Lesson in New Life

Bryce has asked us to read an Easter book at night over and over again about Jesus's gift of New Life. In the book the kids are going on an Easter Egg hunt and they comment on a Robin's nest filled with 4 eggs which means baby Robins will be here any day. He was always SO excited about that part.

Then, yesterday I found a nest on the beam just under our second level deck. It had 3 eggs yesterday and a 4th egg today. Actually, it had 2 eggs yesterday when I saw it, but we found one more on the ground. We put the 3rd egg back in the nest. I learned from some of the information I read today that Momma more than likely tossed that one because it was infertile or something else was wrong. Oops. I hope that doesn't affect the other 3 in there! After looking up some more information, I found that Momma will probably only lay 4 eggs (sometimes 5) and now she will start the incubation period of about 12-14 days. She will only leave the eggs for about 5-10 minutes at a time. (I did learn about this process at one point, but it was YEARS ago!)

Of course I have noticed Momma bird close by watching me each time I go out on the deck today. Every time I went out on the deck she flew from the nest to that same branch and watched me until I went back inside. This worries me because if she needs to be sitting on those eggs constantly for the next couple of weeks, I don't want my presence on the deck to disturb her. I'm really hoping she gets used to us walking around on the deck...

So, seriously, I'm very worried about this. I am a complete worrier anyway, but I really want these little robins to make it! We are out on our deck all the time, and Bryce is always playing out back. I am wondering if I can/should keep us all off of the deck for this month, yet we LOVE it out there. I will do what I can to leave the nest and that area of the deck undisturbed, but I'm hoping that Momma bird will want to stay and take care of them and we can all coexist without any issues. The other problem is after they hatch and decide to leave the nest. Then I need to keep them safe from both the dog and the 3 year old after they hatch and leave the nest, yet before they take sustained flight.

This is super exciting for me because I've never actually been able to see the process up close (it's the little things in life right?). I will try to take photos of each phase (from my phone because I can't get a good enough shot through the boards with my Canon...although I may try to experiment a bit more with that).

Let the journey begin!