Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Industrious Robins Depart


Robin's Nest in Hanging Basket
Elkridge, MD
May 24, 2020
A pair of industrious robins determined about two weeks ago to build a nest in one of our hanging flower baskets. 

Robin's Nest Amidst the Flowers
Elkridge, MD
May 25, 2020
We do not want the nest in the hanging basket because the birds were destroying the flowers by digging around and damaging the root structure. Additionally, we were concerned that we would not be able to water the flowers once the nest was occupied. A friend suggested putting golf balls into the nest to deter the Robins. Great idea!  Except, the robins, after a couple days, built a second nest on top of the golf ball.

And then Memorial Day Weekend happened. The robins were actively trying to finish their construction project on Sunday, the same day that the family including four excited dogs arrived to celebrate the unofficial start of Summer. I had a couple encounters with the robins bringing material to the nest during the morning hours, but Chris and I had decided that we wouldn't not further actively deter the robins. It seems, however, that the afternoon and evening with the dogs and the boys racing around complete barking and yelling did what we could not do--the robins have abandoned their construction project. 

I am a bit disappointed because I was planning to install my GoPro to document the egg laying and rearing of the fledglings. But, the robins apparently decided that there was just too much commotion for them to safely nest in a hanging basket on our front porch. 

I hope that they have decided on a better and more secluded location.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

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