Are robins romping around your yard? In the mid-Atlantic, it seems to be a bumper year for these birds that are the unofficial sign of spring. I love seeing the lawn green up and the robins doing their best to help aerate the soil by poking holes with their sharp beaks. Somehow, I don't think the worms are as enthusiastic!

A friend has been watching one particular robin. This determined bird has been giving us a lesson about positive outlook and perseverance. There's a crossbeam that runs diagonally beneath my friend's deck, and one day she noticed a lot of fluttering about. As she watched, a robin flew up with bits if dried grass in its beak, and landed on the beam. Again and again, the robin flew away, came back with grass and bits of leaves or paper, and piled them on the beam. After a few trips, the robin stood in the middle of the pile and began pulling at the bits of grass that dangled from the beam, lifting them and tucking them in toward the center of the growing nest.

The next day when my friend looked, the starter nest was on the ground beneath the deck. But…there were two new piles in other places on the beam! Sure enough, here came the robin with grass and leaves, and again she poked them into place in a new nest pile. A couple days later, one of the nests lay in pieces on the ground, but one was still in place. And there were two more new piles as well! The biggest one was taking shape as the robin continued to add small twigs and grass. After every two or three trips, the nest builder would stand in the center of the dried pile, hunker down, and sidestep across the nest. She did her little nest dance three times and then flew off.

Over the next week, the main nest grew, as did the other two, and two additional false starts could be seen by the bits dangling in the breeze. My friend has seen a robin in two of the nests but can't be sure if it's one over-achiever, or different birds who like this particular condo!

We can learn a lot by just watching nature at work. Last year my adventure with bird feeders reminded me about the importance of advertising. This spring, a persistent robin with a positive attitude is showing how perseverance and a belief in the possible make the difference between failure and multiple successes. So watch a robin, chat with a chickadee, dance your own dance, and enjoy all the promises of spring!

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