Backyard Nature
Living through a pandemic has definitely been a unique and interesting experience for all of us, to say the least. During this period we've learned to make many adjustments, insulate ourselves, sometimes lose sleep—and adapt to a new reality. I’d like to share something to hopefully lighten the mood. A little sweet experience with nature.
This is ongoing. I will update this page regularly.
At the beginning of Spring I noticed this one bird regularly hanging out in the yard. Initially I'd only see one, but shortly after there were two.
May 02, 2020
Soon after, I spotted their nest.
And within days they had three eggs.
May 24, 2020
One day I looked inside to find one baby bird.
May 25, 2020
Only when the parents are away I take a closer look, I obviously don't want to scare them. But I worry because there are a couple of cats that pass through the yard sometimes, especially at night.
May 27, 2020
I can not believe how fast the baby bird is growing. These photos are generally one day apart.
May 27, 2020
I think this is the mother. 
May 29, 2020
The baby bird is so big now, it’s hard to see the two eggs.
Hi Mr. Toad. What are you doing up so late? 2am.
In the dead of night, these two were hanging out.
Just chillin 😎
June 01, 2020.
Almost completely grown, looks like a full size, adult bird here.
While out for a quick bike ride I saw these four. Not social distancing!
June 02, 2020
Unbeknownst to me, this was the very last photo of the bird in the nest. A full size bird.
June 03, 2020
It was bittersweet to see the nest like this. I was happy to see the bird all grown and gone, yet sad that I could not visit and see it daily.
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Please feel free to leave a comment. Do you have a similar experience with birds or other animals in your yard? I wonder why only one egg has hatched. How have you been coping and keeping occupied throughout this period that we're all experiencing? All comments are welcome, please share them below.
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Thank you for all the comments! I can not reply at the moment but will try to fix that. Really enjoying reading your comments. Please keep them coming! 😊
27 comments
I’ve experienced exactly the same story last spring, I kept watching our nest for over 4-5 weeks the birds were fine but one of them did not make it because the nest was too small and one the baby bird unfortunately fell down , all together there were 5 of them
I got so In to watching over them to the pint I got inspired to start my privet label candle making business through out this locked down time and I named my TinyNest , I have the picture of the nest on my label .
From that moment I look at birds in totally different way , they are so vulnerable they travel long distance to live with us , to have so little time to make babys .what bothers me the most is the fireworks in summer time when they go off they actually can disturb or even kill the birds or disoriented them and at times the eggs are being abandoned
I am a big bird lover
Have you seen another pair of robins this Spring? Lovely to have been able to see the chick grow. Amazing after only 13-14 days it is on its own.
Springtime is always such an exciting time for nature, there is so much to see and to enjoy each day as everything becomes alive and active all around us. Lovely post and pictures.
I love this. The best way to keep our spirits high during this time of isolation is to e more perceptive of the happy little things around us. That especially includes the nature around us we may not have noticed during our busy normal life.
Every year in our backyard for the past 3 years a momma robin comes back to her best to lay her eggs every spring! It’s quite interesting, after migrating and flying so far over fall/winter I never thought a bird would find its way back to the nest it had built the year prior. They are smarter than we think! By now all her babies have hatched and we think they’ve been able to fly off too. We don’t see her come by as often as early spring.
It’s lovely reading your blog, Thankyou for sharing :)
These are beautifully captured moments of nature’s beauty, Joulian! What a joy to be witness to this up close and personal! Springtime is such a transformative, magical season and the Nation’s capital is surrounded by it! Even though I live in an apartment I am blessed to live beside the Ottawa River Parkway and steps away from a forest and the river to witness lots of nature and all of its beautiful creatures! Every chance I have I embrace the outdoors and while I bicycle along the river I have observed a family of Canada Geese and every time I cross paths with them I notice the babies growing quite rapidly, losing their fuzzy phase. It brings such joy and a smile to my face! Though I have been working during this pandemic since I am considered an “essential worker” as a Pharmacy Assistant I have been welcoming the outdoors as much as possible to cope with this world crisis. Forest-bathing is the best therapy!
Love this!
I cant beleive how fast they grow!!!
I have always loved the colour of Robins eggs ❤
Something nice to peak your interest during a pandemic, we are lucky it is not the middle of winter!
These are such lovely photos! Your posts always brighten up my IG, thank you for sharing!
Robin’s egg blue is my favourite shade of blue! 😍 MY closest encounters with birds where I live (6 floors up in an apartment building) are the crow family that always visit the maple tree below my balcony. Sometimes they fly onto my balcony railing and taunt my cats!
We have two pigeons that come to our balcony every single day together. We can’t find a nest at all so we’re just assuming it’s their date spot 😂
Lovely photos and stories. We have been doing a lot of car drives at the end of the day to deal with the struggle of being cooped up inside all the time. And one of our favourite spots in the country had a spring pond right by the side of the road with a big hillock in the middle of it and a Canada goose nesting right in the center. Last time we drove by they were gone so I assume the babies have hatched and they are now learning the ways of being a duck. We are wishing them well.
When we used to have a backyard, we enjoyed feeding the birds with various feeders. It was nice to see all the animals like birds, rabbits and squirrels frequent our yard. I love waking up to the birds chirping. The sound of summer 💕
They look so strange as babies! Keep us updated, I bet the baby will stick around nearby once it leaves the nest too. Does your pup try to chase the birds?
I don’t have any nests this year, but last year a duck decided the door to my work was the perfect spot for some eggs! They were super cute once they hatched, but they left for a pond shortly after.
The Robins wow🥺 I always get robins in my backyard as well just like my grandmother did in her backyard while she was still alive. I always say that the robin always returns to my backyard because it is a sign from her!
That’s amazingly cute! My mother in law has had a nice big rabbit hanging around her yard and then eventually it appeared to be the same rabbit but skinnier and so she was doing yard work and has thrown the branches and twigs in her fire pit and I believe this was a couple of weeks ago and she saw something in the firepit… well turns out the mase their den in the fire pit and there were baby bunnies in the fire pit, I can’t remember if she said there were 4 or 6. She was very glad she did not start the fire without moving some of the branches out first!
A lovely bird tail! (Ha!) no birdies in my backyard as I’m on the third floor of a triplex but I do see some cute, swoopy bats at dusk and throughout the night. They’re always in pairs or more and always seem to be playing with each other but they’re probably taking care of serious bat business.
The robin’s egg colour is truly stunning! What beautiful photos!
I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly that our backyard wildlife has to offer since we back onto woods with a creek running thru it. We’ve had duck families cross our backyard, and even found a nest. Tucker has chased some of the rabbits that live under the neighbours deck and helped themselves to both our gardens! I’ve even had a coyote eat a squirrel right outside my living room window! And I can’t forget all the poop a turkey family left behind on their numerous visits to our bird feeder last year!
Enjoy your cute little baby bird before it grows up and leaves the nest :)
I love this! We have an interesting experience with birds in the yard because our pug considers them to be a security breach and insists on barking at them and chasing them off! The nerve of them landing in our yard! 🤪
Such a nice story. And those green eggs are incredibly beautiful! Nature is something which deeply amazes me. Everything is so perfect and balanced!
What a beautiful and special moment you experienced!
Spring time and all the babies make me so happy! It really makes you think and reflect on how quickly things can change and grow in a matter of days or even minutes. Admiring and appreciating each day for what it is. It’s not only waiting for a new day if it’s not how you planned but a new second, or so this is how I see it I guess :)
In an apartment so no backyard, but plenty of green space in Orleans to wander and enjoy. I’ve taken SO many (too many?) pictures of bunnies, ducks, flowers, trees, sunsets, and storms! My allergies right now are AWFUL…but at least it’s gorgeous!
Those are amazing photos! So cute and you almost feel like they are part of your own family! We are having a similar but not so amazing experience with a cute but destructive raccoon family that has moved into the attic! Lol we are working to get them relocated safely and humanely.
The other thing I’m noticing is the mean black crows going after the baby birds learning to fly. I scared them off as they were attacking the poor thing on the ground. My neighbour picked him up as he was injured and she’s been taking care of him. I think she has made arrangements with a bird sanctuary to pick him up!
Stay safe!
🙂
I live downtown, so sadly don’t see a huge amount of wildlife. However, there’s a huge groundhog that lives right outside my building. I think it has built an elaborate series of tunnels underground, and boy is it fearless! One time I caught it dragging a bag of soil across my deck trying to steal it! I wonder what it was trying to plant? haha!
Amazing photos, this morning we watched two bunnies in our backyard, I am hoping they were preparing a home for babies, one of them was working so hard collecting little branches, I love watching the birds visit too, last week I was excited to see a woodpecker, nature is a great distraction during troubling times!
Unfortunately I live in an apartment building so I don’t get to see these special moments. I really miss it though ❤️
Unfortunately, if the other 2 eggs didn’t hatch yet they probably won’t. Normally they’d all hatch within a day or 2 of eachother (robins will lay 1 egg a day up to 3 total I believe). Enjoy the baby bird while you can! They grow so fast 😊
Great photos its always so mesmerizing to see nature at its finest.