Going Out On A Limb For a Peek in the Nest

4/30/2009 In light of the recent breeding activity, Liam and I decided to try to have a brief look into the robin’s nest today to see if any eggs had been laid. What I don’t know is how long between copulation and egg laying? The attempted peek into the nest turned out to be somewhat of a fiasco – first we walked our household ladder over to the neighbors and quickly realized that we would still be about 8’ short of looking into the nest. My next bright idea (which met formidable objection from my 11 year old son) was to drive my van close to the tree, place the ladder on top of the van, and have my son climb up the ladder as I held it. Even at this height he was still about a foot short of being able to see into the nest. So then I climbed the ladder…getting to where my eyes were just level with the top of the nest…I could go no higher without greatly increasing the chances of my family collecting a large death or dismemberment check! I snapped a couple of pictures (see photo) at this elevation and decided to return in a week with a taller ladder