Love Robins--So Do My Cats--Ack!

by Nancy Doyle
(Columbia County, New York)

Robins are one of my favorite birds and I am thrilled to see MANY of them at our weekend house in Columbia County, NY.

Last weekend, my otherwise pretty lethargic four cats showed unusual interest in the large rhodedendron growing just outside our bedroom window.

Then I noticed two robins, flying around madly trying to distract them. We shooed the curious cats away and peered in to discover a nest with two beautiful blue eggs and two just hatched babies (or, in our cats' opinion--appetizers.)

The nest itself was wonderful as it incorporated, along with the expected twigs and mud, bits of my husband's hair (I cut it outdoors) and strands of a plastic tarp which we had had on our roof before it disintegrated.

We managed to keep the cats away from the nest for the rest of the weekend (did I mention that they're kind of lazy?) and the babies were still alive when we left (Mrs. Robin did not appreciate me inspecting the nest.)

We'll leave the cats at home this weekend and hope that a couple of weeks give the young robins time to grow up and leave the nest.

Then the nest itself has to go, because this is just tempting fate--or at least tempting four cats!