Now, if this don't beat all...

Pelle,

Well, time will tell...
Mama still has 3 healthy babies and from what I've read and seen for several years, the most I would see becoming fledglings on their own from a single nest in our neighbor's tree in the backyard area is one...and in nearly 10 years at this house I think the female Robins that would nest in that crabapple tree there was only a successful brood of 2 fledglings from one nest 2 times.
So having three make it to being on their own is still above average. I will still hope for the best until she carries the old egg away though...

This message was edited May 27, 2010 2:16 PM

BIG UPDATE!!!!
Mama has 4 hatchlings...OMG! Have Mercy!!!!!!!!!!!
She is going to have to put an extension onto the nest...ROFL
Here is a series of 3 pics I took over the past 2 hours...

In this 1st pic it shows the 3 hatchlings with one egg still...BUT...

Here's a cropped pic of the same egg from the pic above...
Notice the cracks in the shell emerging...

An hour later the shell is completely gone that Mama carted off and here are the 4 babies...
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...Oh so HAPPY! :D

1st...look above folks, I added a lot of new posts...I don't want you to miss anything! :)
Just 5 minutes ago, the male, Mama's mate has just started to help with the feeding of the babies...
Oh, What fun!!!!! :D

This message was edited May 27, 2010 4:56 PM

Quadruplets! Please someone pass on the cigars! Congrats Godmom! I'm so happy for you.

Lily,
ROFL...I'll take 2 of those cigars just for me...HA!
Oh My, you're a hoot! Thanks Lily :D

Wow that is great SL!!!

Thanks Pelle :)
I hope they all make it on their own!

Aren't they just the cutest little fluffs? I can hear several baby birds from nests high up in our very mature oak, and white poplar trees....but I am not lucky enough to even catch a glinpse of the parents going to feed the babies.

I love this thread.
Nana3

Hello Nana3,

I'm thrilled you are enjoying the thread :D
I completely understand about having no access to any nests nearby. This is our 1st time this has ever happened. We were just hoping a mated pair of any bird would occupy one of our birdhouses. Who knew it would wind up being a Petunia porch planter instead...LOL
We're not complaining ;)

They fledge in about 2 weeks. If they're anything like mine, the oldest will probably go earlier. Have fun!

Susan, Tehehehehe, I'm just so thrilled for you. Looking forward to more pics. of the parents feeding those hungry mouths. Best of lucks.

Susan,
I love birds of all kinds. I use to breed exotic parrots and hand feed.
I can't wait to watch how fast they grow and maybe if we are lucky, you will get a pic of them fledging from the nest.

Nana3

Thanks Mrs_Ed, Lily and Nana3,

Here's 2 pics from today...
Here's Dad with 2 of the quad showing their wide beaks waiting to be fed in this pic...

And here are the quads today :D

Awww sweet!

Now that is just the sweetest thing I have ever seen. Don't they look so vulnerable with their long bare necks and that little tuft of feathers on the head. They are so cute. Thank you for sharing this with all of us. I will keep my eye on them.
Steph

Wonderful!!!

Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to show Joyanna the latest photos... wish you could have seen her bouncing up and down on my lap when we looked at the egg & baby photos! She recognizes the mama bird, for sure, since we have robins that she likes to watch. I doubt she understands about eggs and babies, LOL, but she was excited because I was. :-)

soo sweet ,my robins have fledged and I missed it..

Susan Louise, this is wonderful. I can't stop looking at those four perfect little bubs in the nest.

I have 2 pics for today...

Ok folks...All together now...HA - LLE - LU - JAH...Hallelujah...LOL

This was a hard shot to capture...Whew! The lighting is terrible, but at least you can still see the transfer of Dad coming in for a landing to relieve Mama on the nest and giving her a much needed break :D
I learned quickly while watching them that there is no time for conversation of "Hi Hon, howyadoing?" before the other flies off...HA!

Thanks for all your nice comments everyone! :D

This message was edited May 29, 2010 5:15 PM

LOL, that's a cute one Susan!

Thanks Pelle!

Scroll up folks...I added 2 pics today...don't want you to miss any! :D

LOL!! Sounds like you are having such fun Susan! Your photos are great and I will be watching for more.

How I love this thread. Susan, you're doing a fine, fine job of capturing the memorable moments. You're not kidding. Those parent birds are something else! I currently watching a pair of Brown Thrashers on my Rose arbor. One is sitting in the nest and will not leave unless the other came to relief it. Such good parents they are!

Susan what a fantastic series. AND I just found it.

Hack

Nice susan,great shot of them singing ...

I love the Hallelujah picture! :)

Congratulation Susan, very interesting thread. I'm also watching a nest of 4 eggs. The info I got here, tells me I should see some hatching around Thursday. Thanks for the updates.

Hello Folks!!!
It warms my heart so many of you are enjoying this thread. I so much appreciate all of your comments and it brightens my day...Thank You! :)

Today I only took one pic. It has been a long day of inside chores, weeding, mowing the yard and making several trips to prune our porch planters that have WAY overgrown Petunias. I have been trying to be sneaky by taking one planter at a time...starting from the farthest from the nest and bringing it in the house to prune and water the plants. Usually by that time I have to wait til both Mom and Dad have fed the chitlins' and then I almost run to put the planter I just worked on outside and grab the next one...Whew! It is no easy task...LOL
I managed to get 4 planters done...2 to go tomorrow morning. I won't need to bring in the planter with the nest in it of coarse. Mom and Dad seem to do some trimming on their own. guess they can only hop up so high over the plant...hehehe....but I still need to water around the nest like I usually do. I will need to change the juice in the hummer feeders again and clean them too. So just one more day of challenging manuvers...it's all good :D
On Tuesday we are supposed to have VERY severe weather here again...CRAP! I hope and pray it will miss us and I pray for the next 10 days or so the weather stays calm til they fledge.
I don't know if I will be bringing in the planters like the last time. It will depend on how bad the storm is. They are saying we could get hail the size of baseballs :/
Anyway, I'll worry when the time comes...
Here's today's pic everyone. I was relieved to see the baby that hatched last is in the middle...and not buried under the older/larger babies. Sometimes the little "runt" of the group doesn't get fed as much or gets trampled by the bigger babies...so far so good :D


This message was edited May 30, 2010 10:30 PM

This message was edited May 30, 2010 10:37 PM

Their growing fast!

well what lucky little birds to have such a caring god mother , you are so kind to work around them . I love following your story unfold . it has been a bright part of my day . I have a nest in my magnolia tree at home but I have been with my son in the hospital for the last 2 weeks and unable to watch my nest and I have so enjoyed watching yours
thanks , : ) laura

It has been such a treat watching this. I am praying for the weather to be mild for you and them.

Hello Folks,

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!
I just realized that I didn't post pics showing the set up of our porch to give ya'll a better perspective of where the Robin family is, so I thought I'd add some tonight along with today's pics...

Here's our porch with all the Petunia planters (look at our neighbor's basketball hoop...so it will give you the location of another pic I'll post here in a bit)...

Here's a close-up of the west side of our porch with the 2 end planters...
Can you see Mama? She is in the middle of the planter on the right :D

Taking a bath...not in a mood to share the tub today :/

Back to the "look-out" post...to preen after the bath :D

How adorable the mama is, I love the setting too. Thanks SusanL.