It is Outdoor Wednesday and memories of fish fries! Click the pic above for more of Outdoor Wednesday!
I have to interrupt my Southern food series to show you what this pretty little robin has been doing on my porch. After you see the pics, read about my Grandpa’s fish fries – a Southern tradition!
This is how she started out. At first the wind kept blowing the twigs away but she stayed after it. If you look real close you can see where my husband tried to help secure it with some floral wire.
Here she is, caught in the act of building. It was amazing to watch!
Still at it!
She's really making progress. The female robin picks the spot for the nest and is the primary builder. Male robins help out by bringing materials for the nest.
See her building material in her mouth? She is using her right wing to build this nest. Amazing!
Looks like a lot of work to me!
So, she got her nest built and we started waiting for eggs. We have to hold the camera up to the nest and let it auto-focus to get the pics. We cannot see in the nest from the porch. We kept taking pictures of the empty nest and then, finally:
An egg! Isn't it pretty?
At last check, there were 2 eggs that we could see. You can just see the tops of them.
Robins will lay from 3-6 eggs and then they will incubate for around 15 days. We will be looking for more eggs and keeping you up to date on their progress in the coming weeks!
Now, back to that fish fry! I just want to tell you a quick story about my Grandpa’s fish fries. If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll remember that Grandpa is 93 years old this year. He used to hold the best fish fries. He used to go fishing in Canada every year and he would bring back fish and have great fish fries. Eventually, the limit that he could bring back got too small for his parties. He then had a friend that had a trot line on Lake Texoma. He said he would get around 100 pounds of fish from him for the fish fries.
After a while, so many of the local politicians were involved and vying for time that it started getting out of hand. One summer, Grandpa’s beautiful wife, Betty (who had done a lot of the fish fry work) tripped over their Great Dane, Patrick and broke her arm. That was the end of the fish fries. Everyone was really disappointed, but, it was great fun while it lasted!
Southerners have always loved to gather for food and friendship in the steamy hot days of summer. This is one of my memories of those times.
Today’s Lagniappe: Southern Fried Catfish
There are a million ways to do it. Here is how I do it.
4 catfish fillets
1/2 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons flour
creole seasoning to taste (I use Emeril’s Essence or Tony Cherchere’s)
salt to taste (depending on what creole seasoning you use)
vegetable oil
Pour vegetable oil to a depth of about 1 inch in a large cast iron skillet.
Heat the oil to around 375.
While oil is heating, mix cornmeal, flour and seasoning.
Coat catfish fillets in flour.
Once the oil is hot, fry the fish until golden brown and it flakes easily with a fork.
Drain the fish on paper towels and serve hot with tarter sauce.
What a fscinating ‘outdoor wednesday’ post! I love all the pictures of your new little houseguest
ooh! Thank you for posting those pictures of the nest, robins, and eggs. I showed the pictures to my youngest 2 sons and they really enjoyed reading about how they build their nests.
Sandra
PS thanks for visiting my blog.
It is so much fun to watch birds do their thing. I have recently become an avid bird watcher in the mornings. I loved the robin’s pictures, but especially loved the captions that went with them. Good post. Your grandparents sound like interesting people.
Dear Christie,
Thank You so much for visiting my blog. We have been to Ponca City many times when our son played soccer…he is now married.
How funny about your Grandpa’s fish fries….my daddy fishes for bass all year long at missouri, arkansas, and the cimarron lake and for 29 years has had Ted’s annual fish fry. He is 76 and although Mother still works full time it is getting to be too much. We fished, camping out at Eagle Rock, Missouri, and then out on the lake with missouri on one buoy and arkansas on the other…you had better make sure you had both state fishing licenses before casting your reel.
I love eureka springs, arkansas.
I LOVE…LOVE THE PICTURE OF YOUR ROBIN, THE PROCESS OF MAKING HER NEST, AND THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE EGGS.
THANK YOU FOR THE CAT FISH RECIPE.
YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL BLOG.
BLESSINGS
hugs
I WAS BORN IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
debbie
I’m officially jealous! We enjoy having the robins here during the winter, but we miss out on their wonderful spring families since they aren’t permanent residents. I really enjoyed these pics.
Lake Texoma! Where do you hail from? I grew up in Eastern Oklahoma. Live in East Texas now. My grown daughters live in Tulsa. I would love to get to watch a bird build her nest. Come join my giveaway.
Brenda
The bird’s nest is so cool! I had a hummingbird nest in my yard once. I would love to see another one like this. They pick the most interesting spots to nest in. Mine was on top of my wind chime.
What a spot for a nest! That must be awesome to watch it all happening so close (and take pictures).
What a neat little bird’s nest. How pretty. I remember fish fries from growing up. They were so much fun!
Oh I love the robin nest observations! Wish we could find one to watch nearby.
How cute is that. It is so adorable to see the mom in the nest. Love it.
I did a bird post, too. Peregrine falcon with 5 chicks on the roof of a downtown building with a falcon cam giving them no privacy. lol
The color of that egg is breathtaking and I loved to see the nest building pictures. I hope you’ll photograph the little ones when they arrive.
Good morning Christi, I love the nest building pics and the lovely eggs are the bonus. I can’t wait to see the rest of the story.
Your grandpa’s fish fry party is a wonderful story. Mmmmm I bet it was delicious. I know everyone was sorry to see it end. My grandpa did much the same thing and I have wonderful memories of eating the best fish ever. It always was a big family party. Those days have been gone for a very long time. sigh.
Have a happy outdoor day. It is pouring today and dark in the house. At least I had your fun blog to cheer me up.
Hugs…Jeanne
Wonderful post! We have a bird’s nest in the wreath hanging outside the front door. There are 5 eggs in it and I’m keeping a close watch on it. It’s amazing to watch.
Loved watching the nest building. I watched Robins gather nest material and carry it away at the end of our yard but don’t know where they ended up. I think it is in the pine tree.
I’ve enjoyed fish fries all my life. For many years, my FIL held one each year. He caught and froze the fish all year. Everyone contributed to the preparation. He prepard the oil in his fish fryer outside, and breaded the fish before dropping them in. He did all of the cooking done at the fryer. One of us girls would mix up the hushpuppies for him. Sadly, those have ended since our parents have gone home.
Mama Bear
Thanks for the catfish recipe. We will try it soon. I enjoyed watching the robin build its nest. Great blog!
Joyce M
Incredible! What fun to watch… I LOVE your post!
~Really Rainey~
Love the blue of those eggs. Your pictures are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Maryrose
They have beautiful eggs! We had a bird nest and rats got in our tree and ate them… sooo sad!
Looks like we’ve been interested in the same thing this week – Robins and eggs.
Great pictures! It is a wonder, nest building! And the eggs are beautiful.
Oooh! The birds and the eggs are so cute. I love the color of robin eggs. We had birds who nested on our hanging planter too. I was able to take pics of the eggs and the babies but I missed seeing them fly away because we went on a trip. They were gone by the time we got back…Christine
Hi Christi, I need to go out tomorrow and get some photos of our bird nests…that is exactly where one of ours has parked for several years. We have some silly ones though who keep trying to nest on the blades of an outdoor ceiling fan….it naturally spins a little in any breeze…DOWN comes any effort. Our trees are finally getting big enough that we have several this year…I really need to go exploring tomorrow.
I love the birds next and bird pictures. Isn’t it great to just sit back and let the birds do the modeling?
That Robin didn’t pick a very sturdy spot. But maybe she knew you would help her secure her nest! The color of the eggs is so sweet.
Kathy b
What great shots of robin building her nest. And the egg is just perfection! Love the story about grandpa’s fish fries, it brings back alot of memories of my grandparents farm. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Christi.. Aren’t they just amazing.. That is one of my favorite things about spring, watching all the birds gathering and building. We have lil black capped chickadees nesting right now. Can’t wait to see the babes when they start heading out. Thanks for sharing your nest and your Grandfather’s fish fry recipe.
Hugs,
Debbie
I enjoyed the pictures of your robin! Can you believe Ihave lived south of the mason dixon line for over 10 years now and I have never been to a fish fry or had fried catfish? I think I need to fix that. But I don’t know which of my friends actually eat fish fry or cat fish… hmm.. guess I have some sluething to do!
This is nature at its finest. Precious photos. Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Christi…
Ahhh…I loved seeing all the photos of your little mama robin!!! That’s just so interesting to me!!! And those little robin eggs…aren’t they just the prettiest shade of blue that you’ve ever seen? I love it!!! Thanks for sharing your mama bird and soon to be babies with us! I’ll have to check back by…would love to see the babies!!!
Warmest wishes,
Chari
Hi Christi,
I enjoyed these so much as birds are one of my favorite subjects to photograph! I also enjoyed your fish story. Thank you for sharing.
Sue
Beautiful pictures of your new tenant!
silly little bird!
her egg is very pretty.
chasity
Oh what great photos of the Robin and the nest. I like them all!! Happy O.W.!
Happy Outdoor Wednesday Christi! Great pictures of the robin’s nest! Thanks for sharing your photos.~ Susan
I will try that recipe! I love fried catfish!