Papa Robin in the Afternoon

I watched the nest this afternoon and saw the American Robins taking turns sitting on their eggs in the pine tree behind our barn. It was a beautiful thing to see the symphony of their individual movements when they were on nest duty. Sometimes the custodial parent in charge seemed to be rolling the eggs with beak movements. Other times the one on the nest just quickly settled in and stared straight up as in the photo I posted. I watched the free parent hunting for worms, then announcing their return and the other quickly left the nest. It's so fascinating. 

The nest looks rough, but I know that the inside it's lined with mud, smoothed with the breast of the bird pressing it into the twigs. I have watched that process some years ago. One spring, during a draught, I left a muddy slurry for a pair of robins and watched them use it when Mother Nature was slow to give them some rain for their mud lining.

Today, I found half of a beautiful robin's egg blue (that is actually a paint color) shell. Another robin pair have their nestlings already in a hidden nest.

For the Record,
This day came in cloudy and humid, but the afternoon has been sunny with a nicer breeze.

All hands watching and listening to the birds that birds surround us.