"Jane Ransom" wrote in message
news
In article , BAC
writes
It's up to you, of course, but if you steer clear of the nest, you reduce
the chances of scaring the parents away from it,

In actual fact it takes a lot to scare off the parents once the eggs are
laid. A pair of robins used a shelf in our garage for years. There was
no way we could not go into the garage and right past the nest. They
reared several broods despite the fact that we started up cars,
extracted lawn mowers, plastic bags, garden tools within a few feet from
their heads!! The secret seems to be not to look at them. They know when
your eyes are directed at them and you can see them become agitated if
you don't look away again pretty quickly!!


Robins can become accustomed to humans very quickly - I've known several
which would take food from the hand, for instance, and I wasn't trying to
imply that disaster would automatically follow checking out progress on the
nest. I just wouldn't want to take the risk, personally.

When you were staring at your robins, did they become more agitated if/when
you blinked? I've heard a theory that robins associate blinking with biting
or swallowing, and it would be interesting to know whether you'd noticed
anything on those lines.