This is a journal of my vegetable gardens. Skippy was my first dog and he thought the garden was his, even though I did all the work. Now Suzie and Charley follow in his footsteps. We're located near Boston (USDA zone 6A). I have a community plot, a backyard vegetable garden, fruit trees, berry bushes, chickens, and bees. I use sustainable organic methods and do my best to grow all of my family's vegetables myself.
peas planted!
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Sunday, June 03, 2012
robin fledglings
Here are photos I took over the past couple weeks of the robins from the nest just outside my dining room window. Four blue eggs were laid April 22 to 25. Four chicks hatched about a week later. They grew really fast until they didn't fit in the nest. The nest was a pile of feathers, birds stacked on birds. The big orange-breasted chick ("Alpha") was always calm and got the best spot in the nest. Two middle-sized light-breasted birds looked identical to me ("the Twins"). The smallest had a red breast and shorter tail than the others ("Tiny"). On May 19 they all fledged. Alpha disappeared early in the morning. Soon after, one of the Twins was gone. The other Twin stayed in the branches near the nest with Tiny til early the next day. Then Tiny was alone in the branches by the nest. He stayed another day, then disappeared also. For a week I never saw any of then. Now this week, they are back in my yard. The chicks follow a parent searching for worms in the grass. Sometimes she feeds them, sometimes they pull their own bugs. I've seen up to three chicks together. A small short-tailed red-breasted one always puffed up and looking timid (Tiny?), a calm red-breasted one (Alpha?) and a light-breasted one (a Twin?). Well the world is theirs now. They can fly to the tree tops, hide down under the bushes and feast on all the bugs out there.
Beautiful photos and a wonderful story! Is that fourth photo a water feature for the birds? It looks so welcoming!
ReplyDeleteYes, its a little pond and waterfall in my backyard. The birds love it.
ReplyDeleteI've checked out the robins on the live webcam. They are so cute! I should get water flowing in my back yard to attract birds and other wildlife.
ReplyDeleteI'm delighted you've been able to follow them for so long - what a nice photo-narrative!
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing them from beginning to now!!
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful story!
ReplyDeleteI was very pleased to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post. Big thanks for the useful info.............
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