Bird Watching: Urgently need help/advice!, 1 by vanillaman

vanillaman wrote:
Hi everybody, this is my very first post here and figured I'd start here because my problem didn't seem to fit anywhere else, lol!

Today I discovered a Clay-Colored Robin (the National bird of Costa Rica) had built a nest in one of my large hanging orchids right in front of the livingroom window! I knew it had been busy building a nest, but I thought it was around the corner down the side of the house. Today I saw it fly out of the plant and so went over to investigate further. Low and behold, there was the nest with 4 eggs already laid. Normally I would be thrilled about this and would have been watching it. What a great chance to observe the entire hatching, feeding, fledging activity! I would have figured out a way to water the plant carefully so I wouldn't soak the nest etc. However, my problem/dilema is that I am moving in exactly 2 weeks today, so what do I do? I've been trying to "problem-solve" this and figure out my options. I guess it boils down to 2. The first is to move the nest now, before the eggs hatch. I thought I could find a similar basket and try to conceal it as best I could, ie: provide the privacy/safety that the orchid plant is giving and of course hang it right back in the exact same spot. I know the poor Robin will be extremely upset and "freaked out" by this, but I would be able to move my plant that way. The other option I came up with, although not the best for me, would be to just leave things as they are. Naturally the babies would not be nearly fledged in 2 weeks, so I would have to leave the plant behind and come back at a future date to get it. That would be very problematic for me, but is a possibility!

This certainly is a "sticky" situation and it's too bad I hadn't been more attentive and noticed exactly where the darn thing had decided to take up housekeeping, lol! Oh well, it's too late now for that. I just want to do the best thing for both of us, lol!

Thanks so much for any suggestions/options anyone can give.
vm

Here's what I found when I climbed up on a chair and peered in: