A Robin's Tale

I know a lot of people discourage birds from nesting on their homes, especially on porches.  But if you want to observe the miracle of new life, and the amazing way God has equipped His creation to prepare for, care for and raise little ones, then let the birds nest where you can watch!  This faithful mama fed her little babies NON-STOP and by the time they left the nest, let me tell you, she looked worn out! (Can we moms relate to this!?) We helped her out by leaving piles of earthworms and meal worms and fresh water in a bowl near the nest.  Each morning we'd peek out the blinds and enjoy watching the movements of both mom and babies.  And yes, dad too -- the male Robin helps feed the babies although he appeared to be a bit of a 'slacker' to me and the majority of the care was provided by mom.

While I couldn't linger on my front porch for long without catching an "ear full" from mom, the inconvenience was short-lived as this whole process took less than a month!

 As you can see from the timeline, once the babies hatched, it was just about ten days before they left the nest!  The growth in the last five days was CRAZY fast and reminded me of just how quickly the years went by as my three kids grew up. I was concerned the Robins were much too young to leave the nest but appeared to be faring just fine.  As moms, we're often afraid that our kids are too young to leave and yet, as parents, we are supposed to raise them for just that . . . to leave and live their lives and create families of their own.  But I still saw Mama Robin bringing food up into the tree so I know she's still there to help when her babies need her . . . and aren't we as moms always doing the same?  My front porch nest is empty and so is my "nest" now but a mom is always a mom, no matter how big her babies get, right?