Birds, Interrupted

Our robins returned. Every Spring, for many years now, this particular pair of robins comes to our holly tree by our front porch, and nests. Last fall the nest fell apart in the tree, fell to the ground, and we despaired that we might not have our feathered friends back again. But nature is a strong habit, and sure enough, the mother returned to make a brand new nest in the same branches where the old one had been. In mid-April we saw her again and again with her beak full of twigs and grasses, going in and out, and in and out of the holly tree. Their first clutch of eggs hatched, and produced four large fledglings, all of whom were gone around Mother's Day. Then, happily, the mamma and the papa came back for a second go-'round. Another clutch of four eggs!

The photo above was taken on June 6th. And then, on June 16th, the first two chicks.

Then it was all about the feedings.

I stopped my daily photo shoots, because the mamma gave me a fly-by warning. She zipped so close and fast up against me, that her wing forcibly brushed against the back of my neck! That was enough of a warning for me. I let her be after that.

Until today. I wanted to get a shot of the grown chicks before they were to fledge. Here.

I guess I got too close with my camera, because those chicks all jumped out of the nest simultaneously. This was not a calm, planned exit. The parents were screeching and calling out to their babies with such alarm, and the chicks were peeping from their scattered landing points. One was under the tree, another made it over to our neighbors' lawn. The other two were on our front lawn. It was sadness. I was sorry to have rushed them out of their nest. Part of me knows that they were poised to leave anyway. But another part mourns for them, and hopes that our neighborhood cats are too sleepy from the heat to find them at their most vulnerable. But what I really hope, is that the mamma and the papa robin will consider returning next spring.