<p>Literally.
We have a robins
nest under the eaves of the shed next to the detached garage. We have been watching three robins growing very quickly, and mom & dad scouting the yard for dinner.
Then today 1,2,3, they flew out of the nest and straight into the garage. H got very excited cause then one was wandering around the shed and he didn’t know what he was going to do if it didn’t come out, but now it looks like they are all walking around in the rain getting foraging lessons.</p>
<p>Both parents are very attentive. One bird went over to the pond and dad flew right up to the fence so he could keep an eye on it. But then the baby flew up to the fence next to dad and saw that the neighbors have chickens! So dad is over there.</p>
<p>H says they don’t go back to the nest? Everything’s so wet. Plus we have free roaming cats.
:eek:</p>
<p>^^^^Please send some of your rain to Colorado and Wyoming!</p>
<p>I like to watch animals interact with/around their young. At our lake house, we have a couple of does who have taken up residence on our property with their fawns. When we come outside, the does actually run toward us to let us know they will not take our interloping lightly. This is in stark contrast to their normal fearful behavior. One rushed toward me, stood her ground and began stomping her foot and kind of hissing or snorting at me while the spotted fawn trembled behind her. It was actually quite touching.</p>
<p>Just last week a woman in my area was killed by a deer that attacked her on her own property. I would urge caution in this situation. Her husband said it was completely unexpected, but the authorities said deer will do that at certain times of the year.</p>
<p>As a fellow new empty-nester (son just graduated from HS, D is already in college) I know how those robin moms feel! </p>
<p>My son has been hiking / camping / fishing / playing music with friends since his graduation. It seems he is using his new free time well before he has to hit the books again. Fortunately, other than a few downpours while he hikes/camps, he’s had good forture and he’s not stuck in anyone’s garage.</p>
<p>Wow. I would never underestimate the protective instincts of a mother, so I stayed on my porch during the incident I described. I was very aware that her behavior was not the “norm” of most deer in the area-they usually run from you the moment they see you. Even before I saw the fawns I was wary.</p>
<p>How wonderful to hear your robin story! We have a variety of species nesting in our oak trees on the block this year: red tailed hawks, Mississippi Kites, blue jays, crows, mockingbirds, yellow crowned night herons, to name a few. </p>
<p>The parents are chasing off the predators. I walked outside yesterday in time to see the Mississippi kite parents chasing off the red tailed hawk. But I’ve also seen the mockingbirds chase off the Mississippi kites. The smallest songbird has no fear of the raptors when protecting their young is involved.</p>
<p>Two nights ago, the dogs started barking and I looked outside to see 4 big white Geese marching down the middle of the road. We laughed at them, but they got the last laugh, they u turned immediately into my driveway and took up residence until I located the farmer that lost them. I found out after the fact, that they were African Geese, a mother and goslings. Originally there were 4 goslings but one was killed. They had been lost from the farm for over a week, fending for themselves in the wild wooded areas. They were at my house overnight, huddled in a circle right by my front door. I was worried and checked on them ever few hours. The three babies were asleep with their heads buried under their wings, but Mama was always awake and on guard. She tolerated me to a degree but if I got too close she hissed. The next morning as I drove by them she charged the car. I was so impressed with how she sheparded them, cared for them, guarded them. It was a testiment to her that three of the four survived. All are back safe and sound at their home now.</p>
<p>We have an external blower for the vent hood in our kitchen, and the little brown birds (whose name I never looked up, might be a chickadee), have been nesting there since it was put in. Each year we generally get three-four sets of babies, starting as early as march, we can clearly hear the babies cheaping and we see the parent birds flying off to get food and such. When the babies fledge, we watch, and each time my wife gets teary eyed when the parents stop the babies, when fully fledged, from going back into the nest…</p>
<p>What we love is when we are working in our back yard, doing yard work, working on the gardens and so forth, the bird parents will often sit on the cover of the blower and seeming to watch us…we both swear they are making sure we are doing what we are supposed to, we can almost hear them saying “we work on our nest, and we live here, too, so you have to make sure the yard is up to snuff” <em>lol</em>.</p>
<p>Though I sealed up a nest that was over our front door (piece of flashing had come off), they made an incredible mess, must have been the lower class relations to the birds in the back <em>smile</em></p>
<p>It is interesting how sneaky the robins are so that the crows don’t see where they have stashed the babies. I think they are underneath the neighbors porch ( he has a tiny studio in his backyard) The robin flew through our yard and through a gap in our fence seemingly to avoid being seen.</p>
<p>I’ve taken up all my sod, front/back/side, and have been in the process of making my urban yard wildlife friendly. It is pretty exciting to imagine even more wildlife moving in as it matures.
Have to plant more thorny bushes. ( actually some of my favorites) ;)</p>
<p>Mourning doves are not too shy about their nesting habits, though. A friend has a hanging basket plant that the doves put a nest in every year. We have lots of doves in our neighborhood, and I’m pretty sure that’s why the red tailed hawks have taken up nesting on our block. Not uncommon to be driving home and see a large hawk in someone’s front yard having a meal of a dove. I’ve actually gotten pretty close to one next door who actually grasped his meal in his talons and flew away after I observed him a bit too long for his comfort. Just amazing.</p>
<p>So…we have golden retrievers…and we used to have bird nests. When our dogs were young (as was our son) the birds made a nest in the rounds of the roof tile. My son wanted to kill the birds because for several months he heard coo coo all night.</p>
<p>No matter how hard we tried the dogs “played” with the babies. Whenever the dogs had to go out I made sure that there were no baby birds…but the babies always took that time to try their little wings. One of my dogs could catch them as they flew. I screamed,and grabbed the dogs…nothing worked.</p>
<p>One dog…18 in one season…We no long have birds in our yard.</p>
<p>^^^What do you expect for golden retrievers? It’s in their blood. My brother has an awesome hunting dog. He’s not golden, but black. That dog can find a sparrow in a lake.</p>
<p>^^^What did I hope for? Little birdies flying away. That they are city dogs and have lost their natural instinct. What did we get? No more birds nesting in the roof…and quiet in the morning…and that is a good thing.</p>
<p>And the only thing around here to hunt? A reservation at an “in” restaurant. :)</p>
<p>I naively used to think that if I fed my outside cats really well, they’d leave the squirrels and the birds alone. Some do. Unfortunately, they also left the rats alone. Yuk!</p>
<p>Right now, I have a gorgeous maine coon feral, already ear clipped, that somebody “dropped off” in my yard. Not even the baby possums are safe from him.</p>
<p>I am oh so happy to have him, no more rats! But I do get upset when the gorgeous transient migratory birds happen into my yard. It’s exciting to see that some really neat species happen my way, but unfortunately, they happen Dusty’s way, too, and never reach their final destinations.</p>
<p>And this is why, despite being an avid birdwatcher, I never put feeders out. I do not want to lure them into the monster’s lair.</p>
<p>I did have a terrier when I was little that would find the baby birds, but he never knew what to do with them once he found them. I guess his natural instincts were not as ingrained in him as those of a retriever.</p>
<p>We used to have two cats & a lab. One of the cats was a great hunter, the other cat would pounce on bugs.
Our lab though left the birds alone as long as she had her tennis ball.</p>
<p>We had a similar probem with our feeders, we get hawks and such, and they unfortinately love the buffet …we had one huge goshawk who would sit on the wooden arch we have in our garden, cleaning his beak, fluffing his feathers and just waiting for a snack…meanwhile we had rats that invaded our garage and did about 7500 bucks worth of damage to the car, think the bum would go after the rats? Nope…</p>
<p>What I do is I stop filling the feeders until the hawk moves on, then go back to filling them.</p>
<p>^^^Wow, a goshawk! How awesome! The squirrels made quick work out of our bird feeder that we put out of the cats’ reach, so we took it down. I’m sure my hunter would love to have me put it back! He would be just like the great whites off of Seal Beach!</p>