This is just a quick post updating the saga of our robin family in the front yard crabapple tree. It looks like all 4 chicks are alive and kicking so far.
The parents are very protective. The male robin won’t fly away unless I’m just close enough to touch him. The female is about the same.
For now, the chicks do a lot of napping.
It rained for about an hour or so before I could get out to the crabapple to check the progress of the robin hatchlings. Yesterday there were two unhatched eggs but there was a definite hole in one of them.
There are now 4 hatchlings, although the biggest one looks pretty sluggish—and appears to sport a fair-size blister on its butt.
It’ll be at least a week before they look like anything but a light snack for a crow. They’ll get to that little dinosaur stage a few days beyond that. It’ll take a couple of weeks before they fledge—at least the ones who survive. This would be the first time I’ve been able to get video clips. Last year I got snapshots for a little slideshow.
I was surprised at how close the parents allowed me to get. I could have reached out and touched them.
Sena mentioned seeing small birds flying out of the Colorado Blue Spruce on the other side of the front yard. I looked long and hard before I found anything that resembled a nest. Frankly it looks like something that could have been in use last year.
On the other hand, I also noticed the branches shaking in that tree later in the afternoon. And I recall seeing a chipping sparrow streak out of there, perch on the crabapple and chirp at me—nervously.
I’ll keep you posted.
Yesterday, we noticed 4 eggs in the Robins’ nest. They take about 14 days to incubate and it just so happens time’s up today.
Right on cue the eggs started cracking this morning. It takes all day and it was well after 3:00 PM before there was the tiniest pinhole in the third egg. Two chicks were squirming around when I finally called it a day around 4:30 PM.
This will have to be continued…. Hope it’s not raining tomorrow.
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