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| Joni McPherson Source |
There were four things that I've always wanted in my yard:
1. Bird Bath (check)
2. Arbor (check)
3. Robin Shelter (check)
4. Nesting robins... no check.
I'm so happy about the first three and still waiting for Mr. & Mrs. Robin to take up residence. After following Nan and her sweet little robin story at You Could Make That I hit upon an idea to encourage tenants in our robin shelter.
In this photo from last August you can see the robin shelter tucked up in the arbor that Mr. C.F. and I built almost two years ago. We all love birds at our house and have started the transformation of our barren and beat up yard since we moved in almost four summers ago now. There is a big apple tree to the left in this photo, flowering raspberry behind the arbor and a serviceberry tree right around the corner... robins like fruit, right?
A photo from last summer of the handy fountain/bird bath -- complimentary for all birds and for our laid back schnauzer. Our poor Dr. Suess Tree had a tough spring... it's even looking worse this year. I hope we can save it.
This warbler couple quite liked the temperature of the bath.
Other tenants are quiet. Even Max the mini schnauzer didn't budge when a cedar waxwing landed on him.
Max doing a secret bird count.
Those pesky squirrels aren't even a problem. Macy's squirrel watching days have been minimized after Mr. C.F. set up the trapline last summer. We liked watching them until they kept digging up the plants, taking one or two bites out of every apple, and harassing the local songbirds.
The Warden, his assistant, and the catch and release program in action.
The squirrel trap is set and ready on the blue bench under the spruce. Another robin bonus is that we do have an abundance of worms... they seem to like my composting program much better than Mr. C.F. does. I think we have a pretty inviting yard in a mature area of our small city. Still, no robins. So... while visiting Nan's lovely blog I had a light bulb moment and this is my proactive step to robin recruitment:
The clematis and honeysuckle are slowly making their way up the arbor. I mean they will be when they finally start growing again! Hopefully the next time I take a photo of this there is a nest and some of those gorgeous blue eggs inside. It is mid April already, but hey - our tulips didn't even come up in the back until June! Wish us luck.
Linking up to:
Oh Tracy! I wish you luck in getting your own little nest. If you've read my post from tonight - you know that I don't have a happy ending to my little Robin story. :( I'll just hope that my robin doesn't give up. I was worried from the beginning that the nest was too low to the ground and didn't have enough cover.
ReplyDeleteSo sad.
I'll be checking back to see if you have any luck!
Nan
Sure hope you will be turning on the "No Vacancy" sign soon. I love seeing Robins in the yard too!
ReplyDeleteHi! I can sympathize with the squirrel dilemma, but please remember that squirrels nest too! Please don't catch and release a mother squirrel - her babies need her! Best wishes on the robin's nest. We had a particularly protective mother robin build a nest under the eves of the garage when I was a kid. Every time our poor dog tried to go out to do her duty, the mother robin dive bombed her, pecking her head! Still makes me smile.
ReplyDelete