So I have a huge cedar hedge that I have admittedly let get away from me over the last 5 years. It has grown to about 10 feet high and about 8 feet thick. I decided to tackle the job of getting it under control this year (like I needed another major project! LOL) and have been working away at it for the past couple of weeks.
When I was working on it yesturday I noticed a robin darting in and out of the hedge repeatedly. I am trimming about 2 feet off each side and cutting about 4 to 5 feet off the top! Anyway, I stopped cutting and starting moving branches to see what was going on and discovered a nest with 2 small chicks in it, their bald little heads sticking up in the air with their mouths open looking for food. They are obviously still a long way from flight.
......so now I have this long stretch that I can't finish!! :(
It occured to me that this seems very late in the season for a nest to have chicks of that size in it. It is usually spring that I find these. My question is, does anyone know if this is uncommon for them to be so young so late in the summer, and does anyone have any idea how long I will have to wait before finishing my hedge?
On a side note I also discovered a hornets nest! I am sure the neighbours witnessed me doing the hornet dance a few times out in the yard! :P
Most songbirds can have two or three broods of young. It's not unusual for you to find them this time of year although not as common as in the spring. Robins fledge in just a few weeks so you won't have to wait long.
As for the hornets, see
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/pcare.htm#wasp for some ideas. I wrote that for stinging insects near a pond but the ideas work for other locations too.
thanks Robyn!
Here's a bit of the "guests". I didn't want to get too close and disturb them any more than I already had.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z106/ro...mer/robins1.jpg Thats so funny about the hedges! Make sure you take a pictures of the uneven hedges to remember in future years. It will bring alot of laughs. Years ago I also discover a bird nest with eggs build in some bushes I was trimming, and like you I immediately stopped. But mine was on the side of the house, so the unevenness wasn't quickly apparent. Anyway it didn't last too long because although l was checking them every day from the house window, unbeknowst to me a local cat also discovered the nest. And one day I discovered the nest halfway bent over with one dead newly hatched baby bird on the ground, but another weak live one in the nest. Anyhow the mother was probably scared off and never came back and the baby in the nest died too despite my efforts. I wish it could have turned out happier, it was so cute at the beginning. Nature is hard sometimes and the cat is just following instincts. Cat proof your bushes!
Yeah, nature can be cruel. I am just leaving them alone as much as possible (it does make a convenient excuse not to keep working on the hedge! haha), and see what happens. I hope they live, but if not I guess that's life, and death. We have 4 cats and there are always some strays hanging around chasing the squirrels and chipmunks, but so far they nest has gone undetected. We also have one cat that hunts exclusivelt bats, but that's another story! :D