Gotta love those robins!

I don't think I've ever talked about what we called "the dumbest robin in the county."

A few years ago, there was a robin trying to build a nest on the ledge outside our living room window (it's a great spot to allow us to watch without disturbing mama bird).

Except this particular poor dumb robin couldn't figure out how to build the nest.

She was nothing if not persistent and determined though.

Day after day, she would arrive with a beak full of goodies to assemble her new home, but she apparently didn't realize that she also needed mud to hold it all together.  So of course, the nest kept disappearing on her.

But that didn't faze her.

She just kept bringing more dry grass to the spot that she had chosen to raise the brood that she planned to produce.

Eventually, John felt so sorry for her that he accessed the ledge from the screened porch and he glued down a nest that he had in his collection of photo props (there ain't nothin' he don't have in that box!).

Next time that soon-to-be mama arrived at the site with a beak full of grass, she landed with a screeching halt, as if to say, "Whoa, when did I do this?"

She wasted no time moving in, making it her own with fresh lining, and laying her eggs.

Before we knew it she was sitting on the nest and we were waiting for babies to appear.

It was a delight to watch those babies grow, but I've got to admit I was a little concerned.  I mean, really, if mama didn't know how to build a nest, would she know how to care for her young?  But, she managed her duties quite nicely and they all flew the coop in record time.

Why am I telling you this story now, you ask?

Because I think one of her offspring has arrived in our yard this spring.

A male robin has taken over much of our property and has given us several days of entertainment this past week.

He's discovered a rival who lives in one of our living room windows, and he's spent most of the daylight hours trying to drive that other bird away.

The rival, of course, is his own reflection.

For three days running, that bird would sit on the scaffolding outside the window and repeatedly go after himself. (We have a black leather recliner positioned in front of that window, making the area highly reflective.)

Now, no one has ever said that a male robin with surging hormones is smart, but this one might have got some help in the brain department if he's descended from that mama who couldn't build a nest, non?

Out of concern for his safety and well-being, John eventually taped a light coloured towel over the window to reduce the reflective properties.  That seems to have worked sufficiently well enough to make the robin think that he's driven his rival away.

He came back a few times since the towel was put up, fluttering around, seemingly saying, "Where did you go, you rotten scoundrel?"

Last I saw of that robin, he was roaming around the property, looking for more competitors to chase off.

And he's determined too.  Just like his mama?