Tuesday 6 May 2008

The Sad Sad Story of Mr and Mrs Robin

Mr and Mrs Robin were in love.
Mr Robin had a definite twinkle in his eye when he suggested to Mrs Robin the possibility of starting a family.
Mrs Robin, being a practical sort of girl, told Mr Robin that you can't raise a family without a comfy home to put them in, so she started collecting dry grass and mud.
Mr Robin helped a bit, but Mrs Robin was the Martha Stewart of Birdland, and built this gorgeous nest for her babies in a flowerpot mounted on the garage wall.

Mr Robin was very impressed with the neat new nest and spent lots of time flapping his wings and singing a song telling Mrs Robin what a gorgeous girl she was. Mrs Robin loved all the attention, and pretty soon, the first egg appeared.


Then another... Mr Robin was so proud!

..... another ..... Mr Robin was starting to worry....

..... and, to Mr Robin's consternation, another!

Mrs Robin decided that four little mouths to feed was quite enough and started sitting on the eggs. She sat day and night, rain or shine, occasionally nipping out to get a fast-food snack of worms or bugs.

But... disaster struck! Yesterday morning, Mr Robin was looking dejectedly at the nest and Mrs Robin was flying around in a very agitated manner.

Crows? Squirrels? Blue Jays? Poor Mr and Mrs Robin.... I hope they recover from their tragic loss and try again for a family of chicks.
I have my fingers crossed for them.

27 comments:

  1. Oh that's a heart breaker.

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  2. Oh no! How awful. And those eggs were one of my favourite colours too! They were so beautiful. Poor Mr. & Mrs. Robin. Those nest raiders are so bad.

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  3. Awww poor Mr. and Mrs Robin. Great chronicle of life and death. I do wonder who the nest robbers were.

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  4. Oh dear.....do you have Starlings? They are famous here for being nest robbers. They stole from our barn swallows one year....but the swallows remembered the next year and there is always a sentry standing at the entrance to the box nest now.

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  5. These are great photos and sad that they are not hatching out the eggs. NYC's famous Fifth Avenue/Central Park mate-for-life Red Tailed Hawk pair (Lola and Pale Male) are photographed daily by a great photographer. Lola has had a clutch every year and they haven't hatched. Everyone is waiting, including me, to see if they will hatch this year. Now I don't live in NYC anymore but go back to the website to check on them.

    Maybe you'll be inspired with your photographic story!!!

    Did you know that a nest near the door is very good luck?

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  6. Such beautiful pictures for such a sad story. Obviously Mr. & Mrs. Robin felt loss. Nature can be so cruel.

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  7. i was hoping for a happy ending, seeing those beautiful blue eggs multiply, but alas...a very sad ending indeed.

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  8. Too sad and so frequent! ... and even after possible birth, mortaility is high! I followed a similar thing last year in "my" park, but then, after a week or so, the mother bird just let the eyes there - and nobody touched them! ??

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  9. We have a couple of robins nests right now under our porch.

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  10. You could make a great children's story book out of this, Ex-S, especially if they try again and it works!

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  11. It's always sad to see broken eggshells on the ground at the wrong time isn't it. I hope they get to raise a brood with no further problems.

    Thanks for popping by. Feeling much improved now and looking forward to some fine weather!

    Sue x

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  12. I have been watching a robin since I saw her building her nest. I took a picture of the nest, and then this morning, I saw that she had four eggs!

    But those shots you took are so marvelously clear!! I like the openness of your nest. Mine is quite hidden. Hopefully my robin's little ones will not suffer the same fate.

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  13. Ohhhh. So sorry to hear the sad news. I hope that they do get another chance.

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  14. OK, go take a look now. I posted something new!! 5/7/08

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  15. Hi, A very sad story, but I would love to know the culprit, it could be so very many things. Lets hope they try again.

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  16. Oh how sad.

    We were at Belvoir castle on tues,pop over to my blog and see.

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  17. Poor Mr. and Mrs. Robin They will come through this,I just know it!

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  18. How sad. Fortunately it is still early enough for them to begin again. I hope the next time is more successful.
    xx

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  19. Oh! what a shame... but thats the lot of a bird at this time.. maybe a better nest site is needed.

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  20. Oh my it was sad but the pics are really good! *fingers crossed* for next time... :o)

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  21. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. You have a way with photo's and words. I visit often. Have a great week.
    Judy

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  22. The robin story is sad but I am sure they will try again. I really like the shots of the fungus, and the flower is beautiful. I hope all is going well. Ranger and Lloyd

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  23. Nature is cruel, but it is very early on and the robins will find a better and safer place to have their family.

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  24. Oh So very very sad! What a BEAUTIFUL nest that is...! And such pretty blue eggs...! I hate when that happens!

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  25. Oh, what a sad story! Poor Mr. & Mrs. Robin.

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