Birds Do It, Bees Do It...

I live in an area that is fairly heavily wooded. Not that I live in the middle of Burkittsville, but there are a lot of trees and vegetation in my area and with that comes a fair number of wildlife creatures as well. In my yard alone I can tell you I have rabbits, skunks, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, groundhogs and about 3 kabillion varieties of birds. If the chupacabra  walked through my yard I would not be surprised in the least.

And with it being spring time (at least I think it is, today is rainy and 40 degrees so it doesn't feel particularly springy) all the critters have come out to play, if you know what I mean.

Next to my front door is a big rhododendron that I'm certain has been there since the Jurassic period. It's huge I'm sure that if we ever got rid of it we'd find the most complex root system known to man. There are always birds flying in and out of it, but the other day a robin bolted out of it when my husband left the house and that's when I noticed a nest built in the branches.

This is not the first time we've had this happen. We had a nest there once years ago (it caused me great distress when it appeared that the parents had abandoned it and the babies right after they hatched. I was sure they left because I was watching the nest 24-7 and I called my husband at work in tears. That is an absolutely true story. I was beside myself and as he recalled the story to a fellow coworker said "I'm now going to have to get Jen a dog or a cat that she can take care of". Yes, I am certifiable). We also had nests in a large shrub on the side of our yard as well as a small tree in the center of the yard. I don't know what I've done to make my yard so hospitable to robins, but I'm glad I did.

I've been trying to give Mr. and Mrs. Robin their space, trying not to freak them out too much when I leave or enter the house. I tried getting pictures of the nest by just standing on the stairs next to the rhododendron, but it didn't work. That's when I became enterprising and realized the window of my office room was right over the bush and if I put my 70-300mm lens on my camera and hung out the window, I could get a pretty good shot without disturbing them too much. Of course anyone driving by would see me and think I'd lost my mind. And they'd be right.

See? There are three little eggs in the nest and they're so tiny and cute I may pass out. I even got a shot of Mrs. Robin (or Mr. Robin, I'm equal opportunity here) sitting on the nest. It's just so sweet I can't handle it.

I'm really looking forward to the babies hatching and getting pictures of them. Be prepared to see more pictures just like this in the coming days. I'm off to Google robins and find out as much info on how long it will take for the eggs to hatch and how long they will stay in the next once they are born. I'm getting way too into this, aren't I?