In our little pine tree right outside the front door and in front of the porch, a robin got courageous enough to build a nest and lay four little blue eggs. Sonia and Olivia had been watching the nest for over a week to see what would happen. The parents were quite distressed about this early on but everyone has retreated into a mutual wariness that has allowed us to get a close up view of the robin parenting world.
Yesterday, by evening, 3 of the 4 eggs had hatched and we were able to witness the very early moments of baby robins. This is a first for all of us to see such a moment. They are very, very small, no larger than from the tip of your thumb to the first knuckle. Their eyes are unopened, their beaks are tiny, and they are comprised of mostly a head….a head that pops up in the air with beak wide open and thrusting out for food whenever there is movement close by. An extremely powerful instinct.
We’re anxious to see if the 4th egg will hatch and then watching the family grow inside their tiny nest. I will be interested to see how they manage in such a small space and how quickly it will be before the babies are booted out of the home. Food for thought on how I’ll be planning to get my baby robins out of our nest.