Tuesday, March 5, 2013

A Robin Tried To Kill Me But Got My Camera Instead

Follow Me on Pinterest
If this is not your first visit here then you've probably read my complaints about my camera.  Or rather, lack of a camera thanks to a certain Robin.  

Look at her shifty eyes.  She's watching you.  Or he, I can't tell the difference.  This isn't the actual bird but close enough. 
It all started in May of 2012.  

Mr. Me and I were sitting on the front porch one night counting how many cars don't come to a complete stop at our corner.  It's a fun little game we play every year as soon as the weather warms.  It's not a drinking game, because we'd be blitzed within five minutes.  UNLESS, we drank every time a car actually stopped.  Then we'd be left with full but flat glasses of whatever beverage we have in hand at the end of the night.  Nobody.  Stops.  They roll.  

As we are enjoying our game, one of us stands up (I can't remember which one of us) and notices that some little mother had made herself the most perfect nest in the middle of a metal wall basket full of fake flowers we had hanging on the porch.  

Look at it!!  Have you seen a nest so perfect before in your life?  She even CENTERED it!  Gorgeous!
It's so perfectly formed and tightly woven.  You'd swear we had bought it and placed it there.  But, we didn't.  A little birdie made it.  

The fact that it was so perfect and so centered should have tipped us off that we weren't dealing with your average run of the mill Robin but we were dealing with a Super Robin!   The Martha Stewart of Robins.  One who is capable of weaving such a glorious nest but who also had street cred.  She wasn't afraid that it was only hanging up there by one skinny penny nail stuck in the vinyl siding.  Guts, that's what this Robin had.

A few days later we peeked outside and saw this...
Momma nesting.  I snapped that picture through the front doorSeeLook at that picture.  I wasn't kidding when I said it was hanging on one skinny little nail.  Brave bird!

Each night we would go outside to sit on the porch like Ma's and Pa's do all over this great land of ours.  (We really need rocking chairs on the front porch and plan on making a double rocker from a wood bed our neighbor threw in the trash.  All in due time.  You'll be the first to know when it's finally done.Some nights, she'd fly off the porch as soon as we started to open the door.  Other nights, we'd wait until she left before we would go out.  

One evening we came outside and noticed we had babies in there.  Check them outThey are so cute!! 
Each night we would cohabit peacefully together on the porch.  She would either let us walk past her or she'd fly back to her nest once she realized we meant her no harm.  

Some nights, however, when it was just me and her alone out there, she'd go alpha-bird on me and try to dive bomb my head approaching me from behind and to the side so I wouldn't see her coming.   It must have been a female thing, because she never tried that with my husband.  She'd go after the mail lady, too, but strangely never the UPS guy.  Hhmmm...

The days progressed and I went out there one evening determined to get a few more pictures.  I stood on the front sidewalk with my camera poised ready to snap some shots.  I was a good 15 feet or so away from her.  Maybe more.  All of a sudden, she was like Sean Penn in a pack of paparazzi.  (What a dated reference, huh?  Showing my age maybe?)  She went on FULL ATTACK.  If she could have grabbed my camera and thrown it at me, I swear she would have.  She literally tried to kill me.  Yes, literally.  At that moment, I felt like my life, my entire being, was being threatened.  I screamed, jumped and DROPPED MY CAMERA!  

It broke.  The camera was no more and I was "no more" on that sidewalk.  I was safely in the house having run around the house and thru two gates to get to the back door.  

After that, I only ventured out there with my bodyguard aka husband at my side.  Soon, the babies learned to fly and the nest was vacated.  

There you have it.  That my friends, is the reason why my pictures on this blog are lacking.  Lacking focus, lacking light, lacking any semblance of the perfection that killer bird exhibited when building her nest.  Or lair.  Lair is more like it.  Crazy wild animal.  

That's it.  End of story.  I wonder if I hang that metal basket back out this Spring if she will come back again?  Maybe I'll do just that.  After I find my pith helmet, of course.  

May 2013 Update - I didn't hang that basket back on the porch.  That didn't stop Robin though!  She built a nest in the top of my roll down sun shade on my porch.  She even went so far as to tear it apart and thread some of the wicker into her nest.  Evil little doer.   Pin It

4 comments:

  1. That's a fantastic story. At least you got some super cool pictures before your camera broke! You could try to use your cell phone for pictures? I use my iPod because it has much better quality than the camera I got just two years ago.

    BTW, I just found your blog through Road Kill Rescue (love that site) and I've already read through all of your posts. Your projects and yummies are awesome. Keep it up :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for your encouragement and kind words! I really appreciate it!

      I have been using my cell phone to take pictures but have thought about purchasing another camera at some point. Right now I'm too cheap. lol

      Love Road Kill Rescue, too! The talent and imagination people have amaze me daily. ~ Stephanie

      Delete
  2. Hi Steph. Fun story. Silly bird. Interesting when animals prefer a particular gender. I wonder why/how that is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey there! I think it's my hair! She must have mistook it for a bird's nest! lol

      Delete

Talk to us...