BEEing A Mom: The Nest (Part 1)

Little did I know four weeks ago that a nest wedged between the branches of a tree in our front yard would bestow upon my family and me valuable life lessons.

We first discovered the nest as we built a planter box underneath the tree. A mama robin sat dutifully in the nest incubating the eggs. At first, she acted skittish around us, flying away as we neared her nest. Not wanting to disturb her, we quickly assembled the planter box and left her alone.

In the days that followed, my son, Hayden, and I visited the mama robin several times daily. Soon, she grew comfortable with us and stayed in the nest. I often talked to her, telling her what a great mama she was. Neighbors who overheard me and didn't know we had a nest in the tree probably thought I had become delusional. But I was proud of our mama robin for her diligence and dedication to her motherly duties.

One evening, Hayden and I discovered a group of blackbirds congregating near the nest. One of the blackbirds acted injured, struggling to climb up an air conditioning unit and flutter its wings. At first, I felt sorry for the injured bird until I realized that the blackbirds were trying to steal the mama's eggs from her nest.

I called into the house for my husband Ryan to seek his help in protecting the mama robin and her eggs. As we devised a plan, a few of the blackbirds swooped in on the mama. Ryan lurched toward the blackbirds and shouted at them. They scattered, many flying to the higher branches in a nearby tree.

I retrieved our garden hose, determined to defend our mama robin if any of the blackbirds neared her. As one inched closer to the nest, I aimed the hose at it and sprayed it. All the blackbirds in the tree flew away.

Hayden jumped up and down and said, "You're the best mommy for fighting off the bad birds."

At that moment, I felt like a hero to my little guy. I later realized that both my son and I learned a valuable lesson that evening about standing up for the vulnerable.

We stood guard until twilight. None of the blackbirds returned. As I entered the house, I hoped and prayed the eggs would still be in the nest in the morning.

*****

~To Be Continued~

Please stop by BEEsy Mama tomorrow for Part 2 of BEEing a Mom: The Nest.