Robin update...


Earlier in the summer I mentioned the robin's nest accidentally on 'display' at UNM (where the walkway lets you lean over and look right down into the very handsome little abode complete with a bit of ribbon strategically placed). She laid 4 eggs, and successfully fledged 2 youngsters. We all suspected she was abandon her public spot for a quieter venue, but she didn't! After a break of a week or so, she laid 4 more eggs. Three hatched. One mysteriously disappeared. The last couple of days it has been very hot. We have all felt sorry for the gawky teenagers; the nest seems way too small/ they are stepping all over each other. They seem to take turns standing on an interior edge, stretching their straight heads up to lean against the main truck of the tree. Beak to the sky. It looks very precarious. And if their little bodies weren't heaving, you would think they had been hit by lightening and died in a strange rigid posture--akimbo.

The last two or three days, we have had sudden hard rains. Which has to add to their misery. Though we were heartened to see that Mom shoved and scrooched her way onto the top of the whole works, to protect them. It certainly is chastening, to think of raising young in a space the size of an old Volkswagen beetle. Maybe a convertible, but still... No room for 6 pair of shoes and sports equipment in that. Let alone a full-sized refridgerator with built-in icemaker and in-door cold water.

Marie Browder took the photo. Nice huh?
Trina and Laurel have been keeping a photo log: http://picasaweb.google.com/trina.altman/Spring

Comments

Popular Posts