Earlier this spring, a robin couple decided to build their nest on our light fixture right outside our kitchen door, much to the delight of my daughter.  They spent quite a bit of time getting the nest just right.

Whenever I saw a chance, I would check for eggs by standing on a chair and taking my picture with my iPhone over the nest.  It was fun to watch as we went from one egg, to two, to four, then to four little fluffy gray babies.

Once the eggs were hatched, I had some better photo opportunities.  This was the day they were born:

Daddy robin would typically feed them while mama robin would hover nearby.

Unfortunately, we lost two of the babies to a hawk.  The remaining two robins grew so big practically overnight, so the nest was getting crowded.

The next morning, they had flown the nest.  One we never saw again.  But the other one we found in a window well, pecking at one of our basement windows.

He spent the morning testing out his wings, trying to get out of the window well.  Later I decided to bring him some water, in case he was thirsty.  But I found he’d made his way out and was resting atop our air conditioner next to the window.

He let me get pretty close to him, like he knew me.  After all, we’d been watching him ever since he hatched from that little blue egg.  So I ran back inside to get the camera and got a few more shots of him.

As soon as I snapped these shots, he flew away.  I hope he comes back next spring to start his own family on our light fixture.