We have a new Baby !!!

I would like to have seen my daughters faces when they read this blog post title, but yes we have a new baby, the first baby bird of the year has fledged and is now exploring the garden.

We have had a pair of Robins in the garden since christmas, I have also seen on occasion the male Robin fly to the female in the garden shrubs and feeding her with insects and morsels of fatball, a very attentive male, I believe this is all part of the pair bonding.

 This is not an unusual occurrence as the female Robin stays on the nest incubating her eggs for about two weeks, and during this time the male will bring her food.

So today, 22nd April the first Juvenile Robin has fledged from its hidden nest somewhere at the bottom of the garden, curiously only one juvenile has been seen, maybe more will follow in the next few days.

The juvenile Robin does not get its red breast for about two months after fledging, this prevents it from being attacked by the parent birds as an intruder, Robins are very territorial.
The shape of the juvenile is quite unmistakable though.

My first glimpse was this morning when I heard the juvenile begging for food on the fence, and then mostly hidden views as the parent birds took food to the fledgling hidden within the shrubs.

I kept an eye on the birds throughout the day while I tinkered around in the garden, eventually when the parent bird was collecting food on the lawn, the fledgling flew out of its sheltered position and begged for food, allowing me to get a nice photograph to record the occasion.

Robin

More new arrivals should be on the scene soon.

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