On Friday, I was doing something or other near one of the boxwoods and I heard a frantic flapping of wings. I thought that there must have been a bird on the bush, startled by my sudden presence.
Yesterday, I was weeding and, at one point, ended up in the same area. Again, the frantic movement of a bird. Curious, I walked over to the boxwood, looked down, and saw this:
I gasped. Luckily, I had my iPhone in my back pocket, so I quickly took some pictures.
If that isn’t one of the most beautiful sights one can see, I don’t know what is. A miracle, tucked down inside a boxwood.
I was filled with wonder at this beauty, this perfectly made nest with five blue eggs.
After I tended to some other things, I carefully and quietly walked toward the boxwood (but stayed far away enough that I figured all would be well) and again, Mama flew off. Since I had been planning to mow the front yard, I decided I should get on it right away, starting with the area of grass right in front of the boxwoods that are at the front of the house. I had scared Mama enough and I wanted to mow while she was still watching from the neighboring maple tree so that she could relax for the rest of the day.
Since this is right in front of the porch, I will have to be very careful. Later in the day, I was sitting on the glider, not making a sound, when Mama started screeching at me. Oh boy. I got the message and went inside.
I don’t want to get too involved with watching the eggs hatch. I did that years ago while working on a job in Wisconsin (the nest was right outside my door) and I was stressed the whole time. I worry too much.
I also put together one of the Adirondack chairs.
It took me a long time and it wasn’t easy. It’s really a two person job, and since there’s just me, myself, and I, many curse words were uttered. Interestingly this didn’t seem to bother the nesting robin (I put it together on the porch). By the time I finished, my hands were sore! Still are.
I imagine the second one will be less problematic.
I’m thinking I’ll paint them as the natural wood is very light in color and I don’t really want to go the stain route.
And I’m thinking that this color (used on the mini adirondacks in Don’s studio) would be perfect. (Note that there just happen to be mini boxwoods in this photo.)
I asked Don whether we should go with white or this green and he enthusiastically went for the green. There you go.
A splash of color in the midst of all the weathered teak will be perfect.
Today, a trip to the store for some supplies. Tomorrow, I’ll buy mulch and potting soil and I’ll soak my morning glory seeds and get ready to plant them this week.
Happy Sunday.
I love that green—in fact, I think I own it, having used it quite prominently in all of my decorating since the sixties! Right now it can be seen on the tiki bar in my kitchen, the mirror frame and louvered closet doors in the bedroom, and the giant wooden fork and spoon on my wall. Oh, and lamps in the guest room. But I hereby grant you the right to use it and enjoy it as much as I do!
(It’s almost as joyfully beautiful as your robin’s nest.)
It’s sort of an apple green, I think. I’m excited (though that’s going to be a lot of painting!)
I am loving your photos; the subjects are so sweet and natural..even “love” photographed in the shape of sent flowers is a LOVE-ly and natural photo, Claudia.
To me, these parts of life should never ever be taken for granted or go un-celebrated….these are life going merrily by and it is up to us to take notice and if we are ever more fortunate…have a camera or phone nearby like you do.
I am alone now and I am glad I too, saved and took photos but alas not at your rate , (and I love the rate you have for sharing with us!
If Don ever meets a lone cowboy out there, who is kind, and has clean teeth :’ )) send him South. haha just a giggle for me….now on to catch up with FBook.
I’ll tell him to be on the lookout, Katheryn! xo
The blue of those eggs – stunning! Great photo! Lifted my spirits this morning! Thank you!
You are very welcome!
Hi Claudia. The nest and eggs look like something out of a Disney movie ! Just gorgeous. Xxx Julie in Australia
They sure are!
That is such a great photo of the nest! The blue of those eggs is the most gorgeous color. I had a bird build a nest in a hanging planter near my front door once and each time I would leave the house the mama would fuss at me!! I watched until the babies hatched, grew up and flew away. It was exciting. I think that green on the Adirondack chairs is really the perfect color for you porch.
I had some time with Scout last night (Tiger stayed with a friend) and I laughed so much. That little girl has the cutest personality. She did want Mama Daddy when it was bed time but finally settled down and was Grandma Grandma as she laid her head on my stomach and went to sleep. Being a Grandma is good! Hugs!
Being a grandma must be a wonderful thing, Linda!
Beautiful picture of the nest! Your pictures are always so fun to look at. I’ve been watching through the front window as a mama robin constructs a nest on the narrowest of trim right below the ceiling of our front porch. At one point, nesting materials were blowing all over the porch floor. But she managed to get the thing together just before here in southeastern Wisconsin we had terrible wind and two-day rainstorms. After the strong winds last night, I had to check first thing and she’s still up there, snug and safe. Birds are the most amazing engineers!
They are incredible engineers. How they do it, I don’t know!
One day when I was still working, as we were leaving for lunch, I spotted a robin building a nest in the wheel well of a parked van. The guy who owned it was also leaving for lunch and he carefully took it out and set it by a nearby tree. He said the idea of spinning it in the car wheels was beyond upsetting. A few hours later that afternoon he called me at my desk and said the bird was out there re-working the nest back into his wheel. So persistent!!!! When the Mourning Doves nest in our yard, the mom & dad share the nesting duties. So do the sparrows and the wrens. But I never see 2 robins watching over a nest. Let us know if you see 2 while the nest is being tended!! Mysteries of nature.
Hope you are having a prettier day than are we. Cloudy, misty, and COLD here. Rather tired of it!!
Oh my gosh! In a wheel well! I saw two robins near the nest yesterday – dad and mom, I think. When the mama was screeching at me, the other was watching the nest from about 10 feet away.
How wonderous to come across the nest. What beautiful eggs. Two years ago, I came across a hummingbird nest with two wee eggs in one of my camellias. I didn’t let anyone into that side of the yard and the two nestlings successfully fledged. Sadly, mama hasn’t come back to nest in my yard. I think there was too much commotion when the yard was redone. Hope I get some hummers back. The bees have returned, and so have the mourning dove couple, the brown towhees, and the chickadees. A mallard couple scouted out the yard for possible nesting sites, but I guess my yard wasn’t suitable, as I haven’t seen them.
I have to mow the lawn, of course, but other than that, I’ll try to stay away. As it is, when I have to walk around to the side of the house, I now go way out of my way so I don’t pass too near the nest!
I am always amazed at the places that birds will build nests. One year I had one in a hanging geranium plant….watering was extremely difficult. You captured that nest perfectly…always a reason to carry a cell phone! I like the color you’ve chosen for the chairs…fun. Yet, it will play well with your many varieties of flowers, no matter where you put the chairs. Enjoy your day! ;)
I had one in a hanging plant as well, but I had no idea it was there until after the babies had fledged! Yikes!
Claudia- how tall is the boxwood?
Last summer a robin nested in the top corner of my front porch and had three clutches. I read that the female will nest in the same spot year after year, so I’m hoping she comes back. It was so fun to see those little faces looking over the side of the nest and I got to see two of the clutches fledge!
I LOVE adirondack chairs but I’m vertically challenged so I like to have the foot rest. The color looks great (mine are barn red).
Seeing them fledge is pretty darned amazing. Such a little miracle!
This adirondack chair wouldn’t challenge you – it’s rather normal!
Forgot to add, these boxwoods are about 4 ft from the ground to the top of the boxwood.
How perfectly perfect is that nest and those precious blue eggs. Truly amazing! Green will be a fabulous color for the chairs. Hope the second one does turn out to be easier.
I think it will, but I gave my hands a rest today!
years ago we had a nest in a tree on the other side of our fence. I could see from my deck and was hoping to see the baby birds leave the nest. Missed it. Then our neighbor cut down that evergreen tree and planted a maple that will never hold or hide a nest. Would love to throttle the guy. He also cut down a lot of trees and bushes in his back yard and now has a desert back there. And he doesn’t know how to mow a lawn. He mows it so short that the grass dies. Enjoy your yard, you are so lucky.
Why cut down trees if they’re healthy? Makes me so sad!
Freezing here. Nature is an amazing artist, isn’t she? You couldn’t have staged that photo any better. We have those same chairs From Christmas Tree stores but Noble wanted them unpainted and he left them outside in winter so they didn’t last. And am in awe of you assembling those yourself. Took two of us and we turned the air blue as we assembled. And the second does go faster. Love the apple green.
Here, too. 20 degrees colder than yesterday!
I am not going to leave them outside in the winter. They fold up, so they’ll go in the shed. The air was quite blue as I assembled mine, I can tell you!
Love the nest photo! Simply stunning. Nature’s blessing at its finest. It made my day!
Oh good! It made mine yesterday! I needed to see that little miracle!
Your chairs are lovely. We have teak rockers on our deck and I know I did lots of research before treating them. I don’t know anything about cedar but found an article from a company who sells your type chair that might be of interest to you. Can’t wait to see the finished results!
http://www.thebestadirondackchair.com/product-care-22.aspx
Thanks, Sharon! I’ll check it out.
The nest is like something out of a painting. I’ve never been blessed with the sight of such a wonder. I wonder to myself, what kind of bird? It’s just beautiful; thank you for sharing the photo.
Wow, to put together a furniture-in-a-box kind of thing…I have no talent for that, so you have my admiration; you’ll enjoy these chairs so much.
I’m all about the green. I even have a green house! Not a greenhouse, but a green HOUSE.
Pantone’s Color Of The Year 2017 is “GREENERY”.
PANTONE 15-0343
“A refreshing and revitalizing shade, Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings. Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate. Greenery is nature’s neutral. The more submerged people are in modern life, the greater their innate craving to immerse themselves in the physical beauty and inherent unity of the natural world. This shift is reflected by the proliferation of all things expressive of Greenery in daily lives through urban planning, architecture, lifestyle and design choices globally. A constant on the periphery, Greenery is now being pulled to the forefront – it is an omnipresent hue around the world.
A life-affirming shade, Greenery is also emblematic of the pursuit of personal passions and vitality.” (“What is the PANTONE Color of the Year?
A symbolic color selection; a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.”)
They’re robin eggs, Vicki. That’s where we get ‘robin’s egg blue’ from!
I really fell in love with that green I used for the mini adirondack, so I’ll take it along with me when I go to get some paint.
Love the Adirondack chair. Before you put the second one together (if you haven’t already), would it be easier to paint it first? I painted a pair of little decorative ones, not realizing when I started that there are so many nooks and crannies. They are going to look great on your porch!
I thought it might be but after having put one together, all the screws and nails that have to go in would ruin the paint, so I’d rather put it together and then paint it. Even though it will definitely be a pain in the tush!
What a great shot of that nest! We had finches build a nest in our front storm door wreath. We were able to watch each baby hatch from inside. What a thrill. I bought the same chairs for my daughter from the Christmas tree shop a few years back. The cedar actually weathered quite nicely if you give it the time. I do love that green though! It’s always nice to have options.
Deb
After reading up on cedar, I just may let it age, Deb. I would have to repaint the chairs frequently and I don’t want to have to do that!
Good luck trying not to snoop on the nest. I would position myself as close as I could, loose sleep , drive myself crazy among other negatives. How could you not become obsessed with that? That is amazing. I don’t think I have ever seen more than 3 eggs in a nest & I have never witnessed the color & perfection in your photo.
The wood grain is really nice in your chair. You are set for the season. I know Don cannot wait to come home & sit next to his wife and enjoy the beauty that nature gives.
Peace, Monica
I did that, obsessively, when I was working in Wisconsin one summer. It was wonderful and I got to see and take pictures of the babies, and see them fledge, but I also saw one fall from the balcony and I had my heart in my mouth as I prayed that the mom could help him. Too much worry!
Yes, that I actually DO know about – when I was growing up, we had tall cypress trees framing a side of our house; the nests were so high that no human could reach them. I don’t know what type of birds they were; something common around here (not robins). But sometimes the babies would fall out of the nest and, of course, they couldn’t survive such a long fall. Sometimes, they’d still be half alive, with the mother hovering. My parents would just walk away and basically say, ‘Let Nature take its course’. Well, nature can be a harsh mistress for all that it’s also hopeful and wondrous. My parents weren’t heartless, but there was no wild bird rescue back then. I’m sure they felt they had no ‘bird knowledge’, to themselves trying to take on a broken baby bird. I seem to remember we had a ‘dog catcher’ in town, but they wouldn’t have bothered with a bird. The lone vet’s practice was for large animals like horses; dogs & cats. Anyway, the whole thing would upset me SO much. The helplessness of it. I was a really sensitive child and it affected me a lot. Odd how I buried that memory until right now, but I understand why.
The little creatures in our natural world…such a miracle that they can survive predators, weather, humans; hunger and thirst; even make it to maturity. I think the only thing that saves my two feral cats, born in the hillside bushes where they live to this day (somewhere; I’ve never found where), is my consistent good-quality food and water which, once I started, I never have stopped — but how do they contend with the fleas, ticks, probably internal parasites/worms, other diseases and contagious conditions like mange; or injuries, weather (highs & lows with the temps; and even our recent rains), aggressive cats within their own population and, again, predators (we’ve had coyotes; have raccoons; loose dogs that run around in the night and get into rear yards where people have no fencing/gates). I trapped once to spay/neuter and immunize but the cats are wise to the traps after that; I had my one shot at it, but that’s IT. (Believe me, I’ve tried.) Even after nearly ten years, I can’t get near the cats to give any additional help. And I’m sure what will happen when Momma starts to fail (she could be anywhere from age 11 and up; her ‘baby’, always with her, is now age 9), is that she’ll disappear and I’ll never know what happened. I just hope she doesn’t suffer. Like any normal human, I can’t abide suffering.
Is your robin’s nest safe from those neighbor cats you’ve mentioned? Can the cats get to the nest once the babies are ‘hatched’?? Because if the cats roam in your yard, they’ll hear the babies. It seems if the nest is toward the top of the boxwood, the boxwood isn’t anything the cats can easily reach, right? Boxwood around here is usually dense; thick; nothing a cat could grab onto with paws/claws. How big are those eggs? Like an inch in circumference? I’m so intrigued! The blue isn’t something we can really duplicate, even with computers. It’s an out-of-this-world BLUE. What a photo, Claudia!
You know, I can’t go there. There are predators around here; hawks, other birds, cats, you name it. That’s part of the reason I will stay away once the babies are born. There are just too many potential heartbreaks and I can’t go there. I know from my past experience, when I watched baby robins safely in a nest tucked under a light on a balcony (much safer than these eggs!) that I will worry and worry and worry and it’s just too hard on me.
Just beautiful !…I would have to frame that one Claudia!
Thank you, Nancy!