BRIDGTON – Overheard at the birdbath: “Come here often?” “No, just flew in from Florida.”

That was the beginning of a saga played out in the vines on our back porch. We had the luxury of enjoying a family of robins from start to finish.

The nest grew quickly. Mom and Dad then disappeared for a day or two — probably a robin honeymoon — and returned with Mom ready to lay her beautiful blue eggs one at a time until there were four.

During the incubation time, Mom and Dad turn the eggs (so the kids don’t stick to the inside of the shell) and keep the first eggs cool so they pretty much hatch at the same time. Aren’t they smart?

At the moment of the kids’ appearance, both Mom and Dad are ready with delicious, nutritious worms for those ever-ready beaks. It is endless. They probably name the kids Beak 1, 2, 3 and 4. Easier to keep track when making sure feeding is even.

For the first few days, we saw only open beaks above the rim of the nest when Mom and Dad arrived. Then we saw heads with pinfeathers appearing — they looked as if the feathers were all in the wrong places, but eventually they became a pattern.

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With Mom and Dad furnishing an endless supply of food, they grew large enough to begin pushing each other around in the nest. Soon, it seems the nest will overflow with bodies.

However, when a rainstorm arrived, either Mom or Dad stuffed them all inside the nest and covered them with their own bodies. They did such a good job it seemed as if the nest suddenly had a basement.

Pushing and shoving for more room seemed to cause havoc, particularly when some tried out their wings while holding on to the side of the nest. We think we hear, “You’re stepping on my foot! Get your wing off my neck! Mom! He pushed me!”

The most daring moved to a branch close to the nest, where he or she sat nervously for a while, then tried out his or her wings again. The slightest breeze returned them to the nest, but once they felt freedom and space, they were serious about getting ready for their new world.

One by one they left, answering the calls from nearby parents who seemed to be chirping, “Come on down.”

After the last one left, we didn’t see it for a while. Somehow, the youngster got itself inside the garage and was at the window. It was frantic — but not as frantic as the parent, who was outside the window with a very large worm, trying to get the worm through the glass to the youngster’s beak.

After the parent picked up the young robin and moved it outside, we heard much robin talk from the waiting parents. Probably: “You don’t listen when we talk to you.” Surely the teenage kid said, “Yeah, whatever.”

Barbara Jenni is a resident of Bridgton.


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