Those baby robins can be pretty demanding, but compared to human babies, they do have their advantages: they're
not picky eaters, they seem to sleep quietly through the night, and they grow up and get their own place in a matter of weeks instead
of decades.
- and they don't ask you to co-sign on a car loan or anything like that. They have their own transportation built right in.
But after about a week of having the place to himself, he did start trying some really short flights just along the ground. It
was still a few days before he'd gotten up to the window sills or up onto the table, but he did get there. Eventually he even did
fly off, but it was all-around a much slower process than usual.
Family #2 were all pretty strong fliers right off the bat and were up on the windowsills within three or four hours
after getting out of the nest. There's always one out of ever batch who's the most independent and advanced, and
he flew right off. The other two followed shortly thereafter, but then they kept coming back every day for the free food.
That went on for about ten more days and, as always, the parents were really patient about it. You'd see them get
up close to one of the chicks and act like they were saying, "look, this is how it's done" (peck at the ground for a bit)
"now, you try!" But they'd still feed them anyway.
I think there's still time to fit in another litter before fall, but the nest has been empty since the second set stopped
coming back. Guess we'll find out.