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Saturday, May 13, 2017

And Then There Were None

Three nests.  Nine eggs.  Two babies. 
 
 
One raccoon. 
 
No birds!
 
  😢   
 
A couple of weeks ago, I found the nest of a pair of Mourning Doves in one of the bushes I was about to chop down.  It was wrecked and the two white eggs smashed on the ground. 

Last Saturday night or Sunday morning a raccoon found the Robin's nest in the Blue Spruce and had himself a meal.  We discovered that the eggs were missing later in the day when we noticed that the mama bird was nowhere to be found. 
 
Since two of the Cardinal eggs had hatched in Alberta Spruce, we were particularly worried.  Himself went out after dark, looking for the offending creature.  He happened upon it and scared it away.  Tuesday evening I borrowed the rodent trap from my dad, hoping to catch the beast.
 
For a couple of days it stayed away.  We hoped we were in the clear.  The baby birds' eyes opened, they were getting feathers and were very vocal when it came to feeding time. 
 
Then on Friday morning, first thing after I got up, I went to check the nest.
 
And found it on the ground.  Empty.
 
If anyone ever tries to tell you that raccoons have some, any, even one, redeeming qualities, don't believe them.  It's a lie.
 
 
AMDG

2 comments:

  1. Oh no. We have trapped coons several times. They are prolific and way out of control in the suburbs. Poor birds. Perhaps they will re-nest again, in a safer location. Watch for cowbird eggs in nests too; they're another big problem.

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  2. We just had a cat climb our evergreen and eat some baby birds in a nest. I was so sad about it. Nature can be so cruel.

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