The disaster I witnessed took place on a cold, rainy, windy spring night when the mother robin was no longer able to protect her eggs from the wind and water and she was forced to abandon the nest. The pair of robins assessed the damage, cleared out and cleaned up the nest, and proceeded to lay four more eggs as the temperature warmed up and the leaves began to grow larger. Not long after the rebuilding and repopulating the nest with eggs, we experienced a tornado passing through the south of our city. Once again, the mother robin had to abandon the nest, and the pair of robins haven’t been seen since.
Living so close to the environment and seeing the effects of changing weather patterns on the bird population has an emotional effect on me. The obstacles faced by the nesting birds, the courage they demonstrated while protecting their eggs and the helplessness I felt as a silent observer, profoundly moved me. Is it love?
-Sister Elaine Cole, csj
Images: Hannah Schulte/Unsplash; Elaine Cole
