Baby Birds

We have a robin's nest above our front door. (I will post pictures soon). 3 heads were sticking out today, and I got a good picture. They are almost ready to leave the nest. We have avoided using the front door for awhile now b/c the mother flies off the nest every time we open the door, and I wanted to disturb her as little as possible.
After going on a walk this evening, I opened the front door, and all three babies flew out of the nest - squawking and pooping all over the porch. I guess they were pretty scared. Also, both parents were severely scolding me. The parents even stretched out their wings as if they were broken - I thought only kildeers did this to distract predators - apparently, robins do it too.
I went into the house and watched out the windows. I saw two of the babies in the yard, but couldn't locate the third one. I watched for awhile. The parents kept talking to the babies, trying to gather them up. They could fly but couldn't really get enough lift to get into a tree or back into a nest. One flew into the road and sat there. Soooooo....I gathered the two babies that I could find and put them in the big flower pot under their nest. This was a better place for them because we have an outdoor cat that eats wild animals and especially likes birds.
I checked on them after 30 minutes, and they were gone. Without too much begging, Paul agreed to help me get them back in their nest. It's a myth that you can't touch baby birds because they can't smell, but the parents sure don't like you messing them and you do risk causing the babies to be abandoned. Since the birds are on the brink of leaving the nest permanantly, I decided it was best to give them an extra chance so the cat wouldn't get them. I can't reach the nest so Paul set up a bar stool while I went in search of babies. I found all 3 and Paul successfully got them back in the nest. I almost got flogged by the parents while I collected the babies, but I was brave and determined. They seemed to be pretty happy to be back in their nest and did not fly out again (I was afraid that when Paul got down and moved the chair, they would fly out again).
Paul was impressed at how calm the babies were and that they let me catch them. I jokingly told him that I had tamed them. :)
Besides getting them into their nest, I'm mostly thankful that Paul agreed to help me. He usually disagrees with my hairbrained animal rescue plans. I just knew he would say, "just leave them alone and let nature take its course." Whew!
And we have baby bluebirds in a house out back. And I think there is a nest of wrens or chikadees in a house near the playground. I will post pictures soon. These are some of my favorite outdoor things.
Abbie and I are also making plans to create a butterfly habitat in some section of the yard. She wants me to plant some milkweed so we can attract monarchs.