Fledging down! Big Hoopla!
I was working in my yard and had stopped to talk to a neighbor about shared space along between the properties. And suddenly this huge noise of birds exploded in my front tree, the one with the baby robins all nested up. A squirrel was attacking the nest - and here I was worrying about the cats getting them.
At least one baby made it out of the nest and fluttered off to the back of the house with a whole troop of adult robins flying in to protect and defend. I was trying not to look like a fool in front of the new neighbors while waving and yelling at the squirrel; their 8-9 yo son had not ever seen a fledging and thought it was hurt, and thought his small dog should play with it. So I firmly, politely made it plain the fledging was not a toy and to back off and let the anxious parents do their work now.Made sure the cats were all inside.
Finished the conversation with the neighbors then came in here to post, letting those robin parents round up whatever younglings they have on the ground. And i'm going to start a fire pretty quick. I think roasting root vegetables in a dutch oven is a good thing to try today. Chicken on the grill. Icecream for desert.