Mrs. Robin’s babies – almost ready to leave the nest

It’s been almost a week since I last reported on Mrs. Robin and her babies. I’ve been taking photos and video , but have just been too busy to post them.

The biggest problem is that the little birds change so much every day:

Over in the other garage window, there’s been lots of activity. The second egg hatched, I think on May 22:

All of this activity in the nests means that soon the babies will try out their wings. The morning doves are fortunate that their first flight will land them square on top of the chicken coop, and from there they’ll land in the yard of a house where no one presently lives.

The robin babies, on the other hand, will land squarely in the driveway, where the dogs will be waiting to sniff, chase, and likely hurt them. So I’m on high alert.

So are Mr. and Mrs. Robin. The closer the babies get to flight, the more aggressive they are to me – squawking at me and dive bombing my head whenever I go near the garage, even if I’m not looking at them. I’ve tried to be as invisible as possible when taking pictures – using the zoom lens while I sit in a lawn chair, and when I’m inside standing far back in the attic shadows and using the zoom. I’ve only gone close to the window to take a photo when Mrs. Robin was already away from the nest. But clearly I’ve been more intrusive than I thought.

I saw one of the birds sitting on the edge of the nest just a few minutes ago, so it looks like someone might take flight soon. Stay tuned!