Bird Nest-Day 4

Today is Day 4 of the bird nest! It was in the thirties here last night, so hopefully the lone egg survived. I'm hoping that she sat on the nest during the night to keep it warm. From the research I've been doing on Robins, the mama usually sits on them once there are at least two in the nest.

I've also come to learn that if she didn't mate with a male the eggs won't hatch. I never realized that they can lay eggs that are not fertilized! Hopefully for the sake of the preschool class that I'm going to teach about this process, the eggs will hatch! I don't want a class of 24 disappointed kids! lol

A robin's temperature is about 104 degrees F. The mama has a "brood patch" where here feathers are missing. This is what keeps the eggs warm! It's her motherly instinct to stop laying eggs once her brood patch is fully covered by her eggs! From what I've been reading, if you remove one or a couple of her eggs, she'll keep laying them until she reaches four! I think it's mean that someone had to do that for the sake of research! To read about this miraculous process you can go HERE. I've really learned ALOT over the past couple of days!

Here is the mama bird on the railing of the playset on the right. She likes to sit on here during the day to watch her nest. She really does watch it! She'll look around and then glance down at it! It's like she's soo proud! :) Sorry that I couldn't get a closeup. Hopefully I'll get my new lense in the next couple of weeks so I could get a better closeup shot of her near the nest! Oh and don't mind the fencing along the back right of the photo...we burned it down by accident! lol ;)
Robins tend to lay their eggs in the mid morning after they have a full meal. This is what I discovered this afternoon...a second egg! I just love it!
If she lays four, the boys have decided to name them Batman, Riddler, Penguin, & Mr. Freeze!
Oh and they've decided that her name is "Robin"...not because she's a robin, but because of Batman! lol

Can't wait to see if there's a third egg tomorrow!