The other 2 chicks left sometime today before I could take their picture.  I don’t know where the birds are hiding, but the parents are still gathering insects from around my yard to feed their young.  Take a look back at what the robins looked like only 2 weeks ago.  It is amazing at how fast these birds can grow from an egg to a juvenille robin.

Today was the day!  The first chick fledged and left the nest today.  It was probably the same robin from yesterday that almost took off.  Same scenario today though.  As I climbed the ladder the chick stood on the edge of the nest, and then took off!  It flew across my backyard and landed next to the swingset.  It then began to call for its parents and they were quick to respond.  They both flew in quickly as if to reassure their child that all is well.  It was then quiet and scooted off into the soybean field.

One of the chicks almost flew out of the nest today as I climbed the ladder take this picture.  It was standing on the edge of the nest and then ducked back down and hid with its siblings.  Any day now…

The chicks are really getting quite skiddish when I climb the ladder now.  They appear large enough when they might fledge soon and leave the nest.

The robins are getting bigger right before my eyes.  The feathers are coming in quite nicely too.  It was quite hot today so the birds appeared to be panting.  I set up one of my sprinklers in the backyard and the adults were drinking it up and taking some back to the chicks.