Two weeks ago, in a pot of pansies on the deck, I discovered that a robin had built her nest — and had laid three beautiful eggs! This precluded use of the deck for the coming month or so, and has provided a daily changing scene. The mother has been sitting faithfully, flying off to a nearby tree and scolding until I leave. Late last week two of the eggs hatched, and almost immediately one of the hatchlings was seen outside of the nest in the flowers. Can't imagine why. Perhaps there was some defect, or perhaps the larger hatchliing pushed it out. In any case, it died a day or so later. The third egg hatched and now there are two chicks in the nest. Whenever anyone comes near, they stretch their necks and open their beaks wide. You can see clear down their gullets, it seems! Father is now involved as well, and is helping feed them.
At some point in the last day or two, the dead chick disappeared without a trace. I understand that robins are meticulous housekeepers, so they may have taken care of it somehow.
I felt the urge to clear out some detritus yesterday too. It seems more peaceful, the less "stuff" there is around. We all make our nests, don't we?
No comments:
Post a Comment