In Between Time
There hasn't been much happening since the foundation was poured. DH erected a temporary fence stile when he was working out back on Saturday, and the dog was seen jumping over it at least once. Walking all the way to the end to get around gets old after a while.
On Sunday I took the robin nest down, as I had seen zero activity since the red-tailed hawk's incursion. I didn't want to splat the eggs down below (who knows what they'd smell like at this stage, in warm weather), and I was interested in looking at the nest itself. So I taped a trash bag onto my long-handled mirror, and used my Old Geezer grabbers to nudge the nest off its perch into the bag. Since it's been well under the eaves, thus protected from rain, it is almost like adobe on the underside. The dried mud (and robin spit?) had molded itself around the light brackets, and remained intact after removal. It would have taken a lot of violent wind to dislodge it.
I now think the nest was built by one pair of robins in April (when the female sat on it for about a week) and then abandoned, possibly because it was discovered by a predator. I didn't witness any attacks, but did see some crows hanging around in the yard--which do prey on small birds' eggs and fledglings. Then a SECOND pair of robins, house-hunting for a nesting site for their second brood, saw this lovely prebuilt nest, and thought: "Perfect!" And history repeated itself. Too bad. Robins like to nest near houses, and will use platforms erected for that purpose. I wonder if they would use one that had some camouflage around it--even a branch or two hanging down would block a predator swooping down. Except for the high visibility, under the eaves of the house is an excellent location.
I tipped the eggs out into the woods out back. They might feed a ground dweller who comes by foraging one night. The photo was taken using the Olympus camera's "macro" mode. It comes out well IF I remember the correct buttons to push!
Craig is planning to waterproof the outside of the foundation tomorrow or Thursday. Depending upon when his framer is available (he was supposed to be finishing up his backlog of work by the start of August), they will either pour the basement floor or begin framing next week.
On Sunday I took the robin nest down, as I had seen zero activity since the red-tailed hawk's incursion. I didn't want to splat the eggs down below (who knows what they'd smell like at this stage, in warm weather), and I was interested in looking at the nest itself. So I taped a trash bag onto my long-handled mirror, and used my Old Geezer grabbers to nudge the nest off its perch into the bag. Since it's been well under the eaves, thus protected from rain, it is almost like adobe on the underside. The dried mud (and robin spit?) had molded itself around the light brackets, and remained intact after removal. It would have taken a lot of violent wind to dislodge it.
I now think the nest was built by one pair of robins in April (when the female sat on it for about a week) and then abandoned, possibly because it was discovered by a predator. I didn't witness any attacks, but did see some crows hanging around in the yard--which do prey on small birds' eggs and fledglings. Then a SECOND pair of robins, house-hunting for a nesting site for their second brood, saw this lovely prebuilt nest, and thought: "Perfect!" And history repeated itself. Too bad. Robins like to nest near houses, and will use platforms erected for that purpose. I wonder if they would use one that had some camouflage around it--even a branch or two hanging down would block a predator swooping down. Except for the high visibility, under the eaves of the house is an excellent location.
I tipped the eggs out into the woods out back. They might feed a ground dweller who comes by foraging one night. The photo was taken using the Olympus camera's "macro" mode. It comes out well IF I remember the correct buttons to push!
Craig is planning to waterproof the outside of the foundation tomorrow or Thursday. Depending upon when his framer is available (he was supposed to be finishing up his backlog of work by the start of August), they will either pour the basement floor or begin framing next week.