It was MOH that first spotted the baby robin perched on a limb in the lilac bush. I took a few quick pictures through the screen door; the first photo reflects a funny blur and graininess that must be from the screen. I then went outside and carefully creeped [crept?] down the back sidewalk for a better view:
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| A peek-a-boo through the leaves. |
After quietly moving onto the back deck, I found that one reason for the graininess and blur of the first photo was that I needed to use manual focus, an awkward process because the camera kept jumping back to an infinity setting, requiring refocusing between most shots.
I then got brave and zoomed farther using the digital zoom, while continuing to focus manually. I don't usually use the digital zoom because the blur seems greater than enlarging a photo made with max optical zoom.
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| A little baby robin gets fidgety. |
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| Oh! Mom or Dad has come for a feeding! |
Before the feeding, the little robin flapped its short wings in anticipation; I had the camera zoomed all the way out and was trying, in vain, to manually focus, so got this blurry photo:
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| Our baby robin catches just a tiny bit of air, with feet still attached to the branch. |
MOH and I thought the robin was out of its nest prematurely, and we wondered how it would fare. Not long after I took these photos, the bird was no longer in the bush, but it likewise wasn't on the ground anywhere nearby. So we don't really know what happened.
4 comments:
I love the close ups of the chick. They're so clear I could probably now recognize a baby robin if I ever see one...
I've had robins nesting in my yard for several years in a row, and that behaviour is typical. The nestlings abandon the nest as soon as they can flap their wings and scramble out, but well before they can fly (can't blame them: it's overcrowded and often infested with lice; also, 3 or 4 young in a nest makes a single big target for predators). They spend the next week or so dispersed in various bushes around the area, being fed one at a time by their parents while they learn to fly.
--Howard
@Cujo Apparently they are like grown robins, but fatter (baby fat?) and spotted (and cuter!!). :)
@Howard Glad for your comment. We have been hoping that our out-of-nestling is alive and well (and indeed I've heard, or imagined, possible tweets that might indicate that) -- and neither of us knew it was a pattern for them to jump ship (nest) and flit from bush to bush. So's here's hoping!
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