Mohawk - An Update

First of all, Mohawk is a girl. She has to be a momma bird. She is so fiercely protective of her baby.

This was the scene at lunch. The baby was exactly where he was last night. Halfway across the yard, in the middle of the lawn. How were the cats and Que not seeing him? How was he still alive??

This is how. The baby is never very far from Mohawk's watchful eye. I'm sure she swooped at the cats and Que the same way she swooped at Scott & I when we got too close. Let me tell you, it's a little intimidating to be targeted by a robin. She could really hurt me if she hit me full speed with that beak. [grin]

This was the scene after work. The little guy has made it to the back of the yard. He looks pretty good. Scott is fairly sure the leg on this side is the bad leg. If you look close, it looks ok. (Yeah, what do I know?? I'm not a vet.)

And this is Mama Mohawk, directly over my head. She doesn't trust me for a minute.

After I came in to upload my photos and post this, Scott called me to the window. Mama Mohawk was catching worms in the lawn and feeding them to the baby. Is it too much to ask that this story have a happy ending?? I hope it's not too much to ask. I really do.

Update/Part 2: The baby's name is Tiberius. Scott says so.

Mohawk

This is Mohawk. He/She (we're not sure) is a robin that's taken up residence in our yard this year. Mohawk and it's mate have had at least two sets of babies. I had decided before I got home from work that he would be the subject of my blog today. I can't believe I hadn't taken pictures of him before. We call him Mohawk because of his "hairdo" and also because he's upset all the time. The babies get out of the nest, Que (the chihuahua) chases the babies, Mohawk chases Que... Much bird drama. Or so I thought. Today we had some REAL drama.

I was trying to get pictures of Mohawk when I got home but he was agitated. The closer I got to the fence, the more agitated he became. Then Scott spotted this in the grass. Ah! A baby. That made sense. We couldn't figure out why it wasn't moving. Scott decided to try and get a closer look. That's when he made a gruesome discovery.

The baby had a brother or sister. They were attached at the leg by what looked like dental floss. Scott thinks the robins must have used some to build their nest. Anyway, the sibling was dead - and had been for quite some time. It was covered in maggots. So this little guy has been dragging around a dead sibling, unable to get untangled. Scott decided to help. He stepped on the dead baby and I ran to get the scissors.

While trying to avoid being pecked by Mohawk and his mate, Scott managed to get the floss cut. That's when we found that the live baby's leg is broken. We decided to leave it alone and went in the house.

When we went in the backyard a little while later, we found the dead baby about halfway across the yard. Could Mohawk have picked it up and carried it? We're not sure how it got there.

And just now, Scott came in to report that the live baby is about halfway across the yard. Halfway to the field. I'm not sure if he'll make it, but I hope so.

Because Mohawk is really sad.

Go Away

They're back!

New Furniture

Our new furniture has arrived.

Isn't the grain pretty? We ordered outdoor furniture for our living room. Is that weird? It probably is, but it works for us. We're still working on the living room, so the furniture is outside for now.

Since we bought a set, they personalized it for free. [grin]

On an unrelated note, the blazing star WANTS to blaze. Honest it does. It's been hot enough the last few days - I don't know what it's waiting for.

Sets & Rises

The sun sets and the moon rises after another blistering hot day here. We've had at least a couple of weeks of above normal temps. We went to Art in the Park today at 10am and by noon it was too hot to stay outside. There are "normal" temperatures forecast for the second half of this week. Here's hoping the weatherman is right.

Birds & Bees