Photos &Steve Fisher 03 Jun 2012 07:46 am
Robin Follow-up
Steve Fisher sent some follow-up photos to the story of the newborn robins which I posted last Sunday. We have to finish this story, don’t we?
1This morning, the day Vegas odds-makers said that
one of the chicks would be first in flight, one of the
adult robins brought some strange looking stuff in his beak.
2
Although it looked more like nest material, the chicks
seemed enthusiastic enough about eating it.
3
Later in the day, the most mature of the chicks
[probably the first-born] looked anxious
to explore the world outside the nest.
4
He even got up on the rim of the nest and
poked his his through the latticework.
5
He stretched his legs and flexed his wings.
He hopped around a bit, outside the actual nest,
making sure the wings were working properly.
Orville and Wilber would have been proud.
6
Then in a flash he was gone, flying straight
across the yard to the cover of trees, too
quick to photograph him in flight.
I haven’t seen him back at the nest, yet, but
I’m told they will hang around for about a week.
Meanwhile, there are three other chicks who have to
follow in their sibling’s footsteps, or wingflaps, rather.
Our work here is almost done. Moral of the story,
don’t bet against Vegas, or Mother Nature.
_________________________
On another day, Steve had sent me these photos.
11Going up.
12
Going across.
13
And going down.
No this is not oriented incorrectly;
they really are all nose-diving simultaneously.
14
15
16
A red tailed hawk.
on 03 Jun 2012 at 8:21 am 1.Stephen Macquignon said …
Great story about the robins Steve should make it into a book
on 03 Jun 2012 at 6:05 pm 2.The Gee said …
Gotta admit, I totally agree.
Why not?
You could use some or all of the photos, tell the story or tell A story and you could self-publish it (oooh, you could also consider a printed book, an e-book, and interactive iPhone app) or try to go a traditional route and let someone else consider the hows and whatfors.
Maybe something similar to photo story of birds or robins has been done before. There’s a good chance there has.
But, as a grown up kid, I’m wondering who the father of those birds is?
haha. Just kidding,
I do wonder why their feathers come in the way they do, how long it took for them to get to the point of flying, were their missteps by one or all of the chicks, etc.
A story could be made that can be entertaining and informative. So, like Stephen suggested: make it into a book.
on 04 Jun 2012 at 5:30 am 3.Stephen Macquignon said …
Just to cure your curiosity Gee if you look at last Sundays post of the robins you will see that on some of the photos the belly is lighter than the other, also unless it is just a camera angle around the eyes the markings are different so there is a pair taken care of the wee ones.
on 04 Jun 2012 at 9:33 am 4.steve fisher said …
I can attest to the fact that the care of the four chicks was shared by two adult robins – presumably the dad as well as the mom. They would shuttle in meals and they were always nearby to protect their young. My neighbor, whose terrace housed the nest, quickly found that out when she became a little too inquisitive and took a close look into the nest – both adult birds came swooping in and chased her back into her house. Also, after one of the chicks had flown the nest and was somewhere in the garden, the two adults worked together to keep a squirrel at a distance.
on 04 Jun 2012 at 1:46 pm 5.The Gee said …
Thanks for pointing that out.
I was sorta joking though. But, I didn’t pay enough attention to the adult bird to notice it wasn’t just one.
Steve, thanks for sharing your photos.