Close to the Nest

I have new neighbors. Actually, they’re more like tenants. I’m talking about two pairs of birds with active nests in my yard. I have a set of robins in a nest in the Mayday tree and a brace of bluebirds nesting in a box on a post not far away. I saw the bluebirds setting up house several weeks ago and had mentioned to Desiree that robins were hanging around pretty steadily. “They have a nest somewhere close,” I suggested.

I discovered the robins’ nest in the Mayday just yesterday.

Both couples are incredibly tolerant of my presence near their nests. I appreciate that. At the same time, I’ve given the bluebirds space and will now do the same for the robins as much as possible.

I’ve now witnessed both sets of birds bringing in food—bugs, more accurately—to the nest to feed their little ones. Robins and bluebirds tend to be exemplary, extremely attentive parents. I know how demanding this can be. As a boy, I raised a robin until it fledged. I found the small, nearly naked bird on the street with no nest in sight, carried it home cupped in my hands, and then spent the next few weeks tending it.

I’ll never forget the day I allowed the bird to go free. It was the first time I understood that sadness can wed joy and become a single thing.

Bluebird Box

Robin’s Nest

—Mitchell Hegman