An ode to spring
In the rowhouse next to mine live two guys named Matt.
Under the deck of Matt and Matt, a robin started building her nest about a month ago, using mostly straw that covered up the dirt in my back yard, probably some of the dog hair I've brushed out of my dog Ace and one piece of gift wrap ribbon, which dangles down the side and flutters in the wind.
Then she laid her eggs.
About a week ago, her babies were born, and ever since she's been bringing them worms that are under the dirt that is under the straw in my back yard.
We recently raked up the yard and planted grass seed, so, for the mama bird -- and I think possibly papa might be helping out, too -- it is easy pickings.
Hundreds of worms have been plucked from my yard, flown to the nest on the underside of the deck of Matt and Matt -- who I don't think even know the nest is there -- and dropped into the outstretched, wide-open beaks of the scrawny little babies.
So here is my ode to spring, in video form -- a look at the joy of new life the season brings.
Unless you're a worm.
Comments
That was sweet! You got some great shots of them: how close were you able to get?
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Susan | April 27, 2008 11:07 AM
Nice video!
I haven't seen a robin's nest built on a man-made structure before. Wonder if this is just adaptation to an urban area?
If you run out of worms, robins like eating and feeding raisins to their young. Of course, you need to keep the raisins away from Ace since raisins are toxic to dogs (as pointed out in an earlier blog entry). My mother has been feeding the same two robins ("Streak" and "Top Knot"-- her names for them) for the past few years. The robins fly by a kitchen window and then sit on the roof until my mom tosses a few raisins out to them. I have a hard time distinguishing one robin from another, but I think my mother is right about the robins being the same ones since they just show up after winter demanding raisins, without any new training.
Posted by: Mary Schmidt | April 27, 2008 8:56 PM