Robin Surprise

Birds, birds, everywhere.  When we leave the driveway, we need to slow down to allow the families of Canada Geese to cross the road and slip into the safety of the pond.  The crazy Red-winged Blackbird is still visiting our window ledge and peering in.  Yellow Finches swoop and zoom past the dog kennel to the bird feeder; brilliant flashes of yellow against the spring greenery.  From deep in the trees we hear the staccato beat of the Pileated Woodpecker, and early in the morning the Robin's song greets the dawn.

As the daylight hours continue to lengthen, the Robin's dawn greeting comes earlier and earlier.  Sometime about 3:30 a.m. a Robin begins to sing in the tree near our bedroom window, and although I would far rather be sleeping at that time I do love to hear the Robin's song.  You can enjoy the dawn song at the Audubon site without having to be awake at 3:30!  There are quite a few Robins singing and making the swake their home this spring and they are turning up in surprising places.

Last weekend, Greg headed out to hook up the fifth wheel.  You see, it is springtime and he has camping fever even though I probably never will have again.  Nine months of living in a fifth wheel that stretched into January in Alberta dampened my love of camping severely.  Anyway, Greg set out to bring the trailer up by the house so he could do some annual maintenance and putzing.  Minutes later he was back in the house looking for the camera because he had found a surprise.  There in the fifth wheel trailer hitch was a Robin's nest safely perched on a ledge out of the rain and wind, protected from the Red-tail Hawks who like to dive in from above.

The nest held at least three small Robins.  They were fluffy funny looking little things with beaks that seemed disproportionate to their body size.  Peaking over the lip of the mud and twig masterpiece that was their home they appeared quite cozy and so all thoughts of hooking up the trailer were abandoned.  For now, we will be content to stay close to the swake, to watch the birds look after their young, and to postpone hooking up that trailer.