Tragedy in the Land of the 'steins

Tragedy has struck in the land of the 'steins, i.e. in Pete Casso's
backyard. An unknown predator has pushed the nest of a pair of American
robins to the ground and killed the three chicks. 

What makes the tragedy even worse is that the chicks are already big,
only a few days away from being able to fly away from predators. They
were probably big enough to experience the fear of death. The parent
birds are still flying around with food in their beaks right now.

American robins are successful garden birds in all of North-America who
like to nest on an open ledge that has a "roof" above it. I happen to
have an elevated cedar deck in my backyard, which is some eight feet
above ground level, an ideal nesting height for American robins. 

The carrier beam of the cedar deck is the desired open ledge, the floor
of the cedar deck is the desired "roof" which protects the nest quite
effectively from rain and direct sunshine. The carrier beam is divided
into sections by the joists that are placed on it, and these sections on
the carrier beam have been popular nesting places for American robins
since years.

There had been no predators in this suburban backyard, and there had
been no incidents ever, until now ... the many nests must have attracted
a nomadic predator. I will take precautionary measures after consulting
the local wildlife agency.

.             -'-       -'-       -'-
.             _|_       _|_       _|_        _
.    .oo    / RIP \   / RIP \   / RIP \    <" )
.   (  -)   |__1__|   |__2__|   |__3__|   <( <)
.    " "                                    ^^

Pete Casso wrote: 
                                                               _  
[SNIP]                                                        `-:_
                                                                  |)
> .             -'-       -'-       -'-                        __/ / 
> .             _|_       _|_       _|_        _     )\_,---"""   | 
> .    .oo    / RIP \   / RIP \   / RIP \    <" ) _/"    ( .   (_ >
> .   (  -)   |__1__|   |__2__|   |__3__|   <( <) \____,--'/--,-'/
> .    " "                                    ^^       """"   """

Watch it little birdstein, there's a cat behind you!

This weekend I saw mummy and daddy magpie successfully chase a
cat away from their nest. Junior magpie was out for a stroll and
probably attracted the cat's attention.

It soundend like a bunch of machine-gun toting hoodlums was 
hiding somewhere in the bushes.
   _
 -"8)
  ( 8P-
   ^^ 
Magpie(stein) Junior...
-- 
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