For the last few years, birds have built a nest behind the outside shade on my deck on the wooden ledge. For more than a month, I can't raise or lower the shade without disturbing the nest and possibly having it fall. I thought I was outsmarting them this year as I raised the blinds up to where the ledge was exposed (toward the house), so they wouldn't build behind it. Well the joke was on me as a particularly brave mama robin built a nest on top of the shade, but still protected by the overhanging partial wall.
So once again, I can't move this shade!
Mama Robin 1, Karen 0!
The nest has been there at least a month and Mama Robin has been sitting on it for about three weeks, best I can tell. She flies off whenever I open the back door to let the dogs/puppies in or out. When I'm on the deck, she sometimes gets impatient and flies up to sit on the deck railing. I imagine that she's saying "would you please go back in the house so I can go back to my babies?" So I try to minimize our time on my deck (yes, for a bird).
Then last Tuesday, with the help of a tall friend (Hasaan Rasheed), this is what we found in the nest - four eggs, which is a full clutch for a robin:
After googling, I learned robins lay one egg a day (no wonder, one egg is almost as big as she is!). I also learned they only have one ovary. I was concerned that it seemed to be taking a long time for the eggs to hatch (although I don't know when the eggs were laid - just about how long the nest has been there). But as another friend said, birds are resilient, like dogs, and have made it through much worse conditions in the past.
On Sunday, I found a piece of blue shell on the deck, so assumed babies had hatched. Today my tall friend was back and took another picture. We were both completely amazed - two Very New babies are here!
More googling - babies hatch a day at a time, in order of how they were laid. So these naked babies are a day or two old and two more should be here in the next few days. I'm dependent on my tall friend to get pictures, so hopefully he will come take an update picture in the next few days. Meanwhile, Mama Robin sits patiently keeping the eggs and her babies warm.
Also, another robin (dad, I assume) flies around in the yard with her and will help feed the babies, as well as protect the nest. The only threats to that seem to be the dogs and me and, other than taking pictures, we can't get near it and won't!
Here's an interesting site, if you're interested in a little more...
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