Saving Robin's Life - last part of the story

The same evening after the birds had left their nest, I sat on the couch in our den. The nest is in a tree in our front yard, and my den faces the back yard.

Have you ever had the strange feeling that someone was watching you? Remember the creepy feeling you had? You look up and, sure enough, you are being looked at by someone, or some…thing.

I looked up from what I was reading, as a new robin stared right back at me, through the den door. He sat perched on the back of one of our patio chairs, and didn’t make a sound. All he did was sit there and stare.

Since I’d been taking pictures, to document their progress, I stood up and went to get my camera, hoping I wouldn’t scare the bird away.

At first, I snapped a few pictures through the glass, and he never budged. So, with great care, I slowly slid open the door. Still the bird sat motionless, and kept looking at me. I snapped a couple more pictures and then decided to step outside. He let me get as close as 2 feet away while I continued taking pictures.

Finally, the baby robin turned, chirped, let go with a little dropping, and flew away. I can’t be sure if it was the same bird I had hoisted back into the nest or not, but it was almost as if he had stopped by to say, “Hey, thanks for saving my life.” That’s the way I choose to interpret what happened.

So now I say to you, as I said to him, “Have a happy summer.”