Friday, June 3, 2011

The Mystery of the Blue Robin's Eggs

A few weeks ago, a robin began making a nest on a support board under our deck. I was a bit concerned that area would not be such a good area for a nest because we had planned to temporarily store our mulch there while we finished mulching all the garden beds. We knew we would often be disturbing her as we grabbed bags and steered the wheelbarrow through there. However, I could not help but be thrilled because I had never seen a robin's nest, and I was looking forward to those lovely blue robin's eggs and watching the nestling's grow.



A few days later, when she left the nest I took a photo of the one egg she had laid.


A couple of days later, I noticed there were two eggs. I wondered how many more eggs she was going to lay. The eggs are such a lovely shade of blue--pure and solid.


And the next day, there were no eggs. The nest was clean, and there were no broken eggshells anywhere around the nest or on the ground.


I waited to see if she would return, but I never saw her again. I have heard that snakes will eat the eggs whole, but I really don't know how a snake could have gotten up there.  I still have not found any trace of the eggs or broken eggshells. Does anybody have any ideas?
©Michelle A. Potter

29 comments:

  1. It had to be a hungry snake. If it was another bird or a squirrel there surely would have been more evidence.

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  2. It had to be a hungry snake. If it was another bird or a squirrel there surely would have been more evidence.

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  3. Oh no. That would make me very sad if it was a snake.

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  4. Since there is no evidence left behind my guess would be a snake. Rat snakes (non-venomous) devour eggs and small birds in my garden. And snakes can slither their way to just about any place they want to go.

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  5. @Kelly Those were my thoughts as well, but the nest is about 8 or 9 feet off the ground. I know Black Rat snakes are good climbers, but I did not know they were that good.

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  6. @Christine @ The Gardening Blog I am sad to lose the eggs. I suppose, however, the robin will lay more eggs elsewhere.

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  7. @Karin / Southern Meadows We do have a resident black rat snake who I like having around to control the vole population. I did not know he or she could climb that high.

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  8. That is not the ending I was hoping for. It's funny how quickly we can become excited and attached to what happens in our gardens and around our yards. I know nature happens, but it would have been nice to see them hatch.

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  9. Lovely photos! Maybe it's better not to know :)

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  10. @Kevin It was not what I was hoping for either. I was so looking forward to observing the full cycle...but I guess it was not meant to be.

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  11. @Desperate Gardener Thanks, Stacy. I don't think I will ever know...

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  12. so sorry to hear this...at least we had 4 eggs and then 3 were shells and one had been pecked open a bit and of course was dead..then the robin laid 4 more and they hatched...not a happy ending either...I know how hard it is because we have such excitement to see the cycle of life and watch the little ones grow...we still do not know what happened either...hate to think of a snake.

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  13. I have had robin's nests raided by crows, which then fly off each with a whole blue egg in its beak. If that were the case, the broken shells might be in some other location where the crows had flown to for lunch. But the crow attacks tend to be pretty noisy; I think you would have noticed something going on. -Jean

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  14. I am sorry this happened - I was looking forward to a story about baby robins.... Maybe they will come and make a nest again some day.

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  15. We've had a similar thing happen here in our garden too. A mother Little Shrike Thrush had laid three spotted eggs and our grandchildren, who were visiting at the time, were rushing out eagerly every morning to take a look to see if they hatched.

    Then, one morning, the nest was empty. No cracked eggshells or smashed nest ... we suspect it was more probably one of the small Children's Pythons that live around here! It was heart-breaking trying to explain what had happened to the little ones! They had never experienced anything like it before.

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  16. That IS a mystery. I'll never get used to the real life drama in the gardens. Sometimes it is very sad.

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  17. Oh dear...sorry to hear about your loss of eggs! :( My lovely bluebird eggs were destroyed by house sparrows earlier this year, and I was so sad.

    On the other hand, it would be quite the feat to see a snake slither up that high. Not one I'd want to witness, but still...

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  18. Oh no... That's awful. A rat could definitely get up there.

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  19. @Donna I agree...we have such excitement and hope. I suppose it was not meant to be...

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  20. 'The mystery of the vanishing robin eggs".

    As for me, I have posted about a little bird that came to lay eggs in a tiny nest made of 2 leaves from my potted hydrangea plant. The mother bird vanished after a thunderstorm leaving behind 3 little eggs that never hatched. So, I understand how you must be feeling. Today, I am happy again when I saw 2 olive backed sunbirds came sitting on my citrus lime plant and we were so close.

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  21. @jeansgarden Hm-mmm...perhaps it was crows. They could have come when we were away and did not hear all the commotion.

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  22. @Masha I hope so, Masha. I would love to observe them. Thanks for your best wishes.

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  23. @Bernie That must have been heartbreaking. I keep telling myself this is the way of nature, but I still find it difficult each time something like that happens.

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  24. @Carolyn ? I don't think I will ever get used to it either.

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  25. @Hanni Oh...yes...I would love to see that, because I have a hard time visualizing it.

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  26. @Mrs Bok - The Bok Flock I haven't seen any rats around here, but I suppose anything is possible.

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  27. @Autumn Belle Yes, I remember your posts on that. I suppose nature has its way...and it is not always easy to understand.

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  28. Such a shame but as you say nature has it's way, perhaps the robin will be back next year and nest in a safer place.

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  29. @DD I suppose that is the lesson to take away from this. Thanks...

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'I see trees of green, red roses, too
I see 'em bloom for me and for you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world'
--What a Wonderful World

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