Once again the robins have decided that The Havens is a great place to live. As I mentioned a few days ago, a pair has chosen to put a nest on top of our pruning ladder. Apparently things are going well, she is sitting very tightly on her nest and has gotten used to the fact that I am going to spend some time right under her perch fooling with hoses, weeding the garden that is back there, and wandering back and forth along the path that is between the shed and the sauna.
I have not tried to make her leave her nest so I can count the eggs, although I did catch her getting a late afternoon bath over by the pond yesterday.
At night her mate sleeps in the elm tree that is just on the other side of the fence from the sauna. Here he is settling down for the evening yesterday.
This morning I saw a female yellow bellied sap sucker getting a drink from the bird bath. The grackles have decided that the pine trees are bushy enough again after the ice storm damage a few years ago that they can use them to nest. Lots of sparrows of several sorts, red winged blackbirds, starlings (of course) are hanging out. I heard a chickadee this morning, and the house wrens have arrived back from their winter sojourn in Costa Rica. The cardinals were busy doing mating displays this morning, one enterprising male had two females he was trying to impress. I’m not sure what he will do if they both accept his propositions, since his job during the nesting period is to feed the female who sits on the eggs without leaving the nest. If he is tending to two gals with two nests, he is going to be a very busy guy.
Now, I need to get busy. I have stuff that needs weeding, stuff that needs planting, and stuff that needs to be admired and smelled since it is so beautiful right now.
the havens 