Hello, MARtians! I should have written “Oh, Babies!” because there are four new babies nesting at Rosebrook Gardens.
Yes, above the French Door leading out to the patio, a robin built a nest and hatched four eggs.
She must be some kind of supermom because her babies grew so big they burst the nest in two, which came tumbling down yesterday morning. Fortunately, I saw it happen and was able to scoop them up, with a spatula, and place them carefully back in their broken nest.
Now, because the nest was beyond repair, I put what was left of it, and the chicks, inside an ornamental basket made of twigs, (Thank you HomeGoods) which I then wedged into the lattice outside the French Door.
Team MAR member Paul was on hand to assist in this delicate process; soon we had the nest secured and the babies safe…or so we thought…
A few hours later, Lifestyle Realtor Clare came in to work at the office. We told her all about the nest. Together with Daisy, she watched Mother Robin flying back and forth, feeding her babies worms and other wriggly things. Then she noticed something was terribly wrong.
One of the babies was sliding through a hole in the bottom of the decorative twig basket, and was literally falling through the nest we had made!
There was no other option. Down came the nest again. We shored up the sides with boxwood branches and put them back up in the lattice for the second time. We all held our breath, wondering if Mother Robin would abandon this messed-with-nest and leave the babies to starve. Would she return?
Within minutes of this second nest adjustment, Mother Robin came flying back with more bugs and grubs for the babies!
Here is a view from an upper window (you can see our boxwood reinforcements) and she is still with her chicks, doing what mothers do best.
Of course, since Daisy was on hand when the nest first fell, she is convinced they are “her” chicks. Miss Von Schnorkenheimer has spent the past 24 hours glued to the window, just pining for a playdate with the chicks. After all the family has been through, you can be sure Mother Robin said “no”! It’s clear she thinks any more adventure is for the birds.
