Rockin Robins

by SD Smith
(Barneveld, NY (near Central Adirondack Mts.))

It's the 2nd week of July and we've just discovered a third clutch of robin's eggs (3 of them) in a nest built earlier this spring above the coach light next to our front door.

We first discovered the nest in early May. The male pecked steadily (and lightly) at our window each morning until it was built.

When the pecking stopped, we checked the nest and discovered 3 eggs in it. They hatched in mid-May.

The next eggs were discovered in mid-June in the same nest. We observed both male and female robin on the nest and/or feeding their young.

When the female was on the nest, the male sat in a tree nearby. Three more eggs hatched.

Tonight, July 10, we've discovered there are 3 new eggs in the same nest. We're beginning to feel like a fertility clinic/maternity ward!

The female is on the nest tonight and the male is in the tree nearby. We think this is the same "couple" and they are using the same nest each time, which seems odd.

The male has a distinctive marking around his eyes, which is why we think it is the same pair each time.

They obviously love this nest - and each other!