Rest in Peace, Little Ones
For the last 4 weeks or so, my family and I had the pleasure of watching a pair of robins take care of their young. It was so wonderful!!! However a few days ago the ordeal ended tragically. But here is their story, and photos to remember.
It all started when a robin (the female) began to clutter the top window of the front door to our house with nesting debris. It was a horrible place to attempt to build a nest!! There was only a narrow space up there, and anytime she tried to bring her nesty stuff, it kept falling down and making a mess besides the front door. It was pretty funny. My Mom felt sorta bad for her, and thought she was super sweet, so she took a piece of cardboard and taped it securely to the ledge, to prevent the nesting materials from falling. The robin continued to build her nest! Afterwards, she layered her egges, one at a time like robins apperently do. There were 4 in total, 4 little eggies!! And then she sat on them. She rarely left, only to get snacks for herself. ^v^'
And then, 2 weeks went by. Then they began to hatch!! At first we only saw 3 of them, and assumed that the 4th was either unhatched (a dud eggy) or it was hidden in the back where we couldn't see. Well, all 4 had hatched, and since they were so small at first the forth was hidden indeed. The daddy robin came back and both parents started to feed them. They did an EXCELLENT job stuffing their faces, that's for sure. We constantly saw them coming back with mounds of worms. We kept a latter by the front door so we could occassionally take a peek at the babies when the parents were away momentarily. Sadly I didn't get to see the babies when they first hatched, but I saw them a few days after. When I had the time and opportunity, I got my camera and took the following photos. The images aren't the best, because the window was covered with mud and dirt from the nest materials, but they're not too bad either. These photos were taken at least a week after they had hatched, more like a week and a half. My Mom has some amazing photos too, but they're stuck on her phone and she dunno how to get them off, haha! If we can though I'll post them laters.
The babies were doing so well and were about to start their flying lessons soon! However, the extreme hardships of nature took it's toll and everything came to and end. Last Thursday, it was around noon and I was sleeping. Mom csame into my room with a grim aura, and told me the babies were dead. My parents had gone out to do some errands and the babies were doing fine, as usual, but when they came home... they only found one, dead and laying on the front lawn. The others were nowhere to be found. We're assuming they were killed by a flying predator, either a crow or blackbird. My mom took the nest down, I think mostly because she didn't wanna have to keep seeing it and get reminded. She was prolly the most upset about it. When I first heard the news, I felt sad and disappointed, but was too tired and went back to sleep. This entire time though I just feel this sadness, and I cried a little too. I'm still sad. I dunno what else to say other than that. :/
I'm very happy I was able to take these photos, to remember them by. I pray that the little ones will be safe and happy in the afterlife, where ever they decide to go. I also pray the parents will be ok and not grieve too long, and that the mommy robin will have a much better nest next year, with healthy happy surviving babies.
R.I.P. little babies, I love you!! <3
It all started when a robin (the female) began to clutter the top window of the front door to our house with nesting debris. It was a horrible place to attempt to build a nest!! There was only a narrow space up there, and anytime she tried to bring her nesty stuff, it kept falling down and making a mess besides the front door. It was pretty funny. My Mom felt sorta bad for her, and thought she was super sweet, so she took a piece of cardboard and taped it securely to the ledge, to prevent the nesting materials from falling. The robin continued to build her nest! Afterwards, she layered her egges, one at a time like robins apperently do. There were 4 in total, 4 little eggies!! And then she sat on them. She rarely left, only to get snacks for herself. ^v^'
And then, 2 weeks went by. Then they began to hatch!! At first we only saw 3 of them, and assumed that the 4th was either unhatched (a dud eggy) or it was hidden in the back where we couldn't see. Well, all 4 had hatched, and since they were so small at first the forth was hidden indeed. The daddy robin came back and both parents started to feed them. They did an EXCELLENT job stuffing their faces, that's for sure. We constantly saw them coming back with mounds of worms. We kept a latter by the front door so we could occassionally take a peek at the babies when the parents were away momentarily. Sadly I didn't get to see the babies when they first hatched, but I saw them a few days after. When I had the time and opportunity, I got my camera and took the following photos. The images aren't the best, because the window was covered with mud and dirt from the nest materials, but they're not too bad either. These photos were taken at least a week after they had hatched, more like a week and a half. My Mom has some amazing photos too, but they're stuck on her phone and she dunno how to get them off, haha! If we can though I'll post them laters.
The babies were doing so well and were about to start their flying lessons soon! However, the extreme hardships of nature took it's toll and everything came to and end. Last Thursday, it was around noon and I was sleeping. Mom csame into my room with a grim aura, and told me the babies were dead. My parents had gone out to do some errands and the babies were doing fine, as usual, but when they came home... they only found one, dead and laying on the front lawn. The others were nowhere to be found. We're assuming they were killed by a flying predator, either a crow or blackbird. My mom took the nest down, I think mostly because she didn't wanna have to keep seeing it and get reminded. She was prolly the most upset about it. When I first heard the news, I felt sad and disappointed, but was too tired and went back to sleep. This entire time though I just feel this sadness, and I cried a little too. I'm still sad. I dunno what else to say other than that. :/
I'm very happy I was able to take these photos, to remember them by. I pray that the little ones will be safe and happy in the afterlife, where ever they decide to go. I also pray the parents will be ok and not grieve too long, and that the mommy robin will have a much better nest next year, with healthy happy surviving babies.
R.I.P. little babies, I love you!! <3