[TN-Bird] Muddy Birdbath Mystery Solved

From: "Ginger Goolsby" <vgoolsby@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "TN-BIRDS" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 08:39:01 -0400
I?m Ginger Goolsby and I live in Morristown, Hamblen County, TN.
I have a small birdbath on the ground in one of my flower beds. The bed is
mulched with chopped leaves and the soil beneath the leaves is soft and
damp. I had been noticing each day when I was adding water to this
particular birdbath that the water left from the previous fill was very
muddy. This muddy water was a mystery to me until last evening when I just
happened to be observing the area from a window in my bedroom. A robin,
evidently in the midst of nest building, filled her beak with as big a gob
of leaves and dirt as she could and then carefully dipped her full beak  in
the birdbath ? several times ? before she flew off with what I assumed to be
?construction materials?.

Am I correct when I assume that she planned to use the wet leaves and mud to
add to her nest? Do robins commonly do this? I?m such a novice, so I would
like to hear from some of you who are much more knowledgeable about bird
behavior than I.
I also have a pair of blue birds nesting in the box in my yard. I know there
are eggs, but I could not see in well enough to count them. How much
monitoring of the nest can I do without harming them?

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

Isn?t this a beautiful spring? Get out and enjoy the flowers and the birds!



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[TN-Bird] Muddy Birdbath Mystery Solved

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