The nest

On Friday night, there was a storm. It's big local news, though not likely to show up on the news of the world at large. Lots of trees down.

It started out as just an ordinary thunderstorm. Then the wind began rising, blowing rain so hard against the windows that it sounded like sleet. The wind got louder and louder, and suddenly there was a giant "Crack," and it seemed like something had hit the roof.

I still don't know for sure what the loud crack was, but my best guess is that it was the tree limb that came down from the maple in the back. Then again, it could have been the entire maple that was uprooted and came down on the street in the side yard. Or it could just possibly have had something to do with the giant blue spruce (see here for a mention of that spruce) across the street that narrowly missed the neighbors' house (their bedroom window right in the front) and was deposited precisely along the side. Probably did in the garage next door to them, but at least nobody was hurt.

But probably, the loud cracking noise was the limb that came down.

There's been a pair of robins with a nest in that tree. I don't think we've seen any of their babies, though a fledgling was found around the front of the house, probably from a different nest. A month or so ago, back in the days when it was cool outside, Youngest Daughter and I sat outside and watched this robin foraging for nest-building materials. Somehow a piece of clear plastic, rather tougher than the usual plastic wrap, had gotten left on the lawn, and he was determined to have that. I still don't know why he was having trouble with it. Maybe it was slippery, but eventually he flew off with it, up into the branches. That branch. The one that came down. I hope all the young robins were fledged. I found no egg fragments or dead nestlings, so I have hopes. But when cleaning up the mess, I did find the nest, in several pieces. Hardened mud making up part of it, woven superstructure. And a piece of familiar-looking plastic carefully included.

He was back, though, last evening. Surveying the territory. The rest of that tree survived. Just the one high branch gone. It looks a little lopsided but will grow back. I think he has plans for a new nest.