The Toby Show

Nest Cam :: Cool Feeding Pictures

My good friend Kisa had baby robins in her eaves at the same time we had our Nest Cam going and she got some really wonderful shots.  I had intended to put up this link to her post way back when, but then my sister-in-law died and I just never got around to it. 

Even though spring is past I wanted you to see these because Kisa got the shots I tried so hard for weeks to get for you.  The feeding!  There is one shot where their mama robin has a giant wad of worms in her beak just redy to stuff down a baby bird gullet.  Mmmm.

So if you or your kids were following our Nest Cam back in May and were patiently awaiting the money shot that was never provided, head on over to Kisa Koenig Photography and check it out. 

And if you live in this area, consider calling Kisa up for your wedding, pregnancy, baby or family shots.  She's very talented and a blast to work with.  As I can attest.

Nest Cam :: RIP Scoot

Several people have wondered how Huck took the news that Scoot died.  The simple answer is, he took it well.  But that's a pretty boring blog post, so I'll elaborate. 

Unfortunately, Huck is not completely unfamiliar with death.  One of our cats died when Huck was almost 2, his Nana (Stephen's Mom) died when he was 2 1/2 and his Aunt Gretchen earlier this month.  Plus, we live in the country so he's also seen lots of dead deer, snakes, birds, mice and other little critters, some up close and personal.

Our explanation of death so far has been to say that your body stops working.  Your body can't walk or run or see or talk anymore.  It happens when you are very ,very old or very, very sick (as opposed to sick with a cold) or your body gets hurt very badly in an accident.  This all makes sense to him in the context of what he's seen with animals. 

Huck knew our trip to Texas was because his Aunt Gretchen died.  When we told him the news he asked, for the first time, "Where did she die to?"  Heavy.  We said simply, "We don't know."  Our thoughts about the afterlife are murky at best and our spiritual beliefs are very non-dogmatic so this felt right and honest to us.  The main thing we tried to convey was a sense of normalcy about it.  People and animals die sometimes.  It just happens.   We will always be able to look at pictures and remember them.   Yes, it's sad but it's okay to be sad.

My wonderful sister-in-law Gretchen

when she met Jemima on our big April road trip

Huck tried acting sad for a minute and then asked for a snack.  There.  Discuss death with 3 year old?  Check.  Sorry to be flip, but what else can you do?  You do your best, and move on.  I happen to think details and euphemisms are scary for this age.  I say keep it simple, easy-going, brief and honest.

Then we came home from Texas.  And we found Scoot.  You could say it was really piling on for the poor guy but, on the other hand, it might have allowed him to process his feelings a little bit, too.  See, Huck did not go to Gretchen's funeral or see anyone crying uncontrollably at any family events.  Even so, he did mention her a few times.  He'd say, "But Aunt Gretchen won't be there because she died, right?"  And we'd tell him, "That's right," and reassure him of all the other people who would be there.  I mean let's face, he's 3.  He doesn't really understand.  But you can't just pretend she went to Paris.

He asked if he could look at Scoot.  So we looked at him.  We talked about the way he didn't move.  Huck wanted to get his magnifying glass.  I let him. 

Yes, the nest may have been clean, but the floor?  Not so much.

We discussed what we thought happened to Scoot and decided that he tried to fly too early and fell out of the nest and hurt his neck.  I explained that this happens a lot with little birds and that's why Mommy birds lay so many eggs.  It was just an opportunity to talk about death in a more accessible way.  I didn't push it but I tried to answer all his questions.  In many ways the discussion paralleled those I had with Stephen and other family members as we tried to make sense of Gretchen's death. 

I told him that when people and animals we care about die, we put them in the earth (I felt this left room for cremation without having to get into it this early) and told him we could bury Scoot if he wanted.  He said that he did but was concerned that Scoot's mommy and daddy wouldn't know where he was.  I suggested that we could bury him under the tree that they liked to sit in and mark a rock with his name so they could come visit him.  He was happy with that. 

So we buried Scoot under the aspens.  Huck picked the spot, I dug the hole and we filled it in together.  Huck doesn't stand much on ceremony so we simply placed the headstone we decorated and said,

"Goodbye, Scoot.  You were a good little bird." 

Then Huck was off to play again. 

Nest Cam :: Empty Nest

Well, I knew when we left for Texas that we'd be returning to an empty nest.  Still, it was a sad sight to see.

Bittersweet more than sad I guess because I know the little birds learned to fly like they're supposed to. 

All except for one.  Let just say it was Scoot, shall we?  He probably either fell out of the nest a little early and hurt a leg or wing, or he was sick and was pushed out.  It happens.  I can tell it wasn't an animal because he was just under the nest and totally intact.  Another funeral.  Heavy sigh. 

The good news is we have no reason to believe that Feeker, Squawk & Button Open didn't take off as planned.  They're out there now hunting worms and roosting in the trees.  We'll be keeping an eye out for them and will certainly let you know if we spot any young robins that might be from our little brood.   

Thanks for keeping up with the nest cam this Spring.  We had a great time and hope you did, too.  Sorry we couldn't get the perfect worm shot or see the babies take flight.  Nature is fickle.  Maybe next year!

Nest Cam :: Growing Up

Sorry there haven't been many reports lately.  Not much has been going on in the nest really.  But man, are they growing!  I'll catch you up on the progress.

Here they are a few days ago when they first started to open their eyes.

And here's a picture from just yesterday. 

He was checking me out.  Getting pretty crowded in there, isn't it?

I still haven't gotten a feeding picture.  We've seen her feeding them but ither her back is to us and I can't get a good shot or I rush off to grab the camera and by the time I get back it's over. 

But I did see something prety cool yesterday.  Huck missed it, which is a bummer because it's right up his alley.  Just as I peeped out the window one of the babies lifted his bum over the side of the nest and dropped a little white poop sac out, PLOP!  Remember I told you that Robins like to keep their nests very clean and tidy?  Well even the babies know this and apparently they poop outside the nest.  Their bodies also make poop in a neatly enclosed little sac until they are fully matured.  So little Scoot (I'm guessing) just lifted over the side and dropped his sac in the pinecones.  It was really pretty neat.

This next part is more on the gross side.  Clementine was standing on the side of the nest watching him and she bent down and ate the poop sac.  I'm sure she's hungry since she feeds everything she catches to her 4 babies and it's probably good for her, but that's taking keeping a clean nest sight a bit too far in my opinion.

The poop happened too quickly for a picture but I did get this shot of Clem just after she...cleaned up after Scoot. 

Then she got really mad at me and started clicking and puffing up. 

I didn't mean to upset her but I guess if I was munching on poop sac I wouldn't want people looking either. 

The good news is that when she started clicking Abner showed up!  We hadn't seen him in a long time and I was worried something bad had happened to him.  But he arrived in a flash to back her up against the big bad lady in the window. 

Can you see him in the tree?

So that's the update.  Now for some bad news...

We've had a death in our family and will be heading back down to Texas for the services.  This may well be the last Nest Cam post and we're going to miss them leave the nest, which should be happening Monday or Tuesday.  I'm pretty bummed about not being able to continue the experiment but I have a wonderful neighbor who's going to check in on the birdies and might even take a few pictures.  So who knows.  Maybe, just maybe, we'll get to finish the story.  More likely, I'll come home to an empty nest (sigh) and spend the summer trying to identify our babies from the tons of robins in the area.  Oh well, that's how nature works sometimes.

Thanks for following along with our Nest Cam so far.  I will be sure and post anything else that comes in from my neighbor.

Nest Cam :: 1 Week Olds

The first eggs hatched on June 2nd so the babies are officially 1 week old and they are really growing fast.  It's hard to believe they'll be flying and roosting with the daddy robins in another week.

As you can see it's getting hard for Clementine to even fit on the nest anymore.  Can you spot the two little beaks poking out a bit underneath her?

I'm sorry to say that I still haven't caught a picture of Clementine actually feeding them. 

But Button Open does get quite worked up every time I open the window.  Look at that stretch!  I'll keep trying to get a picture of all 4 babies trying to get dinner and the worms going down the gullet.  Maybe I'll have something fun to show you on Friday.

Nest Cam :: 4 Hatchlings

Didn't want you guys to spend the weekend wondering about little Button Open.  It's good news.  All 4 eggs hatched and we have 4 babies in the nest.  Scoot, Feeker, Squawk and Button Open. 

Guess which one this is?

Check out that crazy hair again.  And you can see someone's little spine there on the bottom right.

They are growing fast and already fill twice as much of the nest as they did when they first hatched.  Interestingly, they don't all sit up and open their mouths immediately when Clementine lands with a worm.  She has to peep at them and then only one or two lift up for their meal.  We can see that they are all moving in there so our guess is that they are still just a little too small.  We expect that as they get bigger and stronger they will all sit up and try to get the worm each time.  Just like human babies when they are only a few days old, they're very tired and sleep most of the day.

It's rained a little each afternoon and should continue that pattern for the next week.  That combined with us doing some gardening and keeping lots of fresh dirt tilled up are really making finding earthworms a easy job for Clementine.  Good thing too because we haven't seen Abner bring food to the nest like we were expecting.  We hope he's alright.  We wonder if maybe he'll start helping out once the babies are bigger and it's a bigger job to keep all four little tummies full. 

We've learned that while the mommy robins are all sitting on their nests, all the daddy robins in an area roost together in a tree somewhere.  Then when the babies leave the nest, they go roost in the tree with the daddy birds while the mommies start building their next nest in a new location.  They are very communal birds it turns out.

We'll post another update early next week.  I wonder how much they'll grow in another 2 or 3 days? 

Nest Cam :: Predators

Okay everyone, it's time to talk about a hard truth.  Predators.  We've been learning about what other birds and animals are dangerous for American Robins and their chicks.  And unfortunately, we've got almost all of them up here in Eastern Idaho.

Magpies, crows, ravens, owls, hawks, falcons, and jays will all eat robins for food or in order to eliminate competition.  While we do have all these types of birds in this part of the country, we're not too worried about them because our robins live in a very protected area.  Only Stellars Jays ever come up near our house and so far we're doing a good job of keeping them fat and happy with lots of suet on the other side of our property. 

Larger birds are not the only predators of the American Robin.  Small mammals like raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, foxes, and bobcats also eat robins.  Again, we have all these critters around here but Clementine and Abner were wise in some ways to have built their nest on our porch because all these animals are wary of people and probably won't come so close to a house.  Especially a house with a big, loud dog who likes to bark when anything scurries around outside. Nothing would make it up the front steps without Taxi sounding the alarm.

But it's the number one Robin predator that has us worried...

The House Cat.

This is Buckle. 

The good news is that Buckle is very old and not very smart.  I mean it.  We've had smart cats before and Buckle is definitely what you'd call dim.  This picture was taken before the eggs hatched and, believe it or not, he has no idea the robin's nest is right there behind him in that picture.  Even if he did he would've have no interest in the eggs and is too old, fat and lazy to try to get an adult robin.  However, now that the babies have hatched and will soon begin chirping loudly for their food, Buckle is likely to notice and be very interested.

We've decided that there's just nothing we can do if bigger birds or wild animals go after the nest or the babies, but we can do something about Buckle. 

Poor, old Buckle is now house-bound.  We've close off the cat door in the basement and moved the litterbox back in side (shudder).  Buckle will only be allowed out during the day if we are down in the front yard below to keep a close eye on him.  We'll also be putting up a barrier at the bottom of the stairs as a deterrent just in case he gets sneaky while our backs are turned.   

And don't think the robins are helpless creatures either.  They defend themselves from any attack by sending alarm calls when predators come near.  If there are other neighboring robins (and there are lots around here), the other robins will come to help.  They'll work together to mob the predator or help each other escape.   Huck's friend Owen has a cat and a robin's nest at his house too and the mommy and daddy robin worked as a team diving at their cat until he ran away. 

Still, we'll do what we can to help out.  The chicks will take about 13 days to mature so it won't be too hard on Buckle and he'll get lots of extra cuddles and treats to make up for it.

Nest Cam :: Hatch Day!!!

Why lead off with a bunch of words when a picture tells the story? 

Most of the eggs have hatched.  We can definitely see 2 baby robins and one egg left.  We aren't sure if the other egg has hatched and the baby is on the near side where we can't see it or the other egg is just under the babies and can't be seen.  I also have to prepare you for the possibility that the 4th baby might have died or not hatched at all.  If the egg didn't hatch or the chick died, Clementine would have taken it out of the nest.  We'll know for certain in the next day or two.  

The babies eyes aren't open yet but they react to vibrations--the movements they can feel.  When they feel the nest move a little bit because Clementine or Abner have landed on the side, they stick their heads up and open their mouths wide for a treat.  Ummmmm, worms.  In the picture above we think they felt the small vibrations of us climbing the step ladder in the bathroom or leaning against the window a bit.  

Notice how there aren't a bunch of broken eggs shells in the nest.  Robins like to keep their nests very clean and tidy.  After we saw that the eggs had hatched we went downstairs and looked around under the porch.  Good thing, too because look at this nice prize...

We'll be back tomorrow and hopefully all the eggs will have hatched and we'll get a better look at Scoot, Feeker, Squawk and Button Open--a name that seemed a little strange at first but after seeing the hungry babies is beginning to make a lot of sense.

Nest Cam :: Still Waiting

Clemetine is still waiting for the eggs to hatch.  And we're waiting right along with her.  It really should be any day now according to our calculations. 

I think this is the bird version of pacing the floor.  I mean, she's already done the nesting part.

I remember feeling like this in December just before Huck's little sister was born.

Nest Cam :: Keeping Dry

It's been raining this week.  It doesn't seem to bother Clementine too much but she has been staying on her nest even more than usual.  Look at how she spreads her wings out over the nest to keep it warm and dry.