After much disturbing of the poor robins, I have taken off the paneling over the window and have a lovely view of the nest. It is at a rather awkward angle for the camera, but I can still get some shots.
I have a pillowcase suspended from the ceiling about 8 inches from the window, so that our household activities do not disturb the birds. The mother robin would not come near the nest while I was up close with the camera, even though I stayed perfectly still. However, when I sat on the stairs about 6 feet away, she did not notice me and came and fed her hungry brood.

Based on previous pictures, I was not sure if there were two or three, but today's pictures and sighting of hungry mouths has shown that there are three.

I am not sure exactly when they hatched, but the Robin Blog guy says they open their eyes on the sixth day, so they are not yet six days old as their eyes are firmly shut.

New robin pictures!
Posted by Heather Daley on May 26, 2005, 3:55 pm | Read 2427 times
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My mistake about the eyes. They are only firmly shut when asleep! I tried to do a little panel modification, and the bumps triggered their reflex - stick your head straight up, open your mouth, and chirp! Then I also could see that their eyes were open.

I first saw the eggs on May 7, which would mean hatching by May 21. I first saw the babies May 25 and today is the 26th. So they are at least 6 days old, but probably not much more than that. So I estimate that they will fly by June 5.
Posted by joyful on May 26, 2005, 4:59 pm

Very cool! At least in the city you probably don't have to worry about blacksnakes.
Posted by SursumCorda on May 26, 2005, 5:45 pm

I went to close the paneling for the night so any inside lights we have on don't disturb them. Just as I went up there, Mom came to feed the chicks. She had her back to me for most of it, but then caught me out of the corner of her eye and looked and stared. I stayed as still as humanly possible, and she decided I was ok and finished her business before flying off. Then I closed the panel for the night.

I'm going to try to figure a better way to open the paneling. There is a small portion that I'd like to open so that I can close the larger one I took off today. I think that it will be better for all involved - a closer view of the nest, and less inside activity viewing for them. Unfortunately, I think the placement of the paneling will make it hard to take that piece off. We will see.
Posted by joyful on May 26, 2005, 8:04 pm
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