June 8 - What a relief: we returned just in time to enjoy Minnesota Spring.   Above the exterior garage light an industrious robin pair had anchored a well constructed nest using dried grass and some plastic bag material.  Setting up housekeeping on a pair of motion-sensitive flood lights may be a great incubator, but also seemed to be a fire hazard....we moved the nest.  As you can imagine, a great protest followed from the parenting pair.  We turned off the light, returned the nest AND much to my surprise, the parents continued their work.  This was the first of two nest relocations for safety reasons, and each time robin protests were followed by continued nest-tending!

Not only have we enjoyed the daily labor of this veteran robin pair, it has helped provide a great set of visual images for me to work with. The added leaves from the nearby apple tree have helped reinforce the newness of Spring in Minnesota.  Also a great opportunity to explore the range of shades and tones of the color green.

Click on the image above the see an enlargement of this cropped portion of this acrylic on canvas painting