This is my entry to @adalger's Amazing Nature Contest. Contest Rules
This mama Robin builds her nest each year on the downspout near the front door. In past years she has flown off the nest anytime anyone goes in or out of the house, but this year she seems to have figured out that people on the front walkway are not a threat to her. Although she did seem to be glaring at me when I tried to take her photo this morning!
I knew she had nestlings because I had seen them from the front window , but could only see the tips of their beaks, so I went to take a few more photos hoping they would show themselves later.
The dad was off searching for breakfast, although he was keeping an eye on me and flew up into the tree to yell at me a few times before going back to his bug hunt.
When I went around the corner of the house I spotted this woodland neighbor helping prune the underbrush.
I have had brief sightings of a very small fawn that I'm assuming might belong to her. She didn't seem worried by my presence, and went back to eating leaves.
This clematis was recently planted, and it has blooms that look great against the bricks on the house. It is just beginning to bloom.
And the chives are blooming. I need to remember to deadhead them before they go to seed or I will have chives everywhere!
Japanese iris and ferns
And then back to the Robins nest! And now the babies are awake!
I wish she would build her nest in a more accessible, photogenic place, but she knows they are well protected under the eaves.
Audobon says this about American Robins
Eggs
Usually 4, sometimes 3-7. Pale blue or "robin's-egg blue." Incubation by female, 12-14 days. Young: Both parents feed young, though female does more. Parents very aggressive in defense of nest. Young leave the nest about 14-16 days after hatching. Male may tend the fledged young while female begins second nesting attempt. 2 broods per season, sometimes 3.
Young
Both parents feed young, though female does more. Parents very aggressive in defense of nest. Young leave the nest about 14-16 days after hatching. Male may tend the fledged young while female begins second nesting attempt. 2 broods per season, sometimes 3.“
It is going to be hot here today. They are saying record highs and a chance of severe storms later, so I'm glad I got out to enjoy this beautiful morning!
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So Awesome!
I was installing internet yesterday and there was a little nest exactly like that with a family. Chicks were still in eggs but will be out soon.
We also had a nest in our shed that was making it hard to get the garden tools without potentially disturbing the momma.
I love wild life in the summer!
Sparrows used to build nest like that in my garden....nature is really beautiful....
Something like this....
Haha, their mouths are sooooo big that you actually cant miss them while feeding .. cute ones ;)
yepp
All the new babies this time of year! I hope all of your eggs hatch successfully. It looks like your Robins found a safe place for their nest, too! Can you leave it there for them to reuse it for their next batch?
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Thanks so much! 😘
Thanks Pix! ❤️
!BEER
Awesome ! I love to see your fauna and flora and have some news of the wild ! 😊 😍
Thanks! The bugs were really bad out there this morning and they chased me back inside. They can easily ruin a nice summer day and are a part of the summertime fauna that I am not particularly fond of!
ooh...I had not thought of them ...too bad you have that much in your place, I can not stand them either...
They were bad enough that I was surprised not to see them in the photos! Nasty things!
Nice pics! Robins... Not the most intelligent birds, but they seem to make up for it in numbers. They are pretty, though.
Hopefully, your furrier friend won't eat the buds off of the clematis!
Hey! Good to hear from you. Right now I am more concerned about the stray cat that appears to be living under my back deck and eating Chipmunks and baby birds to sustain himself!I wonder if the Humane Society is an essential business. The deer do eat a lot, too, don't they?
Not the trained chipmunks! The stay on evictions doesn't apply to feline tenants, right?
The deer at my parents' home will eat everything, including poisonous lilies. They seem to particularly delight in leveling hostas to the ground.
An awesome Heart capturing Article 👌✅
Thanks for your kind words! ❤️
Wow, sparrows used to build their nests in my garden....
These pics are truly amazing...makes me remember of my childhood days when I used to watch the sparrow chicks play in the garden area, trying to learn to fly.
Sometimes, my neighbourhood stray cats ate them and I felt bad....
Those were some good old days.
Thanks. Glad you liked the pictures. I have a stray cat around right now and I worry about all the new wildlife babies.
!BEER
I truly enjoyed your photos and the story (explanations) around them. Living in the city, unfortunately, I don't have that many chances to capture something like that if any.
I can see advantages to living in the city and maybe someday that will work better for me, too, but for now I love being surrounded by nature and I would miss that if I moved from here.
hahaha - You see, we have an expression here (although I know the translation wouldn't sound that good) that says something like - "Hundred people, hundred moods!
I'm saying this because I'm thinking about moving out of the city quite often lately. Therefore, I made a following plan for my retirement. I'll spend 4 months in the city (mostly late autumn and winter months), 2 months of early spring in the country (close to nature), 4 months (from late spring to early autumn) on the coast (close to the beaches and other kind of nature), and remaining 2 months in autumn again in the countryside.
That's the plan! 😉 The only thing that I don't know, are my (future) grandchildren going to spoil it as I know up front I won't be able to turn down my children if they ask me to babysit them. 😊
My grandchildren are the only reason I live in cold, snowy Wisconsin! But I love them so much and I am so glad they are part of my life!
I can understand that entirely, although I'm not a grandma yet, but my kids are grown up, so it could happen any time soon. 😊
My parents moved south when my kids were young teens and although we tried to visit them, it was hard to as the kids got jobs and were busy with school activities Their grandparents were not here to attend the events, and they were seldom here for holidays, and sent cards for birthdays. My father has passed away and my 86yr old mother moved back here to be near the kids and she has a hard time understanding why they don't spend more time with her. They do send cards.
Well, your mom is different generation and today's life speed is hard to understand for those people. (My mom past away 2 years ago at the age of 98, so I kinda understand what are you dealing with.)
On the other hand, cards can't replace the presence, and from that perspective I can understand your mother.
At the same time, no one can blame your kids either as they didn't build that more close relation with their grandparents when they were younger. And from that perspective, your mom shouldn't expect from your kids to act as it's Christmas every day (although, I wouldn't be surprised if she does).
Maybe the both sides need a little push, your kids a forward one, while your mom a backward one (to lower her expectations). I know it might take a lot of efforts, explaining and diplomacy for the one who would take the obligation for those pushes. 😊
Wonderful post, so cool to catch the fawn, they are beautiful creatures,I think they are both exciting and calming to watch. Sometimes I will go out in early evening to the fields and sit and watch them have dinner. Plenty of deer up here, 😍
Enjoy your day
Thanks! How do you keep the deer out of your gardens? Hope all is well up there. We have massive amounts of bugs this year that are making being outdoors less than pleasant. I must need more birds! 😉
Hi good morning Melinda.
We use chicken wire fencing for somethings but our real secret is using an egg and milk mixture, sprayed on the apple trees, baby pines, and other newly planted trees, as well as other veggies that they can reach.
Most of our garden has raised beds now, so that helps also.
And the bugs, yep we get these soooo annoying May flies every year. We wear mesh head cover over hats to keep them from eating us alive.
Egg and milk? And it works? Share your recipe.
I had thought about finding someone that could build me a U-shaped raised planter that I could get into on my scooter and reach across. It would have to be low enough that I could reach it while seated, but my bigger problem was finding an area in my yard that had enough sun that I could grow veggies. My solution was to join a local CSA and let them do the work and spend my gardening energy growing a couple of plants on my deck! 😁
The recipe calls for 6 eggs to one quart of milk. Use a hand mixer, mix well then let it settle a bit. Pour into spray bottle and spritz plants well. This stuff works great and we have tried all sorts of other methods, and it lasts you only have to spray when new buds come out in spring and apply once or twice to veggies the whole growing season.
I love your u shaped raised bed idea, but you can still grow lots of stuff in containers also I do both.
Birds can nest in so unusual places. I saw a photo in my new fb group dedicated to the birds in Bulgaria, where sparrows nest in a helmet.
So nice to have visitors like the fawn. 😀
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Soo sweet !! .. great pictures from the nest. I especially like the last one, where the babies are awake and twittering simultaneously, hehe ;) .. Birds just tend to love your presence and to be close to you, hehe ;) .. I also saw that you get some nice other pictures from nests in your comments already, which are geat too. Thanks for sharing this nice photo series with us @melinda010100 ^^
Wow! Your pets are very special!! Very good shots of the nest and the bird family! Over the years, you must have seen many baby birds sprung from this nest!
What lovely surrounding you have to look at and only a step into the backyard 😊
I love where I live! Now that I am no longer able to drive, it would be more convenient to be in a place in town, but I I can't imagine giving this up!
Just get a turbo engine fitted to your wheelchair with a roll cage and you won't have to move anywhere 🤣
I could try that, but it would have to be fast enough that the cops couldn't catch me out on the highway!
Evil Knievel they will never catch you 🤣 🤣
I could be shaking my fist in the air and shouting Catch Me If You Can Copper's!
Ahhhhh..you are to funny i could just imagine you doing that it would be like watching a cartoon show 🤣
lol..howdy Melinda! Wonderful photos! We have a sparrow's nest under our eves, usually she takes off when we go out the door and then comes back when we come inside.
This the season for all the babies! I see so many fewer birds when they are busy hatching eggs. It will be fun when they start bringing the young ones around and explain to them how to eat out of the feeders!
That sounds like such a wonderful pastime Melinda! And I know you'll get fantastic photos of those events too.
Thanks! They grow up so fast that with many of them within a short time of leaving the nest you can't tell them from the adults. Often their behavior is the only clue you have that they are the young ones.
I wouldn't be able to tell the difference but I'm sure you can!