The day began at 5:00 AM and I was nervous. I knew that today the proverbial rubber was going to hit the road because all the skills we learned yesterday would have to be applied in the field. We were partnered up and we would be left in a designated spot to find nests on our own and formally record their location using the handheld GPS systems we had learned to operate yesterday. This was serious research! and it had to be detailed and there was a very detailed protocol we had to follow. It had to be correct! Sonal and I found ourselves in a peaceful pond area and we began looking. I was intrigued as much by the fragrant wild flowers surrounding us as by the birds that we were supposed to be looking for. Robins all over the place... I knew their cousins from New Jersey! but the others, not so easy! We looked and looked for nests but could not find any that were active. Discouraging. After about two hours we wandered over to the road that bordered the "block" to which we had been assigned, a little dejected because we hadn't found any nests to record.
Sonal and I noticed a colorful display of deep purple and red flowers that marked the entrance to a nearby property. As Sonal came around a nearby cottonwood tree she glanced up and noticed two tiny yellow triangles in an impossible tangle of grey branches. Success! We quickly took out our extending mirror (it looks like a dental instrument a dentist would use to examine an elephant) to look inside the nest that was about 6 feet off the ground. Sure enough, there they were...two little robins who had withdrawn their little beaks laying side by side perfectly still and I could hear them saying "Please don't see us. Please don't see us!" It was one of the most touching things I've ever seen, because you knew that they were so very vulnerable at this point in their very short lives. Mom or dad were signaling their alarm by "chipping" so we quickly recorded our GPS position and withdrew to calm everyone concerned.
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