THE SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE AND PROBABLY TRAGIC DEATH OF THE 4 ROBIN CHICKS.

Like many other people, I sometimes contemplate on the precarious hold the living has on life, before inevitably falling into the realm of death and oblivion. Today is one such day when I am sadly required to contemplate on this fact of life and death.

It is a sunny and bright Sunday afternoon, with the sky, from my vantage point, being clouded with white clouds in the background, and pockets of darker clouds drifting in the foreground, foretelling the rain which is to fall at some point along their journey across the heavens.

Despite this undoubtedly beautiful view of the visible world from my window, I know only too well that all is not as I would have wanted it to be. Yes, I can hear the multi-tonal and difficult to describe chirping of various types of Twits singing, with the volume and intensity of their chirping seemingly very disproportional to the small sizes, while the sometimes softer and almost mysterious calling of the larger blackbirds might suggest that they are smaller. Pleasing as the songs of these various types of birds are to the ear, there is something missing, and, in its absence, speaks much louder and poignantly than all of these birds; at least for now.

What is missing is that there are no Robins to be seen or heard in our garden, which is not a usual occurrence, as the parent birds that have been rearing their brood in the oval shaped Common Ivy (Hedera helix 'Goldchild'), should have been busily flitting repeatedly to and from their nest, feeding their brood. Yet, I can seen no sign of them, nor hearing their pleasing and unobtrusive chirping. What has happened to all the Robins, and, more worryingly, what has happened to their fledgling s, which I had only photographed two days ago? It is very unlikely that they could have matured sufficiently so quickly, and flew safely out of their nest and into ‘Robins’ World’ to begin the preparation to of becoming parents themselves and continue to ensure the survival of their specie.

Upon seeing a cat, in fact, 3 cats, on the outer borders of our garden, and failing to shoo all of them away by throwing small pebbles at them and making what I hoped was a frightening face at them, I proceeded to fence, which was just beyond the Ivy plant concealing the Robins’ nest. I examined the bush and was surprised by the fact that I could not locate the nest. However, upon looking more closely, I was surprised to find that the inner part of the nest – it appeared that this nest might have been built into a previous one, unless the Robins made the equivalent of a ‘double glazed’ nest – was hanging out of the Ivy bush, and was no longer concealed.

Although it was by now clear that the Robins were not there, as when I first went to the nest, I was surprised that one of the adults did not suddenly flew out, as they had almost invariably done in the past, in he he when anybody went by – I recoiled into ‘denial’ mode and had a close examination of the nest. It was clearly empty, but not seriously damaged, beyond the fact that the inner nest was no longer in the outer one and was hanging lose; more a matter of displacement than the integrity of the nest being torn apart.


A young Robin chick

I examined the Ivy tree and the earth below the nest, and found no evidence of what might have happened to the 4 Robin chicks. I was shocked and saddened by this sudden and seemingly tragic development. Doing a bit of research about Robins, I gathered that, from laying their eggs to their chicks being able to fly safely could take between at least 24 and 30 days. I had not identified when the eggs were laid, but, doing some rough calculations from when I first saw the nest and the eggs, and when I first saw the Robins’ chicks (20/03/2016), it is possible that the 30 day period has indeed elapse. However, I do find it incredible that the chicks, which, when I saw them only 2 days ago, had gaping mouths and were clearly not very mobile, could have, within a matter of a couple of days, safely flown their nest.
I recalled seeing the male Robin yesterday, which could suggest that, at least one of the adults is still alive; if, indeed, the chicks have succumb to a predatory raid; most probably by one or more of the several cats that have been frequenting our back garden.
So now I am perplexed as to what has really happened to these Robin chicks, as well as feeling somewhat guilty about not having been more aware of the constant danger which these several cats could have posed to not only the adult birds, but especially to the more vulnerable chicks. With hindsight, it now appears that I should have taken a more predatoral stance towards the cats, in which case they might have shown more reluctance towards seeing our garden as such an attractive potential hunting ground.

Well, it so happen that a pair of Blackbirds have began nesting in another tree in our back garden, giving me the opportunity to demonstrate greater vigilance than I had shown in respect of the apparently tragic Robin chicks.

For animals, if not humans, life will continue to be very much a matter of being preyed upon by other life forms – especially by humans – or preying on them. It is something which has to be accepted as an essential fact; however tragic all or some endings can appear to the observer, as we traverse the universe; knowingly and unknowingly.

OWOHROD