Empty Nest

One morning in early May, Hardy stepped out the front door and noticed all kinds of debris at the entrance. There were sticks and grass and a bunch of twigs on the ledge under the mailbox. He called me to take a look and began cleaning it up. I stopped him and said, "Maybe it's a bird building a nest." We looked at each other incredulously. Why would a bird want to build a nest in such a high-traffic area? People come and go here quite regularly. However, we left the debris and went inside.

To our amazement, the next morning there was a perfect nest on the ledge. We couldn't believe that such a beautiful thing could be made just with the sticks and straw we had noticed the night before. However, we didn't see any bird activity and after a week we assumed the bird had seen the error of its ways and decided this was not a good place for a nest. We showed the nest to our grandchildren and our friends and neighbours. We were sure it had been abandoned.

About a week after we first saw the nest, Hardy again made a discovery. There was one beautiful turquoise blue egg in it. We couldn't believe our eyes! Again, we had seen no activity. When was Mama Robin doing all this? We began to use the garage instead of the front door as an entrance and advised family and friends to do the same.

Every day a new perfect egg was added to the nest until there were four. There had been very little activity on Mama Robin's part, but once she had deposited all of her eggs she began to incubate them. We couldn't take a picture of her on the nest because every time we opened the door she flew away. She also left the nest when we approached from outside. However, our front door has a small rectangular window and we could peek at her. Every time we did that she would stretch out her neck nervously; she was not comfortable with our snooping!

We were very curious about the whole process and so we googled for information. We discovered that the mother robin hatches one egg a day and that she doesn't begin to incubate them until they are all laid, so they will all hatch at the same time. The incubation period lasts from twelve to fourteen days. We had planned a trip to Ontario for the middle of May and really hoped these eggs would hatch in time for us to see the baby birds, as we had become quite attached to Mama Robin and her little brood. We were overjoyed when we noticed the eggs began to hatch on the twelfth day.

The next day all of them had hatched. We were very proud of Mama Robin and her accomplishments! We couldn't believe how fond we had become of this little family. It was difficult for us to leave for Ontario!

I had made arrangements for my sister to come to the house once a week to water our plants. She sent me pictures of the babies after one week. Their feathers had come in and they looked like they were waiting to get some food and leave the nest.

                My sister took a photo of Mama Robin watching from a tree in our front yard.

When we returned about two weeks later, there was no sign of the robin family and the little nest looked very much like the first time we discovered it. We felt like we were experiencing empty-nest syndrome!

Watching this mother robin so busy with her own family, reminded me of our nest-building days. We had been married one year when we went to Congo where Hardy began his career as a Bible translator. Like our robins, we chose what must have seemed to people a rather unsafe place to begin a family. Somehow we felt like it was the right place for us and we began to build our nest there. It seems to me that just like we watched mother robin, so God was watching us and enjoying every aspect of our parenting days. God wept with us when we experienced the loss of one of our nestlings and God rejoiced with us when the new ones were born.

Somehow it felt like we would be together as a family like this forever but there came a time when our little birds too left the nest. We had taught them to fly and off they went, finding their own careers and building their own nests in places they chose. We have been "empty nesters" for some time now, but after a while that becomes normal. Eight grandchildren are the result of that nest we built so long ago in a rather precarious place!

We used to sing this song together on our way to school. It made us feel safe and loved.

                                              Children of the heav'nly Father                

                                              Safely in his bosom gather;

                                              Nestling bird nor star in heaven

                                              Such a refuge e'er was given.

                                              God his own shall tend and nourish, 

                                              In his holy courts they flourish.

                                              From all evil things he spares them,

                                              In his mighty arms he bears them.

                                                                                      Caroline V. Sandell Berg

We have been home from Ontario for a week now and today I spotted two robins in our backyard. The brown flecks on their chests indicated that they were still young. I took one look at them and they soared off. It made me happy that I had the opportunity to say goodbye to them!