The first egg is in the nest

Late this afternoon (April 11, 2018), the first egg appeared

in this robin's nest, located in a satellite dish. Robins' eggs 

typically hatch in 14 days.

After near freezing temperatures in the early morning hours, the sun returned today and by afternoon the warmth of the day, reached into the mid 60s. After a frigid weekend, the temperatures had remained cold on Monday and Tuesday. Still, I checked the nest both days and found nothing. 

During the chilly morning hours today, I watched the robin parents scooting about on the ground near the nesting site but didn't see either of them going into the nest.  Throughout the day I would occasionally pick up my binnoculars (left conveniently near a window in sight of the nest) and zoom into the nest but never saw the mama sitting there.

With tomorrow's temperature expected to rise into the mid 70s, I wondered if she would then start sitting on the nest and lay the first egg. When I returned home late this afternoon, I decided to take one last look at the nest for the day. Ahhh, it was there. One beautiful blue egg was in the nest. 

From my observations of three robins' nests last year, I know that the first baby will hatch 14 days after the first egg is laid. According to literature, the babies hatch in order that the eggs are layed. With the appearance of the first egg, it's going to be an exciting four weeks watching this nest.

~~~B~~~