Ramone

A couple of weeks ago, we discovered a nest of newly hatched robins on the electricity meter in our back yard.
Look how cute these little babies are. I swear, I was so close to snapping a shot with a baby arching his head back and opening his beak ready for me to drop in some nourishment. But, my camera did not cooperate. While observing these new little members of the world, the Professor and I both looked at each other with concern. And that concern revolved around THE DOGS. This was their backyard. Would they stand for having trespassers living on their turf? While it is fun to watch Maggie chase unwelcome adult birds and cats out of the fenced dog-haven, would our beasts be able to resist with these fragile little chicks?

The answer? No. They are indeed beasts. It is an innate characteristic of a dog, or at least my dogs, to chase, chomp, and sometimes kill smaller less agile animals. I won’t go into any gory details, but as the chicks matured and grew (rapidly, I might add!), they began to bulge out of their tiny crib of a nest. One by one they were bumped out of their nest only to fall helplessly to the ground.

Of the three, only one survived. The Professor spared me of the truth until I found him outside and upset one afternoon. In an attempt to try to relocate the nest for the last living chick, the bird flew off and landed on a piece of patio furniture. When I asked him why the hell he thought it was a good idea to move the nest, he told me how he found Maggie hovering over one sad, maimed, dead chick earlier that afternoon. He wanted to help save the last one, who we named Ramone, by moving his nest out of the backyard to a safer place that is not occupied by our beasts. He felt that Ramone was big enough and was close to flying on his own anyway.

Over the next couple of days, Ramone continued to risk his life to return to his first home, our backyard, and perhaps his new mommy, the Professor. We often found him hanging out on our Adirondack chair. Sometimes we found him walking along the beams of our wood fence. And other times, we just found him flitting around dangerously in our back yard. Did this baby bird have a death wish? During this time, the Professor was worried about Ramone, especially whether or not he was getting enough nourishment because we were unsure if his real mother had abandoned him. I learned this information after watching the Professor dig something up from underneath one of our stepping stones. A grub for Ramone. Ick!

Finally, after a few days of worrying over that helpless little bird, we no longer saw him in our back yard. We determined that Ramone was all grown up and flew away to take on the adventures of other red-breasted robins. I think the Professor was a bit sad that he was gone, but I also know that he was relieved that Ramone escaped with his life. And even now, the Professor is convinced that he sees our little Ramone hanging out in the front yard with his mommy.