chicks were gone and we thought the hawk had gotten them. I even felt in the nest and was sure they were gone. The adults had quieted down and were no longer coming to the nest. But an hour later they were back up with their necks stretched high waiting for more bugs! Apparently the alarm call warned the chicks to hunker down and stay still in the bottom of the nest and I couldn't even feel them.

A few days later the chicks were up and standing on the edge of the nest. The adults walked around on the ground beneath them making lots of noise as if to encourage them to start hunting down their own dinner.

Finally one of the chicks flapped his wings and jumped! He landed about 30 feet away next to our wood shed and the adults flew right over to him with chirps of congratulations. The other two stayed in the nest for several more hours, probably happy to have a little more space but it seemed that the adults were no longer bringing bugs to the nest. So they screwed up their courage and dove out into the world.

We watched the chicks playing in the bushes and testing their wings with short flights into the branches. Later that evening a horrendous thunder storm blew in so we expect they are taking shelter under a spruce tree and enjoying their new life...

Robins nesting...

We're still staying in Healy at our home on Stampede Road. There are lots of robins around the area and two of them are nesting right out side our front window up under the eaves. They are a little shy of us if we are outside but not so scared if we photograph them from the window. The male brings big beak fulls of bugs and berries and shoves them right down the chicks throat. It's really interesting to watch...