Well, what a day of (maybe not) Robin activities!
We were very excited to notice that one of the chicks had taken the plunge (almost literally) and left the nest to explore the big wide world this afternoon. Michelle noticed it sat on the ground by the outside fridge and was initially worried that it had hurt itself. It became clear after a little while that it was just overwhelmed with its new surroundings and was waiting to build its confidence up before exploring; helped I am sure by frequent encouraging visits by both parents after it also figured out how to 'cheep' for the first time to get their attention.
And therein began its troubles. We were fascinated to watch how the adult birds would demonstrate how to fly by take short hops on to objects and then fly back down to try and get it to do the same thing. The only problem was that they got a bit carried away and demonstrated flying over the swimming pool. Sure enough, the chick tried to do the same thing and fell in. I hadn't even considered the pool as a potential hazard for a young bird but nevertheless found myself dashing out to rescue it with the pool net and brought it back to the safety of the porch to dry off.
No sooner had I done that and returned inside did we watch another chick spread its wings for the first time and manage a controlled descent to the porch. This one wasted no time in having a go at the proper flying thing and yes, no more than 5 minutes after its adventurous sibling found itself swimming in the far side of the pool. Cue another rescue. The picture above was taken a little while after the second rescue - it still has some ruffled feathers that aren't quite dried off yet.
But that's not all... a bit later on the cats were demanding to be let out to do their business so we let them out the front and kept on eye whether they snuck round the back. Sure enough, we spot Cornflake lurking in the porch and grab her to bring her in. Miko, however, was a bit smarter and crept around behind the plans at the back of the garden and all we saw was her darting across at the back of the pool with something in her mouth. Yep, she had caught one of the chicks! Michelle and I jumped up and ran outside, cornered Miko and got her to drop the bird. We were relieved to see that although clearly petrified it was not actually injured. I brought it back and sat it in the porch where it proceeded to sit very still as the evening got darker and darker.
Finally, we felt sorry for it and hatched a plan to pick it up and place it back in the nest so that it can get a good night's sleep before having another go at the flying thing tomorrow.
It's nerve-wracking stuff this bird rearing game. The cats are sleeping in a locked garage tonight.
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