• Saturday-What'sUP June 26 - 06:29 am

Brenda Leigh was lucky enough to witness the building of a Robin's nest and follow the birds through the laying of eggs, hatching, feeding the young and finally watching them all take off from the nest one by one, when ready. She was quite happy to have been able to observe the whole process, photograph it and share it here with us, today. Brenda shared some great commentary for each of the photos, here's what she had to say:

Top Photo: The mother robin brings a big mouthful of mud which she kept taking from near the outside water hose that had been on that day. The earth was nice and moist there.

Second Photo: Now she's arranging the straw, that will harden in the mud to hold it all together.

Third Photo: The nest is done. It took her four days to build this.

Fourth Photo: She laid four eggs two days after the nest was done.

Fifth Photo: The babies are constantly hungry. So, Mom brings a mouthful for them.

Sixth Photo: This was the last little baby in the nest. The parents took one at a time out into the woods.

I like how the last little bird waited patiently for his turn to take flight. Maybe he was reluctant to leave Mom and Dad with an empty nest. What a wonderful glimpse into the everyday magic of U.P. nature.

Magic, indeed!!! GREAT shots Brenda!! Fascinating stuff to watch.

I watched a Robin build her nest one time...she worked and worked, and would stuff more "stuff" in it, and then get into it and wiggle right in tight, and then she'd stretch her wings over, test to see if she could cover the whole thing in the rain...it was so awesome to watch. Then some mean little kids found it...threw rocks, etc...and the Robin left the area....Sniff.

It was awesome to watch up to then.

But, to see it to the end, get photos and share them with us...PRICELESS Brenda! Way to go! Thank you!!!

WOW Benda!! Great shots!! I would have love to be able to catch these shots. Thanks for sharing!

Nicely detailed pictures! Quite the little construction workers!

Magnificent photos and commentary, kudos to you and a BIG thank you Brenda!!!

Have a nice weekend everybody!

Super shots, Brenda, from start to finish. I used to love "swallows" building their nests. Found their style fascinating!

Super shots, Brenda, from start to finish. I used to love watching "swallows" build their nests. Found their style fascinating!

Nice work Brenda! It was so wet here in SE-MI this past week, I saw a Robin wiping his worm with paper towel.

Just proves the old saying...."A woman's work is never done!"

It is interesting how robins often build nests not far from people but when the eggs hatch they are expert "fighter pilots" when a person gets too close to the nest. Robins take tufts of moss from a flower bed near my home to line their nests.

The rural area where I live has many hawks that regularly eat many of the birds and that appears to keep the bird population in balance. The hawks make raids on the birds at feeders even when people are present.

Imagine how many times this happens each year. A basic activity that wows us when we're privleged to observe. Thanks for sharing.

What a great series of pictures!

Down here in Illinois I had a robin that visited the birdbath on
my balcony sometimes 2 or 3 times a day (last month) to take a
quick bath. I was constantly cleaning it because the water was
always dirty and muddy....your pics explain why: a fastidious
robin cleaning up during a day of nest building.

Now the robin (I have to assume it's the same one) perches on
my balcony's railing with a mouth full of juicy little creatures and
surveys the area before she swoops down toward a tree to her
extremely well concealed nest of hungry little ones. I love
nature!

Earlier this spring I came into my room to see my cat intensely staring at my treadmill, folded up against the window. Then she started prowling around it like she was stalking something and I feared I had a mouse in the house. The next time I came into the room, she was still there, just sitting and staring at the treadmill. Then I could hear a rustling sound coming not from the treadmill, but from the window. I checked outside and a robin was attempting to build her nest on the window sill between the air conditioner and the window jam. I know this sounds cruel, but I pulled the nest apart and scattered it. The window sill is only about 2.5 feet off the ground, and with my next-door neighbor's three cats and other creatures roaming my neighborhood, the babies never would have survived. The next day the robin was back at work in the same place, only this time she was much farther along. I hated to do it, but I pulled it out again. No more nest building took place there, but last week there was a fledgling robin sitting in the juniper bush by that window, so the mother must have found a new place nearby to build her nest. So glad!

Nice tribute to Michigan's State Bird.

SIX MONTHS TO CHRISTMAS!!

You know it Donna!!

A big thank you to all who commented on my photos. It sure was fascinating to watch those robins. Nature is grand! Also thank you Mary and Charlie for such a nice website.