Friday, April 27, 2012

The 2012 Robin watch begins



 Well, I had my doubts.  The robins started a nest, a truly sloppy, crappy nest of long skinny pieces of stems and leaves that blew off the eaves boards.  Then a nest appeared around April 15 (and I don't know how the babies will fit in that corner) that they decided was going to be home.  It took a while to finish (new parents??)

Mama started nesting around the 18th, so I got "crime scene tape" from our custodian and put it across the door to remind myself and delivery people not to use that door.  She flew away on the 22d and did not return. Such disappointment!!  So yesterday morning (Thursday) I took the tape down. When I got home from work, she was on the nest.  The flapping tape must have scared her.  And I have to park close to the road or the car scares her off. 

I am now in robin-watching mode. Many lessons were learned last year.
The watch length is about 2-3 weeks.

Robins need a security blanket: I have taped a shawl across the lower part of the front door window so I can walk about in the living room and not have her fly away.

Pictures of birds require a very steady hand: I set up the 6' stepladder again so I can pictures leaning at least one arm on a ladder step.

Today I read the camera manual and discovered that early morning low-light pix need to be taken with the aperture set at 1/25.

Fuzzy but properly exposed.  I was steady. She moved her head.


Watch for updates!


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