Empty Nesters

If you've been following this blog no doubt you've been reading about and following the nesting robins in the giant rose bush growing against the garage.  My pal Braumeister refers to it as:  the rose bush that ate Cincinatti.  That's probably because it has a tendency to grab you with a thorny branch trying to sneak past on the walkway.  But I digress.  

Baby robins are ready to leave the nest when they are about 13 days old - which is the age of the pair of birds in the nest in the rose bush.  They fledged yesterday and we initially thought it was because we disturbed them.  

click on images to enlarge

And we returned them to the nest only to learn they jumped right out and hid among the flowers bordering the picket fence.  Baby robins can't fly well when they leave the nest and they have to build up their flight muscles and feathers to master the art of flight.  So, they’ll be vulnerable to predators for another week and a half or so.  I guess we’re empty nesters

now...