Cheers for another mother

We have a huge pine tree just off our front porch.  Each spring, a robin builds her nest in the tree, diligently layering bits of sticks and grass to make a cozy little home for her impending family.  In the morning and evenings when the shades are up, we can sit on our couch and watch the industrious little birds as they go about their construction.  But the first two summers we lived in Boulder failed to produce any live chicks.  Each time, a magpie would find the nest and eat the eggs.  Dastardly devils.

Now I understand the circle of life and all that.  I know magpies have to eat too, but it bothered me that their meal came at the expense of the poor little robins.

So this year, I was skeptical when yet another robin built her nest in the tree.  Every afternoon when we played in the front yard, Wyokiddo would have to check on the mama bird in her nest.  Soon, though, she wasn't sitting in her nest.  I wondered if the mama bird had fallen victim to one of the many predators in the area.

I shouldn't have worried.  Soon enough, we saw the robin sneak into the nest and deliver a worm to her new brood.

 Now four little beaks peak out above the rim of the nest.  This year at least, motherhood triumphed over Mother Nature.  Well done, mama and papa robin.  Well done, indeed.