Robins in a garden hose

by Lisa
(Lancaster, MA, USA )

Robins Nest in Unusual Places

On a Sunday afternoon in May, I was puttering about the backyard when I saw a baby rabbit hop behind our garden shed.


I followed it and was completely surprised to find a robin's nest was built in the coil of two wound garden hoses hanging from a ladder. The ladder was balanced on the top of an old dog kennel we used to use.

I walked over to see the nest and it was empty. The very next day I went back and there was one beautiful blue egg.

On Tuesday there were two eggs. Wednesday, no change but on Thursday, there were four!

I checked the nest daily and it remained at four.

It seemed like no time at all when I popped over to find that all four eggs had hatched and the mother was not happy with my visit!

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I continued to check on the nest every other day or so for two weeks, watching the robins grow.

The mother would dive-bomb me and squawk her head off so I would take a quick photo and get away.

To this day, we've never had such an unusual spot chosen in our yard, and we've had several nests in the past. All of them were in my lilac bush.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Robin Nest On Garden Hoe

by Kathy Iredale
(Port Angeles, WA)

My husband first found the nest. He would walk out through our gate to his pick-up and wonder why Robins were diving him.

Then one day he noticed straw hanging down from his tools that were hung on the side of his garage. He looked up and to his surprise there was a nest.

Once we knew the nest was there we tried hard not to go in the back yard. We didn't want to scare them away. That was impossible of course.

We did wait until the nest was empty whenever possible. It did seem like they got use to us coming and going as they didn't fly away as much.

Eventually my curiosity got the best of me and I had to see how many eggs were in the nest. First I just laid a ladder against the garage. Then I waited a couple days and climbed up to have a look.

My husband told me I shouldn't but if I had to to make sure I didn't touch the nest or eggs. I told him I was smart enough not to do that. There were 3 blue eggs inside.

Then we waited and waited. So afraid mom hadn't sat on the eggs enough because of us. One day I looked out our bathroom window and either mom or dad was in the nest and there was this little creature with the biggest mouth wide open.

It was the best thing ever. Once again I had to climb the ladder. This time to make sure there were 3 babies. There were.

It was so cool watching these little babies. Then we went camping for a week. Got back today and the nest is empty.

We know very little about birds. I have a bird feeder outside our living room window and I also put feed on the window ledge. It's like having an ever changing bird cage.

We also have a hummingbird feeder but that's the extent of it. Will our birds come back to use this nest again? I need to know if I have to start saving to buy my husband new tools.

Robin Nest Under Deck Again!

by Len Cole
(Uxbridge, ON Canada)

I was cooking Hamburgers for my wife and I on our back deck.

I knew there was a Robins nest built on the under hang of the deck at our door entrance above my head.

I was coming in with both hands full, when she took off above my head.....well, the food went flying, and I broke a plate and ruined the food. ... We had a sandwich!

The Robin had three young ones, and we enjoyed watching them grow until their first flight.

After they left for a few days, I removed the nest. This was late May of 2009.

It is now July 13th and I have watched as a new nest has been built in the same spot. There are 2 new eggs!

Do they mate all summer?

If you have any info, let me know.

Thank you
Len Cole
Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada

Robin Nest on Downspout Knocked Down

What Might Have Happened to Nest?

Last weekend, we noticed a Robin had nested in a nest on top of the downspout of my gutters.

The nest was there from last year and I had meant to knock it down.

My neighbor said that birds would not return to the same nest.

We were thrilled to share our home with this future mother Robin. We noticed the male close by, keeping watch.

I didn't climb up to see if there were eggs. I did not want the bird to feel threatened.

I felt a little uneasy just peeking around the corner to check on her.

This afternoon, I checked. The nest was on the ground and the birds nowhere to be found.

I did not see any eggs around the nest. Could this have been something that the birds did?

The nest was at least 10' above the ground. What predator could have knocked it down?

A very sad end to our story.

Dartboard Robin Nest

by Vcki Hough
(Bend Oregon)

We have had doves nest in the same place for the last two years we have robins on our deck!

Watching the mother make the nest was fascinating as she brought all the materials and then would wiggle and pack everything down.

Since they were right by our back door, we had to be careful.

Our BBQ is about 10 feet from the next. So we started talking to the birds when they were nesting to make them feel comfortable.

The "momma" seemed to be fine after she saw us many times every day!

Then one morning I found a blue egg on the chair beneath the next and almost panicked thinking that an egg had been pushed out.

But to my surprise, it was just the shells so we had babies!

We could hardly wait to see how many there were!

It was fun to watch the "pappa" guard on our railing while momma went back and forth for food.

Of course when they were a little bigger both of the parents were back and forth.

And today three of the four left the nest.

We have one left and are just watching to see when he will fly!

Vicki Hough

Robin Builds Nest on ATV Tire

by Jennifer
(Orange, Vt)

I was outside this afternoon and I noticed something different about my nephews ATV four Wheeler.

There was hay curled up on the back wheel tire.

I went closer to see what it was and to my surprise it was a robin's nest.

Apparently this robin is into ATV cause she built the nest on top of the tire and made it her home. Luckily, my nephew doesn't use it that much.

My six year old daughter thinks this is quite cool.

I told her we can not touch the nest and now she wants to learn more about our new neighbors.

Robins Nest on the Ground

by Pam Nagel
(Wyndmere, North Dakota)

We have many robins build nests in our yard every year, but this is the first time I have seen one on the ground.

It is on the rock landscaping against a corner of our house. She built it really close to our walk-in garage door (where everyone enters and exits).

At first she flew away as soon as the door was opened. Now, she is a little braver and lets me walk right by her on my way to get the mail.

Also, it is directly under the outlet from our basement bathroom fan. I worry that the noise scares her away!

There are (obviously) four eggs in the nest in the picture I took about ten days ago. Unfortunately, there are only three now.

Last year, a robin built her nest in our satellite dish.

It was handy for viewing because it was right outside our son's bedroom window.

We kept a close eye on the eggs and then the babies--until a terrible thunderstorm drowned all of them in the nest. It was quite sad.