Flying lessons

Last night was a very stormy night in Waukee. Bill and I were a little concerned about Robin Banks and Robin Scherbatsky. They had left the nest only a few hours before the storms began, and we knew that they were still trying to get their bearings and learn to function in the real world. We hoped that they would find a safe place to spend the night so that they wouldn't get pummeled by the storm. Apparently, we needn't have worried. It turns out that our young robins are quite resourceful, and they had plenty of shelter during the storms last night. And how do I know this, you ask? Because they spent the night in our garage.

As I was getting ready to leave for work this morning, I stepped out onto the driveway to see if I could catch a glimpse of our robin family. As I was scanning the neighborhood, I heard a chirping noise, and I realized that it was coming from behind me. I turned around and saw Robin Scherbatsky sitting on one of the shelves in our garage, looking like she owned the place. I ran upstairs to get Bill so that he could properly document the occasion. After taking a few close-up pictures of Ms. Scherbatsky, Bill tried (without much success) to shoo her out of the garage. Meanwhile, Robin Banks tried to sneak out of the garage without being noticed. However, his plan failed when he flew into Bill's leg. (Apparently our robins still need a little bit of work on their navigation skills.) Much chaos ensued.

After Mr. Banks exited the garage, we continued to encourage Ms. Sherbatsky to do the same. We finally got her to leave her perch, but instead of flying out the garage door, she flew in toward the house. She took a quick tour of the garage, bumping into several walls along the way. Eventually, she became stuck in a corner behind our cross country skis. It soon became obvious that she wasn't going to be able to free herself, so Bill put on his official robin gloves (luckily, he still had them handy from when he had to rescue Esther the other day), and he helped Ms. Scherbatsky find her way out of the garage.

Usually, the only time that our garage door is open is if we're pulling one of our cars into or out of the garage. So, we're not entirely sure when the kids managed to sneak into the garage. Apparently they're very stealthy little robins! At first, we thought that they might have hopped into the garage when I opened the door to leave for work this morning. However, judging by the number of, um, souvenirs that they left behind, we're fairly certain that they spent the entire night in the garage.

Shortly after arriving back outside, Ms. Scherbatsky was greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Robin, who were eager to give her a flying lesson. She's actually pretty good at lifting herself off of the ground. She managed to fly into one of our bushes, then across the street, and then into one of our neighbor's trees. However, she still hasn't quite mastered the art of perching in the branches of a tree. She attempted to perch in our neighbor's tree, but she wasn't able to gain a foothold, so she came tumbling to the ground. Luckily, she seemed unfazed by her fall. Kids are resilient that way. As Bill was leaving for work, he saw Mr. and Mrs. Robin feeding breakfast to Ms. Scherbatsky.

It was fun to watch Ms. Scherbatsky's flying lesson, and we're glad that the kids have decided to stay in the neighborhood. We're hoping that we'll be able to continue to track their progress as they perfect their flying skills. And we will make sure that we check the garage for squatters before closing the garage door at night.

Garage Queen

Robin Banks after his hasty exit (above)

What are you doing in my garage?