Kids...

It looks as if this year will bring more adolescent avian amusement. Yesterday afternoon, a glance out the window to find the source of some hysterical-sounding cheeping revealed a young robin--no eyebrows, but still a few spots in its feathers--fluffed out on the ground under a bird feeder. This fledgling was nearly as large as an adult (though exact size is difficult to determine when all the feathers are fully fluffed) but was, in typical adolescent avian fashion, screaming for food, which a nearby adult was attempting to provide, just not nearly fast enough to please said AA. Attempts to photograph the activity from inside the house proving unsatisfactory, I headed to the back yard with the camera. As I approached, the adolescent ran to the end of a planting bed on its stubby little legs. When I kept approaching, the AA suddenly discovered that it could fly. Will finding its own worms be the next acquired skill?