Birds nest in shed

On Good Friday I discovered a robin redbreast's nest in a plastic box in my badly warped garden shed. It had 5 little eggs in it, which I showed to my wife, she said return it straight away or the mother will not come back, but she did return and judging by the activity of the last two weeks I would think she must have chicks, but we can't see without going into the shed. The question is, will the mother desert them if we go in to the shed now ?

 

PROBABLY - leave her alone!

now having said that, I have a little wren in my shed, I went in today to take a photo - which I will post soon, but I felt very guilty as she flew of her little brood. I actually thought she was off the nest or I would never have intruded, but I got it wrong.

Now she had thrown an egge out - my hens did this, they know when they are infertile or there is something wrong, anyway this egg just stands on its point no mater what you do with it. Its as if it has a magnet in it.

Leave your little robin alone, if you spray the lawn a week too late well it does not matter, let her do her hard job.

 

Thanks Waco for that advice, as I was getting tempted to have a peep in there. The mother goes to and fro through the bottom of the door or through about a 2inch gap round the window. Because of this I am concerned how will she teach her chicks to fly?

 

They will watch and learn, they'll follow her when the time is right.

 

Its just amazing how things survive without us

I think I have been chatting to Paladin for too long - shed looks a bit like something he is demolishing!



PS don't do what I have just done - I thought she was off the nest and should have known better.

 

Big Daddy
You could always give her a helping hand and put a saucer of robin feed nearby, or even some fresh or dreid mealworms - fresh via post, dried at your local petshop!!! And try to resist temptation, just get a flask of tea and a packet of sarnies ready for when they are learning to fly - that way you won't miss anything!!! ;o)

You are sooooooooooo lucky!!!!!!!!! and so are you, WACO!!!!!!

 

That shed looks remarkably tidy to me!
I want a birds' nest too, whinge, whinge...

 

Now not that I want to get a reputation for being argumentative, BUT is there not something about not feeding birds when they have babies in spring/summer as they have found babies have choaked on grain???

 

Thank you Waco for smashing picture of your shed. But Im afraid tonight is a time of great sadness for me. I noticed this evening that there was no activity around my shed, after days of almost non-stop going and froing by the mother of the chicks.
I decided it was time to investigate. The nest was empty, there were no signs of any shells (I think I saw the mother taking pieces away) and of course there were no chicks. Could the chicks have flown the nest so quickly ? Could they have been eaten by mice (perish the thought) ? So although I have my shed back, I feel I've
suffered a great loss. Some words of comfort from all you dear people please.

 

SNAP!

I went to the shed a couple of days ago and found an egg that had been chucked out, they do this when they no they are clear (infertile) but she still sat tight. I did not go near shed even to feed the fish, but had a peep wednesday and she had gone - as suspected.

wrens are funny, they have several nests on the go then chose which one they are going to sit. I thought she was tight on this one but obviously not.

Don;t worry about your robin, its early in the year, I am just sorry you have not had all the joy of seing the chicks.

another time may be.

 

Waco,
RSPB and BTO (British trust for Ornithology, see url below)recomends you feed throughout the year.
When the birds have young is when they need help most as with diminishing land for natural food supplies they rely on the bird tables they have used through the winter as a source of food. There is basic guidelines such as peanuts in a wire feeder etc. Basically take steps to prevent the birds carrying large pieces back to the nest. But continue feeding and if possible introduce live / dried mealworms etc.
John.
http://www.beautifulbritain.co.uk/htm/wildlife_gardening/feed_the_birds.htm