The “quintessential early bird” is making a rather unusually late appearance at a Sechrist Lake home, but it’s a welcome site for homeowner Bette Hiatt.

About a month ago, Hiatt noticed what she calls a young female robin making a nest in a tree in her front yard. To her surprise, in about the last two weeks she began to see “fuzzy heads” poking over the top of the nest.

“They’re so cute,” Hiatt says, “and I think it’s pretty rare for them to hatch this time of year.”

Hiatt did some research on the tiny nesters and found that, in Indiana, it is a bit unusual for robins laying eggs and hatching them this time of year, but not unlikely either. Robins are typically known as the first sign that winter is over and spring has arrived.

Typically, robins lay their eggs in the spring, which is usually in March or April. And Hiatt thinks this latest brood is the offspring of a robin that, herself, arrived just this past spring.

According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “An American robin can produce three successful broods in one year. On average, though, only 40 percent of nests successfully produce young. Only 25 percent of those fledged young survive to November.”

Hiatt is just happy to see the fledglings and is enjoying the time she has to watch them. However, she is a little concerned noting, “They are going to have to grow fast to beat the first frost since it will come in about 6 weeks.”