Not for the first time with this nature blog I can say that ‘I got it wrong’. I was firmly expecting the Robin chicks to fledge tomorrow, which would have been 14 days after hatching.
However the happy news is that all six of the chicks successfully fledged from the nest today.
I missed the fledging of the first chick but it I think it left this morning sometime between 7-8.
However the second chick left at 09:12 and this time I got the video.
Each chick seemed to spend a little time on the nest ledge before finally deciding to take the plunge, it this case encouraged by the adult.
The chick departures were quite spaced out throughout the day and the next departure was at 12:11, this time seemingly encouraged by one of it’s siblings.
The chicks are launching themselves into the shrubs surrounding the nest box were they will try and remain hidden for the next days. They’ll still be dependent on the adults for food until they can start to fend for themselves.
The fourth chick left the nest at 17:28 and the fifth at 18:09 leaving just one remaining chick, the sixth and smallest. I was unsure if this last one would be big and strong enough to leave today but then at 20:27 this evening it took the plunge.
So all six have successfully left although the operation took most of the day, starting around 7 this morning and the last one leaving more than 12 hours later.
I’ll make one more blog post to wrap up this nest but for now I conclude with a picture of the empty nest at the end of the day today.
Chatou Nature Blog 