ROBBED!

On Monday night I discovered a robin on a nest above our meter box - easily viewable from our deck.  I brought Dave and Aden out to see it;  we observed 3 eggs and a tiny chick in it while the parents noisily swooped us from above.  You cannot imagine Aden's exuberance over Dave's reaction to the swooping, the prospect of seeing more chicks hatch, the longing to touch the tiny chick... 

On Tuesday we checked the nest in the morning.  No more eggs had hatched.  All the way to school we chatted excitedly about the schedule of checks we would implement to see if we could catch a robin mid-hatch.  We surmised that we could see a chick less than 12 hours old if we stuck to our schedule.  We made bets about whether another egg would hatch by nightfall...

At noon I came home for lunch and checked the nest. 
The eggs, the chick and the parents were GONE.  No evidence on the ground.  Nothing.  GONE.

Did we know other birds would rob the nest?  No.  Did we know our visits could alert such nasty cold-blooded predators to their next meal?  No. 

Nest Watch:  The first day.  And the last.

What a disappointment.  Nature can be so cruel.  This time, Aden is taking it better than I am.