The “Kitchen Window”Robin

 




Sometimes you wish something spectacular would happen within close-eye view.   We see bird life at a distance, and that’s usually the end of our viewing.

Bird nests and bird families are quite familiar to all of us, aren’t they?  We hardly give them a second thought.  Even a knocked down nest buried in a stack of dried leaves doesn’t get a lot of attention.  So it was a nest I saw.  Big deal?   

All this changed with my husband, Ken’s and my observance of an ordinary “run of the mill” robin doing what only God’s INSTINCT taught her to do.  For her, it wasn't a matter of having a supply truck deliver the dry wall and carpenters doing the finishing work.  The robin’s BEAK and her SWISHING, TWIRLING body are all the fancy tools she has. 

Looking at her head, she seems to fit the expression, “bird brain”—meaning pretty scattered and confused.  Well, her BIRD BRAIN may not have many coiling rolls of intellect, but the term “Bird Brain” has taken on a new remarkable meaning to my husband and myself. 

We have a deformed, un-pretty upright pine bush near the side of our deck and directly in front of our kitchen window.  I noticed for almost a week, a robin flew into it, pecked around to some extent, and then left. Apparently, she was “scouting out” the location and surveying the space.

She worked at eye level and seemed very vulunerable to our looking at her, although from the front side, probably other birds and animals wouldn’t see her chosen location.  She built her nest showing extreme intelligence and foresight. From the house, she has an “awning of protection” over her!  Let it rain…she’s stays dry, and yet she sees out very clearly.   As our friend, Jerry B. commented, “She’d be a very good real estate saleslady—-she knows how important LOCATION, LOCATION, and LOCATION is! 

After a week of “checking the neighborhood” and weighing important data as to available space, strength of the branches, availability of nesting materials close by, etc., on the morning of April 19, 2016 she carried her first long stringy piece of dried grass to the space. 

“Look, she’s gonna build her nest!”  (Of course, no sign of DAD around to help or even to give encouragement!)  So, stringy bit by bit (remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day) she carried her pickings into her nest with her beak, pecked around to make sure all ends were in, and then did her final “swishing and twirling” with the weight of her body forming the cup-like depth.  For TWO WHOLE DAYS without interruption, she carried her twiggy-grassy bits with her multitasked beak, tucked them all in, and swished them down to a comfortable circle.

My computer says robins build nests from the inside out…I guess we couldn’t officially verify just what her building plan was. One of my favorite pictures of her is her “finishing touch” as she swirls herself around—she does so with her tail sticking STRAIGHT up in the air! 

Contrary to us, she wasn't burdened with a building permit, an appraiser checking her out, home insurance protection, ladders, saws, hammers, nails.  To be honest, she didn’t even “require a helpful husband!”  

On April 21, finished with her great masterpiece, she wasn't in her nest all day!  “What’s going on?” we asked.  Perhaps she instinctively knew she’d be “a sittin” for quite a while, and she sowed her last wild oats and had some kind of “wild” shindig as a pre-birth prerequisite. 

By 10:00 the next day on April 22, she apparently realized her “time had come.”  She was off and on her nest for three days.  We didn't  know if she had laid her eggs or not, as the depth of her nest kept us “nosey people” from knowing “the whole truth”.   

But by April 27th, she was on her nest most of the time, leaving for less than five minutes to “grab a bite” and probably go “to the potty."  (Don’t know that for sure.)  Still no sign of Dad ... 

Well, Jerry B. came over, and he being a tall guy, peered into her nest and saw three beautiful light blue eggs.  When had she laid them?  We don’t know exactly but as we sat out on the deck one evening, she made three noticeable chirps…a few moments elapsing between each one.  Had she announced her motherhood? We like to think so.

As we watch her we realize her many talents. Building her nest with the “protective awning,” gives her a perfect view. When it rains, she  skimmies around and faces the inside with only her long tail perhaps getting a bit damp.  Then, when the rain stops, she twirls herself around as if to be in on any important happenings. 

I emphasize with her long sit.  I have this feeling that the least I could do would be to furnish some background stereo music, or bring her the daily paper, or even furnish her with pencil and paper to write her “Birthing Journey.”  She seems to have her eyes open all the time in kinda of deep stare.  Is she sleeping with her eyes open to watch for danger and enemies or is she bird-thinking as she sits and sits the long hours with only an occasional shifting of her body in her nest?

I ponder. How does she keep from cracking the fragile egg shells?  How does she know how long she has to incubate the eggs?  Does she feel any wiggling action in her eggs before they are hatched? (As a human mother, I not only felt wiggling action, but right down strong “kick the football sixty yards” actions.)

Mothers of every species have much in common.  Will she actually think her babies are “cute”? Will she think their early fuzzy down is unique? Why are there always three eggs?

Mrs. Robin is everything:  

Determined…Diligent…Patient…Knowledgable…  Courageous…Optimistic…Creative

                          --Rose Nuernberger

 

(See previous blog for a picture journal of this amazing Robin.)