On June 6th, 2016 I bought this beautiful hanging planet for our deck. I don't have much of a green thumb, so I was hoping just to keep it alive. Well, it seems Mother Nature had other plans as well.... Three days after I hung the plant I was watering it, as I did everyday (I was told to do so by an employee where I bought the plant from), and I find a stick. I pull it out, and then I notice several more. I was like "What the heck?" so I lean up on my tiptoes to have a look. And there it it. A fully built nest. That robin couple wasted no time! I found out that while the female builds the nest, the male provides materials.
I had to say, being a nature and animal lover, I was excited. Right there on our deck, I'd be able to watch life unfold! Although, as a photographer, I kinda wished for a better vantage point, lol. Considering that, about half of the photos in this blog are from my cell phone. I had to be quick, and wanted to disturb Mama robin as little as possible. Once the babies were big enough to see their little heads popping up for feeding, I got my 600mm lens on my camera and set my tripod up in the kitchen to photograph what I could. So here is the beginning of their journey, three little lives unfolding. I also took the time to place the photos in chronological order, even though I wasn't able to document every day ( I do have a life, afterall, lol) I wanted to show how fast this happens. It puts life in perspective, for me anyway. A good example of how fast life passes you by if you're not paying attention....
June 6th
A new plant!
June 9th
What's this? Surprise!
And there's Mama...
June 13th
Her first egg....
June 14th
We have two!
June 15th
Up to three...
June 17th
Looks like we're good with three!
June 21st
On with the egg watch....
June 22nd
There were severe thunderstorms with high winds
in the weather forecast, so I felt I should sturdy the plant for Mama...
June 23rd...
June 24th...
June 26th
WE HAVE BABIES!!
June 27th
All the eggs are hatched!
June 29th
What a difference in two days!
June 30th
Where's the food?!
At this point, we went away for the fourth of July weekend.
When we returned..... WOW!!!
July 4th
Holy Moly!!!
Time to set up the camera!
July 5th
Mama is starting to give me the stink eye. I know it's now time to
try to keep my distance. Watering my plant became a challenge at this point, lol
July 6th
Snuck in one last photo with my cell phone...
July 7th
I think our journey is almost over...
This was one of those particularly hot days, so they had they're mouths open a lot trying to cool off. I felt so bad for them on days like this, and I always made sure the bird bath was full. I even put some ice cubes in it when it was in the sun half the day.
July 9th
The last day. After taking a few photos, I went out to add some water to the bird bath. And got quite a surprise. I thought Mama bird was coming after me, but it was the babies taking flight. They were now fledglings. One flew toward me, and proceeded to latch on the the screen door, while the other went to the ground. I felt a bit guilty. What if they weren't quite ready, and I scared them into it?
This one the one that came to the screen door. He was stuck on the deck for a little bit trying to figure out how to leave (the wiring is to keep Bubba, my 9lb dog, from diving off of our deck). I moved the gate we have blocking the stairs, and cut some of the wiring in the corner he was trying to escape from. By the time I was finished, he was gone, probably by way of the stairs.
The last holdout. He/she was either brave and not scared of me, or just not ready to go yet. By the next day though, the nest was empty...
July 12th....
I'm a empty nester...
I hope you enjoyed our little journey. I was a bit sad to see them go, and worried for them as they venture out into the world. I can only hope the best for them...
I posted photos on Facebook, but I wanted to get them all together for everyone. Thank you to all that commented on Facebook and I'm glad you enjoyed this as much as I did. Please, feel free to share this with your friends.
Thank you for stopping by....
** ALL photos on this blog are property of Christi Bushby, copyrighted and protected as such by law. Please see my copyright page for details and/or permissions of use.
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