I’ll be the first one to admit it…
Cape Cod can get downright bleak in winter, like some kind of dreary moor landscape straight out of a Bronte novel.
And yet.
We have robins!!
And they have been managing, sometimes single-featheredly, to keep us all smiling these dismal days.
Especially with the Big Berry Bonanza going on for our hungry winter friends to help keep them warm and healthy!
Don’t you just love ’em?? 😉
Seeing some of the last autumn leaves now in the marsh.
Yet this tiny robin was singing his little heart out the other evening at sunset, oblivious to winter’s steady approach.
Perhaps he likes winter… almost as much as me?
Every spring at least one pair of robins builds a nest under the deck. High up in the rafters they are safe from predators and cool when it’s hot.
I love watching the process from shiny blue eggs to peeping youngsters to fledglings.
But to be honest, the older the baby robins get the edgier I feel about scaring them as I go up and down the stairs. I’d feel terrible if I ever stepped on one by accident, and I breathe a huge sigh of relief when the day comes for them to fly away.
And yesterday was that day!
I was heading up the stairs with a bag of groceries and out they flew! One landed on the railing, the others scattered to a nearby maple tree with Mama bringing up the rear.
Hurray! Our baby birds were off and on their way at last!
I went about my garden chores, finally getting some weeding time in without fear anymore of disturbing the robin family.
I was thinking how lonely it was not hearing the babies under the deck when I noticed Mama Robin down on the fence below. Her mouth was stuffed full of grubs and worms as she cocked her head this way and that, chirping a mile a minute.
She was clearly upset. With me.
Now if you’ve ever had the feathery eyeball directed at you from a perturbed Mama Robin, you know exactly what I mean!
Mama flew over to an adjacent fence, her usual spot for routine feedings.
She was looking straight up at her nest.
I decided to take a look at the nest for myself. Peering down between the deck boards I spotted her right away. Hunkered deep in the nest, a pair of bright baby robin eyes were looking right back at me!
Turning back to Mama Robin I said, “So there’s one left after all, huh Mama? One not so eager to leave home just yet?”
And then off Mama flew!
Seconds later, I heard the soft peeping sound of the little baby bird below getting her lunch.
It was kinda’ nice having the company again…
Thanks for visiting me here at Images of Cape Cod!
Sally
Images of Cape Cod 