So one day about a month ago I noticed a nest in the tree just off our deck. The next day there was a light-blue egg in it. Then 2, then 3, then 4. It was fun to watch this each day with the kids. The robin sat on those eggs day and night until they hatched about 2 weeks later. Then she kept the babies warm and fed for another week or so. Then they flew off on their own.
We grew attached to those birds, going out each day to check on them (scare them was more like it). It was really cool to see nature up close and in action like that. We learned a lot about robins; and at the same time we learned some things about life.
#1: Pick a good place to raise your kids. With a whole family of curious humans in arms reach, I'm sure she was thinking she'd rather be in any other tree than that one. The branch also had no covering, meaning she was in view of plenty of predators. Miraculously, no predators came close. Maybe because she was so near to humans...so maybe she DID pick a good place to raise her kids.
#2: Sometimes we have to sacrifice our own comfort in order to protect our kids. We had some pretty scary storms while the robin was sitting on her eggs. She was pummelled with rain and wind more than once . It was amazing to watch her sit there and protect them despite the cold, wind, and rain.
#3: Hold tight even when you're afraid. That mother robin was literally shaking each time we came out on the deck to look at her and the eggs. Eventhough she was probably scared to death of us, the robin had to stay on her eggs and protect them.
#4: When your kids whine and complain, just sit on them. Those babies were begging all day long for food. She fed them, but sometimes she'd give them a worm and just sit on them till they quieted down. I laughed and wished I could do this with my kids sometimes.
#5: Even birds have obnoxious kids. One of the babies never sat still, never stopped begging for food, and refused to stay under its mom. Watching her try to tame it made me laugh. All moms have the same struggles it seems.
#6: Death and difficulty are part of life. This was a hard one. One day there were only 3 birds in the nest instead of the 4 that hatched. We found it in the grass below the tree and had to explain to the kids that the bird fell out and died and, no, it couldn't go back in the nest. My kids had to deal with that, and I'm guessing the mother bird did too. (Unless the one that fell was the obnoxious one and the mom pushed it out of the nest herself. But that would be a whole other lesson, like how not to deal with post-partem.)
#7: There comes a point where you have to let them go. One day I noticed that neither the mother or father robin were on the nest. They knew it was time for the birds to be on their own. They didn't return and the babies, now with feathers developed, got hungry I'm sure. The next day I caught the baby birds taking turns perching on the edge of the nest. "They're about to fly away," I thought. How cool. And the next day they were gone.
It really was amazing to watch the whole process from start to finish. I was most encouraged by the instinct and commitment of the mom and thought, "With just those two things, I think all of us moms stand a pretty good chance at seeing our kids take off."
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Pretty little eggs |
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All 4 hatched |
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Starting to get feathers |
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| Ready to fly! |
