Baby birds

Remember the Mama Robin and her eggs sitting in the nest outside our front door? Well, she flew away.

One night she was on the nest, the next day she was gone and we didn't see her for several days, even though there were still eggs in the nest. A week later, there was a Mama Robin in the nest again, though we think it is probably a different bird. This one is more skittish than the previous resident. And soon there were six eggs in the nest.

One day last week, I saw a bunch of motionless fuzz in the nest. Soon, the fuzz was indeed moving. Then chirping. Poor Robbie is so curious, although he seems to have learned his lesson about messing with the nest. So Mike set up a video camera on a tripod to capture some of the avian action. That way Robbie (and the rest of us) could get a bird's eye view -- sorry, couldn't resist -- without disturbing the nest.

Check out baby birds' feeding time!

An avian tale

The short story, as tweeted by my husband:

We had a nest of 4 robin eggs in a waist high bush. One of our children was a little too curious and now there are 3. #lifelesson

The rest of the story:

Ever since we discovered the robin's nest near our front door, we've been very careful to avoid using the front door as much as possible. We didn't want to disturb Mama Bird. We were especially pointed in telling Robbie to stay away from the nest, that if the Mama Bird smelled human on the nest she would abandon it and the babies would die.

Last night, Mike and the boys were heading out to get supplies for Charlie's roller coaster project for school. Robbie said he would wait in the car. I didn't even notice when he went out the front door. A minute later, he came inside wailing hysterically.

"I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to! I'm so sorry!"

It didn't take long to figure out what he didn't mean to do. He had gotten curious about the nest, reached it and picked up one of the eggs and crushed it. I think he just didn't realize how fragile the eggs were and he didn't know his own strength. (Grapes of Wrath, anyone?)

He was SO upset. Almost inconsolable, really. We talked -- once I could get him to quiet down -- about how he did mean to go over to the nest and reach in and how that was disobeying what we'd told him about staying away. I told him I know he didn't mean to hurt the baby bird, but that disobedience has consequences and there was nothing we could do to help the baby bird now.

I told him I didn't know if the Mama Bird would come back to take care of the other eggs or not. Mike and I decided that if she didn't come back by morning, we'd call the DNR or a local nature center and see if they could take the eggs and incubate them until the birds were ready to hatch.

But within about 10 minutes, Mama flew back to the nest, poked her head in and ATE THE CRUSHED EGG! I couldn't believe it. So much for grief and being fearful of human smell (grubby, little boy, human smell at that).

Once her snack was over, she flew off, only to come back a while later and take up her perch over the remaining three eggs. 

Now, that is a life lesson.

Fraggin' kids

I've got kids on the brain tonight, so I thought I'd dish up some fraggin' kids today.

 

We've hit the home stretch of Annie's 8th grade year. Tomorrow (well, today -- in just 7 hours actually), her class will do a dramatic presentation of the Passion for Good Friday. It's really the first of the last events of 8th grade. After the Passion, there will be May Crowning, the DC trip and graduation. It's really so hard to believe that she's been there for 9 years. As I heard recently, "the days are long, but the years are short." So true.

One of Annie's favorite activities of late has been to record silly, rambling videos for friends and post them on Facebook. I've watched them. Nothing harmful, just lots of random silliness. I thought it was getting to be a bit much, but she got a text from an old friend today who's had a pretty rough go of it lately. This friend told her that those videos were one of the first things the friend has laughed at in a long time. Just another testament to the power of humor and of social media.

Charlie goes back to the doctor tomorrow for a check of his arm. I hope they give him a new cast because the one he has on now is filthy! I swear he must roll in dirt on recess. And if a new cast is in the future, I'd be happy for it to be waterproof.

Pics of Robbie's first birthday popped up on Mike's FB page tonight. He was so little, round-faced and happy. And blonde! Who could resist this cutie?

I wrote a guest post about Robbie on Acting Balanced. Not sure when it will post, but I'll let you know. It was a step out of my comfort zone, but good for me to do.

Speaking of babies -- the baby-birds-to-be are still doing well. There are four eggs in the nest now and we're trying to avoid using the front door as much as possible because a.) we don't want to disturb the nest and b.) we don't want Mama to peck our eyes out.

Not specifically related to kids, but moms -- and anyone interested in healthy habits: I'd love it if you'd visit the Fit City Moms blog to read (and comment on!) my post this month -- 15 minute start to fitness.

It's almost 3:30am and I'm fresh out of fragments. If you need more, be sure to visit Mrs. 4444s Half-Past Kissin' Time blog. Wishing you all a happy Easter and a wonderful weekend.

A little bird told me...

to be careful going in and out the front door, because a Mama Robin has built a nest about 3 feet from the door.

This was the nest at 7am on Tuesday:

This was the nest at 4pm on Tuesday:

And this was the nest at 8pm on Tuesday. Mama Robin sitting guard.

When someone goes in or out of the door, the Mama Robin flies away to a nearby tree. If you're not watching, you might just walk right into her flight path. I don't understand why she leaves the nest, though. It seems like she'd sit very tight to be protective of her eggs.

A quick search told us that the robin eggs should hatch in about 2 weeks. I hope they make it. I think it would be so cool see those little baby birds.