Out in the Big World

Today was the big day, and I am so glad I caught it!!!! I have been hearing the babies getting much louder lately and was wondering when they would leave the nest. I can't believe how big they are. It must have been seriously crowded in there with 3 birds! Now I know why they have to leave!

Here is baby one standing on the window. It did all kinds of wing stretching and other cute stuff before flying of. I wasn't sure if coming out of the nest meant it would fly for sure or if it would maybe go back in, but the former turned out to be the case.
Here is a shot from the deck of the next baby standing on the edge of the nest, and I think that might be the head of baby three poking up. This one came out on the window and flew away after a bit as well.
Some live action because I am such a geek:



It has been really neat to have the baby birds right out the window during this time, like the mama bird and I were new mamas together! I would lay there in the morning and watch her fly back and forth getting food while I was nursing at the same time. She was always busiest at dawn and dusk.

I have learned alot about robins this year. Like they only stick up their heads and peep when mom comes back with the food. Of course this makes total sense now that I think about it, but for some reason I had this image of them constantly peeping. Of course this is for safety. If they were chirping away while she was gone, they would be snack food.

I also got to wondering how in the world the nest stays clean since they must be pooping in there. It turns out their poop comes out in what is called a fecal sac. I also learned that the mother and father continue to care for the babies for a couple weeks after they leave the nest. I was wondering if they would come back to the nest, but they didn't. Here is the weird thing though. Supposedly both the mother and father help with the food and such, but I never saw two adults. You would think one might hang out on the window while the other is on the nest. I thought only the mama cared for the eggs and babies until I looked it up. Maybe it was in our case. Something could have happened to the papa bird. Or do they never hang out near the nest at the same time. I didn't come across mention of that, but maybe I will have to try looking again sometime.