Front row seats for the cycle of life

Beacher Norma Meneguzzi Spall recently had a rare front row seat as a pair of American robins built a nest on the window ledge just outside her home office on Wayland Avenue.

Over the following weeks, Norma sent regular updates as mother robin laid three eggs, all of which hatched without incident. In fact, the third and final egg hatched on Mother’s Day.

She then was able to witness the three young chicks’ rapid growth from bald, sightless pink hatchlings dependent on their parents for feeding, to nestlings, to juvenile birds taking their first flights, launching from her windowsill. The birds will soon move on, after the young birds have been taught to find food and survive on their own.

Here are a selection of the up close and personal photos Norma was able to capture from her lucky viewpoint.

[flagallery gid=11 name=”American robins”].