Backyard Babies

Although I didn't look forward to spring this year, it's been winning me over anyway. Seeing animal families with their little ones doesn't sadden me the way that seeing human babies can.

First came the lambs and ducklings. Then, driving through the forest one night, I rounded a bend a quarter-mile from home and saw two pairs of glowing eyes. One was much lower than the other. A red fox and her kit! The kit was very small, around the size of my cat. While Mom finished crossing the road and disappeared into the brush, the little one wandered toward my headlights in confusion. It was less than ten feet away and coming even closer! For a moment, I think we were both hypnotized. I wanted to sit there and watch, even to get out and touch … but, knowing better, I drove off before the fox could get too close to my wheels or another car could come.

The latest babies to show up are three robins in a nest on my patio.

the nest

They're chirping as I write this! I first saw them this week, and it's amazing how much they've grown in just a few days. Or maybe it's not so amazing when you consider all the feedings (about 5 an hour) they get. Their parents are constantly busy, hopping through the grass and plucking out worms.

Dad

Mom

At first, the adults were very suspicious of me. Getting the first photos took some patient, sweaty, mosquito-bitten waiting. Now the adults don't hesitate to come feed the chicks when I'm sitting right there outside. They're learning to read my body language, and I'm learning their language, too: the "peek-tut" call that signifies a possible low-grade threat ("That lady with the camera is out here AGAIN!"), versus the alarm call that means they will bunker down somewhere safe for a while.

Watching these little dramas close-up has really been a treat. Since they won't be here long (two weeks from hatching to fledging), I've rearranged my living room to get a better view. It reminds me of how, when I was working long hours in a cubicle a few years ago, I got briefly obsessed with birdcams. They were a glimpse of nature in an otherwise nature-less world.

Now there's a real-life nest literally ten feet from my back door. I can catch all the details that make up a good story: Mom scolding Dad for displacing her before she's done with a feeding, the little ones snapping their beaks at a bee that comes too close, the little ones testing their wings. If I'm very lucky, maybe I'll be here to witness their first flight. It won’t be long.

little ones

not-so-little ones