I've spent a lot of time at home by myself this spring/summer and

[MontanaMama]

1. How fun!

You are correct. Once those babies fledge, they’ve got to hustle for their own food. I’ve had a pair of robins nest in a hanging basket on my porch the last 3 years. They WAIT for me to get the baskets up and are quite impatient until I hang them around Mother’s Day. They always choose the same basket out of the 3 or 5 that I hang. Mama lays 4 eggs...it takes 14 days to hatch them and another 14 days until they fledge which is amazing to me. Then they lay a second clutch a week later! 8 babies each summer. They’ve grown to trust me and will allow me to gently water the flowers in the basket even while babies are in the nest. The parents are quite attentive after the babies fledge but the gravy train stops once the babies are on the ground. I do keep a cup of dried mealworms on the ground for them just in case.