The Robin Family

I have to tell you about the baby robins that have fledged in the last few days! We have a thriving robin colony around here and there are a pair of robins who seem to spend a great deal of time on our feeders. I figure they are a pair as they're not trying to gouge each other's eyes out, or any of the other pugilistic things robins do to defend their territory.

Mr and Mrs Robin appear to have successfully hatched and fledged two babies and they have now become rather sweet little visitors to our feeding tray. We know that there are two babies because they both look different. One still has some of the fluffy, baby feathers on his back, between the ends of his wings and it looks as if he's loosing his stuffing. When we saw this little robin, we were just delighted as they are such great little birds. Better still was to find that he had a sibling. We know it's not the same baby bird as the second one looks like a small, feathered airliner which has had a huge explosion in it's tail end. This baby robin has fluff all around his tail and looks like he's been put through a tumble dryer on high heat! Yesterday, they both landed on the table at the same time and there was a proud parent in the holly tree, keeping an eye on things.

Robins have always had significance for me - every time something major starts to happen in my life, I seem to see a lot of robins - I may be imagining it, but it feels as if they are keeping they beady little eyes on me to make sure all goes well. Seeing one robin makes me smile, seeing a family of them is just such a treat!