Red, red robins come bobbin' along

Throughout the winter and spring we’ve seen more robins than usual in our trees and bird bath. Earlier this month, we noticed that a robin was building a nest in the peak of our patio gazebo. I was excited, Bert was not. He wanted to knock it down. I said, no!

We've put that 10-foot-tall gazebo cover up over one end of the patio for at least a dozen or more years and never had birds build a nest there. For several days I watched mama robin going back and forth to the nest when I was in the pool.

We noticed while we were dining on the patio late last week that mama bird was spending an extended time nesting. When the mama was gone, Bert climbed a ladder and held his phone up over the nest to capture the first photo of three perfect blue eggs! Our backyard babies should hatch by the Fourth of July.

I think I'll name them Yankee, Doodle and Dandy!

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We know the kick off to summer’s parade season takes place on the Fourth of July in Coeur d’Alene but did you know that every weekend of July you can enter a parade or watch one?

At 10 a.m. Saturday, July 12, is the Post Falls Festival Days Parade on Seltice. At 10 a.m. Saturday, July 19, is Rathdrum Days parade on Main Street. Also at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 25, Hayden Days parade begins on Government Way.

Sign ups for participants are open now for the Post Falls, Rathdrum and Hayden parades. Contact the chambers of commerce in those communities!

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Happy Main Street birthdays today to Joann Hildebrant, Bill Reagan, Patty Vogt, Addison Johnson, Jim Guy, Jan Olsen, Angela Mort, Connie McGee, Kylie Gibson, Shanda Johnson, Sally Mackin and Megan Ownbey. Tomorrow, Sam Davis, Rick Rasmussen, Alecia Warren, Shannon Fish, Chloe Hutter, Ben Wolfinger, Karen Hanson, Cathleen O’Connor, Sheryl Snyder and Ernie Hunt celebrate. On Friday, Trigger Weddle, Todd Banducci, Gayle Bolton, Leslie White, Scott Hamilton, Terri Mercer, Cherry Jones, Nathan Gubbe, Janet Smith (90!) and John Goodlander (60!) blow out the candles. Norma Fencl, Gene Tillman, Connie Gridley, Dave Stutzke, Jack Danielson and Sheryl Sipe take another trip around the sun Saturday. Sunday birthdays will be celebrated by Jessica Zazueta, Brandan Stone, Neil Conner, Kiley Archer, Krystal Gordillo, Kiley Nick, Lyndon Harriman and Carolyn Havens. On the last day of June, Patty McGinnis, Kyle Rutley, Terry Williams, Katie Disney, Kimberly Carlson and Rosie Brown put on their birthday hats. First day of July birthdays are celebrated by Tim Riordan, Arlene Reichenberg, Bill Brown, Terry Alexander, Chris Harrison, Byron Hamby (20!) and Mark Johnson.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email thoreson.kerri@gmail.com.