The robins and some ducklings too!

First, a little update on our robin friends. The rescued baby robins were never found after they were placed in the nest. But a couple of days later we discovered this up in our playhouse portion of the swing set:

Yup, its another Robins nest. Not in the best place mind you, but the word must have spread that we are friends to the birds and now they are taking refuge in our yard! The kids are very excited to be able to watch the robins hatch and grow. Ryan and I are just worried about being able to keep the cat and Brylee away from them. The nest is right by the top of the slide. The cat can get up to it, and Brylee has already picked up one of the eggs. They are delicious at Easter time you know! So over the course of the next month, we will have to keep a close eye out for our new friends. (Apparently, you cant move the nest, even a little bit, or the mother wont recognize it...so our research tells. So that option it out, in case thats what you are thinking!)

In other birdie news...
our little Katelin who is shy beyond belief around most of society, was actually in a play at school! I love that our school has these PBL (project based learning) groups, in addition to a great arts program. Madi has learned violin, been in orchestra and choir, marketing, newspaper publishing, and movie making to name a few. Katelin had her first chance this year as a second grader to be in a PBL group, and she chose the Theatre Guild. It was surprising to us when she put that as one of her choices, but I explained what it was, and that she would have to be in front of people...and talk at them, but she still wanted to do it. None of us had any idea it would actually lead to a big production at the end of the year! She even had the opportunity to drop it for another group mid-way, but she wanted to stick with it. She ended up spending A LOT of time rehearsing at school, and all her hard work paid off. She performed in a play of The Ugly Duckling called "Honk Jr." in front of a big crowd on two separate nights, and did an awesome job!
She played one of the ducklings, named Downy. She had about 5 lines and sang a couple of songs (as a group). It was a really cute play, and Ryan and I were very impressed at how well all the elementary students performed. She even got her own personalized T-shirt to wear!

Here are all the ducklings before the show, waiting behind the nest. She had to sit back there for about 20 minutes.

We weren't allowed to take pictures during the performance, so here she is after in her "costume". It was pretty low budget, but what do you expect for a first time performance from an elementary school. She actually had one of the better costumes. You couldnt really tell what the other kids were supposed to be at all.

The 3 normal ducklings.

I tried really hard to upload the video's of her performance, but the Blogger wouldnt work for me. I did get them to work on Face Book, so you can check them out on my profile page. (sorry if your not on FB) There are 4 scenes she was in. It is worth it to watch them I think...not only because Katelin is in them, but it is a really cute play. You probably wont recognize her in this setting...you know, all vocal and everything, so Ill just let you know she is usually the orange one in the middle. She had a great time, and even loved it so much, shes talking about doing it again next year, and wanting to play the lead!

Who knew all she needed to be heard, was a stage and some lights!?

A little rescue...attempt.

Before I begin this post, let me just make something clear. I like animals...at least most animals... outdoor animals...the kind I dont have to take care of and clean up after. (The kids are still on their never ending plea for a dog, but Im just not ready for that yet! But thats another story.)

I hate hunting.

I dont get how people can find joy and entertainment in killing something so beautiful that God has created. Im this close to going vegetarian. I dont think Ill ever get closer than this, but I have a hard time eating meat, or eggs without thinking about where they came from, and what Im eating. But again, not my point.

We have a cat, well...lets just call him a miniature Lion. Hes big, and hairy and loves the outdoors, oh and yes- he's a hunter. So, I have mixed feelings about the cat, because on the one hand, hes an animal, and thats good, even though I have to clean up after him. But the hunting thing...major dislike. I know its natural for him, he is an animal after all. Its in his nature...the circle of life and all that jazz. Now dont freak out when I say this, but I also like mice. They are animals too. Not mice in my yard, or my basement...or garage...or near me at all. But they are cute, right? From a distance, or in a cage? Okay, you dont have to answer that. I am grateful that the cat keeps the mice under control around the house and yard, I really am-but do I really have to see them? We did rescue one once in Utah, because the Lion had just been playing cat and mouse with him for too long, and the poor little guys heart was beating out of his chest with fear. I couldnt take it anymore, so bravely I scooped him into an empty container and drove him to a safer Lion free location. Heres some proof of our heroic rescue attempt.

2005I just dont get why the Lion cant just politely ask the mice to find another location. This one is taken. He doesnt even eat them 90 % of the time! He has his fun killing them by torture, and after hes done with them, he leaves them for us. I guess its some sort of friendly gesture from beast to master. Its like an offering to us. But sorry Lion...I dont want your offerings! I dont like walking through the nice lush grass, only to come upon a dead mouse, or stepping out on the patio in the morning to another one of your victims! Is it really too much to ask that he just dispose of them himself when hes through with them?

Well, just when I thought the mice thing was bad, the Lion took it to a whole new level! I dont think I can get past this one. The other night, when I went to let the Lion in the house, I noticed another one of his offerings on the patio. It was dark and I figured it was just another one of his mice so I called the man of the house to clean it up (hey, I have poop duty!) Well, it was bedtime, and we had to get the kids in bed first, so the offering had to wait a minute. While the kids were brushing their teeth, I snuck another look and decided to give the Lion the benefit of the doubt. It looked more like a hairball...or two hairballs? So I got closer to investigate. Definitely not a mouse...or a hairball! It was two very newborn baby robins! They werent in good condition, but they were alive...barely! It was pretty cold out, and they had some abrasions from where the Lion sunk his teeth into them. Neither Ryan or I had the heart to put them out of their misery (or the guts, whatever you want to attribute it to). So I decided to scoop them up and try to save them. I know these pictures dont make them look very cute...they are hairless and their eyes arent open yet, but very newborn humans arent all that either. They look dead, but they were breathing, moving around, and opening and closing their mouths. I could imagine them screaming for help whenever their mouths would open. I couldnt take it! I brought them in the house and Ryan and I contemplated whether or not to tell the kids. Sure...why not! Its a good experience and they are kinda cute. Kinda. They would want to see. We were right. They loved them! My motherly instinct took over and I went worm hunting, while Madi held a flashlight over them to help warm them up. FYI-crushing a worm up is not as easy as it sounds! When I thought it was small enough for the birds to swallow, I put it in their mouths with a skewer. It was tough for them to swallow, and I hoped they wouldnt choke to death! Eventually, they got them down. I dripped tiny droplets of water in after to help wash it down and wash off their injuries. Then we were stuck. Now what?

"Is there an animal rescue center close by? Its too late to deliver them tonight. What if they dont make it through the night?" Its amazing how quickly we all got attached. Katelin thought maybe they came from the nest in our neighbors yard. She was positive they looked just like the chicks in that nest. We let the kids say goodnight, and sent them to bed so we could figure out what to do next.

Zack loving the chicks, and saying goodnight.

We decided to take them over to the neighbors nest. It was 9:00 at this point, as I walked down the sidewalk with a box and a flashlight. I felt a little like I was out on a robbery or something. Especially when I walked up the the decorative tree on the neighbors porch, where the nest was. I saw it immediately after the mother bird flew away as I approached. How could she leave her babies like that? So close to humans? The light was on inside. I could see the neighbors. I couldnt just stand there, flashlight in hand and snoop around their porch, so I knocked. I told them the whole story and they showed me the nest. Nope, not these birdies home. They did look the same, but this nest was already full with 4 other, older and larger chicks. Now what? The neighbors talked me into just putting our chicks into the nest with the other chicks, and hoping the mother bird would adopt them and take care of them. I thought it was a long shot, and worried about my babies, but I felt pressured, so I did it...against my motherly judgement. The other chicks were going crazy! I thought one tried to eat my chick as I set him in the nest. Oh, what have I done!? Its too late to get them out now! The other chicks were stepping all over them. These newborn chicks should have been in the NICU, not thrown into a nest of 4 toddler birds! I apologized, and thanked the neighbors at the same time, and walked home. I felt bad all night. I couldnt wait until morning to go check on the babys. The kids were upset with me when I tucked them in and told them what I did.

"But you promised I could see them first thing in the morning!" one said.

"You can" ...hopefully..."their just at the neighbors house."

So the first thing Madi did after she was ready for school was head down to the neighbors porch. Katelin decided not to go. She is a little mother herself and I dont think was ready to face them if they didnt survive. I had Madi take the camera to take a picture to show us when she came back. Heres what she got.

Do you see my babies anywhere!? Me either. After school, we went over to check on them again. I got an eye witness account that they could not be seen. I dont know what happened to them. Either they got totally smashed, smothered and buried by the other birds, or the mother bird decided that 4 noisy toddlers was all that she could handle, and tossed the babies out on their bottoms. Thats the probable thing.

Now my preferred version:

While all the mother birds were getting together for their morning worms and coffee, they discovered that poor Mama Flitter's baby chicks had been violently stolen from her nest the night before! Mama Tweet peeps up and says she mysteriously found two baby chicks in her nest last night...at which point Mama and babies are reunited.

OR...

The toddler birds take to the new babies right away, and take them under their wings and protectively gather around them to keep them warm. Babies, toddlers and Mama live happily ever after.

And maybe someday, in the near future, a robin will come land on my shoulder and twitter "thank you" in my ear, for saving her life once upon a time on that cold spring night!

Hey, I can dream!