Friday, June 6, 2008

The death of a robin...and the empty nest

Last night I came home to discover a young, dead robin at the base of the shrub where a local family had taken up residence. So sad.

I had been away for several days on a business trip, so I haven't been checking on my resident avians. After descovering the corpse, literally on my doorstep, I peeked in and took a look at the nest. Vacant. No one left.

I have no idea if the dead robin fell out of the nest, was attacked, or pushed out by siblings? I am hopful that the other baby robins have fledged and are off, doing happy, robin things.

If Mother Nature, in all her wisdom, has not urged some other animal to do the cleanup/scavenger thing, I will remove the poor, soggy body (it's been raining and raining!) and dispose of it. With a little bit of dignity. We all deserve that much.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have sparrows that decided to nest in a vent for the past couple of years. Last year they bred once and raised two chicks. This year they bred twice and are getting ready to lay a second time. A few weeks ago we found one dead chick on our deck. We pitched it over into the grass for one of the feral cats to find. I guess they like their home. We like them. In the bathroom you hear the little tweeters echo from the fan vent. It's interesting to watch the parents frantically search for insects to feed the hungry chicks. A few weeks later the parents start a banter to encourage the chicks to fledge. They also do a rapid warning chatter when they see our cat, who is safely inside. The chicks always look a bit stunned the first time they leave the nest, and then their off.

-S

greendragon said...

Oh what fun, repeat performances! I've been debating whether to keep the old Robin nest where it is now on the off chance that it will encourage the birds to return.

On the other hand, I suppose a used nest may not be all that appealing...