So there has been a robin nesting in our yard all spring - pretty cool stuff for a little boy of almost 3. Although he is not terribly verbal he is always "telling" people about the nest in his own way - "Shhhhhh, nest ... bird" and pointing. After we spotted the nest, in a tree near the play area in our yard, we made a point of not disturbing her and observing from a distance.
When we returned from clamming there no longer a mama bird on the nest and we explained that the babies may have hatched and she was out getting food. After my assistant was in bed for the night I went to check - and to my delight there was one fluffy chick filling the bottom of the nest. Over the course of the next couple of days we did not see a robin go anywhere near the nest. This time I was worried about the baby and went to check ... no baby bird, just three little blue eggs. I checked under the nest to see if the chick fell, but something must have got it :( This is sad, but part of nature and not the gross part.
So after several more days we are sure that the nest is abandoned. A friend from the university said the other eggs never hatched and lots of things could have happened to the baby. Knowing that the eggs were "dead" I thought that Slater would get a kick out of seeing them in the nest and holding one. Why am I so dumb??? So we sneak up on the nest - "Shhhh, bird ... nest". I pluck out an egg and hand it to him, the look on his face is pure awe. Then ... he stuck his fingers through it and splattered *rotten egg* all over both of us ... ugh. Lots of scrubbing does not seem to have done the trick, so we both just get to smell a little weird for the next 24 hours.
Yup, nature is gross.
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