If you look carefully under the right hand side of the overhang, you can see the beginnings of a new nest for the robins. You might notice several other objects including a covered smoker, a covered patio heater, a porch swing and parts of two chairs. Normally the juxtaposition of these objects and the nest might be interesting but nothing more. But in the case of this nest and these deck furnishings, an intense territorial dispute lies ahead.
I had hoped that the ongoing conflict between family members wanting to enjoy the deck and the robins trying to protect their nest would not be repeated this summer. Perhaps, I thought, they would move their nest to avoid these clashes. Apparently they held out a similar wish that they could have the deck to themselves. No such luck for either of us.
Last summer the robin had three separate broods of eggs, topping the average of two. But this robin mother was not only fruitful but also seemingly “possessed” according to the children wanting to sit on the porch swing. She saw her nest as the perfect launching pad for aerial assaults on those below. She never actually collided with anyone, but she certainly made relaxing on the deck a concept more than a reality.
First a war on zoysia, soon the revenge of the robins. Who says retirement is drama free?
Saved By Words 
We have Robins in the garden all year, but I don’t think they have ever nested in it, as we have never been subject to any Robin ‘attacks’. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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It also turns out that your robins are quite different from ours. I only learned that from blog posts.
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Yes, the US Robin is different indeed. 🙂
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Yours is prettier I think.
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I would agree. The red breast is very appealing. 🙂
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Love your comment on a drama free retirement, Elizabeth!
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Thanks. We do make our own entertainment.
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😄😄
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I believe she did a course over the Winter on “Successful Aerial Bombardment”. Beware!
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I’m thinking Elizabeth should invest in a decent water gun for self-defence!
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and, maybe, an umbrella!
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That is actually a good idea. Thanks.
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I will try not to encourage my grandson!
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Sounds about right.
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Oh territorial are they? Hope you survive again this year! Our little birds use our birdhouses out of the way and are quite grateful. Just have to keep the cats in when the chicks leave the nest. 🙂
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Our kitties would probably just play with the chicks and terrorize them a bit. At least that’s what they do with mice when they catch them.
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Unfortunately Benji’s a real hunter, which is fine with me when he catches moles. Not so much, the birds! 😑
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Our neighbor’s cat sits under our car sometimes ogling the feeders, but seems to have left them alone.
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Yikes.
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I guess we failed to put up houses for them. Maybe next year!
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You can’t move the rafters. Can you move the porch swing to the opposite end of the porch?
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Unfortunately that is the only spot with room for the swing.
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I see. Your only other option might be mesh to block off the rafters, but that sounds sad to do.
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We have agreed to coexist.
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That sounds like an excellent agreement.
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For a couple years we had a fox that lived under our deck. One day I walked toward the deck and she stood at the other end of the deck yipping furiously at me. Then I looked in the other direction and noticed I was standing between her and a pair of her kits. Oops. I backed away and used the other door to go into the house. LOL
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That would be amazing to see.
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My patio eves have nests in three places. Usually beside an outdoor stereo speaker. I make sure in springtime that if there are nests the music is not turned on. They evidently object to rock and roll music.
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Too funny!
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There was a robin’s nest on our front porch last year. We don’t sit out there very often, but the robins carried on as if we were invisible.
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I think my grandson may have made his presence known!
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I have seen birds dive bomb people, and our cat, to protect their nests and babies. Fortunately, we’ve never had any nest on our porch.
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I have no idea why they have settled here. They never did before last year.
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One day I was walking home from high school and had a red-winged-blackbird divebomb me several times. It got startingly close, and I couldn’t understand why this bird apparently had it in for me. I didn’t realize until later that I must have been close to its nest.
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I was similarly dive bombed by a tern at the shore. I was near a nest then too.
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It sounds like your Robins are like our Magpies Elizabeth!
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Are yours attack birds too? LOL
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Yes! And they will actually attack your head!
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Wow. Your continent is full of danger! LOL
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Lol! We haven’t got bears, moose, wolves or mountain lions though 😉
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Good point. But we don’t have them near our house thank goodness.
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