Nest Watch

A lot of birds have been in my yard gathering dry grass and collecting bugs recently, so I though: There is probably be a nest somewhere around here...

It happens to be that I was right!

One day, I followed a flying robin with food in its mouth to my backyard pool. The robin flew out from one of the side bushes as I walked in through the fence. I searched around the bushes near where he flew off and I heard faint cheeping, and found a lump of brown in the third bush down the row. I took a peek from the other side and there it was: a robin nest with about 3-4 nestling chicks inside. In  a few days they would be out and learning how to fly, braving the dangers of the outside world.

Top and bottom: In a few days the baby robins will be old enough to fully fledge the nest.

The only sad thing, is that when I returned to next day, the baby chicks were all gone. I searched the ground and found remaining parts of the poor little chicks. I suspect that the stray cats around my neighborhood ate them, so far I have seen at least two: a black, black and white, and a gray cat. Plus, a relative that was staying over, said she had spotted the stray black cat climbing over the pool fence.

Just a few days ago, however...
I found a cardinal nest!! It's the first cardinal nest I have seen in backyard (new and old house). Most of the time cardinals are very secretive, making it hard to find their nests. Here's a picture:

The eggs are a very light turquoise with brown specks all over (the specks get denser on the fatter side of the egg).

I really hope that the chicks that hatch out will not get eaten by the cats, well we'll see...