HELP! What do I do with an exposed nest?

I've discovered a completely exposed robins nest. Our neighbours are absolute a*****s, yes I'm really angry right now so sorry if that comes across.

Basically what happened is a branch of a tree fell into his garden during heavy winds a week or so ago. Because of that he managed to convince our landlord to pay half to have the entire tree removed. They did that today and I noticed the robins hopping around, I thought they were just confused the tree was being removed but it's so much worse than that. What I've noticed now is they were actually worried about their nest which is now completely exposed, it has a chick in it, still no feathers and a couple of eggs, the chick is breathing so its still alive but there's no cover at all and I'm worried the robins will abandon the baby and it'll die. What can I do? 

  • Have the parents been back, is the chick being covered by the female? Hard to tell where nest currently is ... on the ground? Legally you are not permitted to interfere with the nest, like relocate it,  ... is it in the sun?  Unfortunately nothing you can do for such an immature chick & unhatched eggs, just watch to see if adults return!

  • Nest is about 3 foot off the ground, the tree had a chunky based and there were hedges and things that grew all around it too so the nest was completely secure and totally hidden which is probably why they decided to settle there, they'd already attempted to make 2 nests elsewhere and abandoned them. I actually thought the robins had left the garden to nest elsewhere that's how well hidden it was. However they've cut the tree and the hedges down and now there's a massive gap and the nest was built deep inside the thicket now everything around it is gone and the nest is exposed to the elements, I have seen both mum and dad around so its not abandoned yet but I've also seen

    I've already seen other birds near it and next door also have a cat and with no protection anymore I'm worried for them.
  • It's so difficult to witness this kind of thing, I can only suggest you ring these people in morning, if nest still viable, & ask their advice ... https://helpwildlife.co.uk/
  • NEST UPDATE

    Checked on the robin nest this morning and the news is good or bad depends on how you look at it.

    On the plus side Mum and dad are still visiting it at the moment and now the other 2 eggs seem to have hatched so there appears to be about 3 chicks in the nest now all alive and wriggling.

    However that means that they only hatched at some point yesterday and I had hoped the 1 chick I saw yesterday was a bit older and would only need protection for a day or 2. If its newly hatched there's at least a week until they fledged and we've got some pretty bad weather over the next few days and the nest is still not protected very well and 3 chicks not just 1 to feed and keep warm during that time.

    I really hope they can pull through this and survive. Any advice on how I can help mum and dad support their new family through these difficult early days will be greatly appreciated.
  • Pleased to hear nest is progressing well with parents taking care ... a really helpful thing would be to provide a supply of live mealworms to supplement their foraging for live insects to feed chicks but don't put them too close to the nest otherwise there could be unwelcome interest from potential predators ... Robins are pretty friendly & you could try calling their attention to a dish of mealworms, they soon catch on & will come to a designated spot to see what's on offer ... my one here comes to a pot by front door & peers in waiting for his dish of worms to be placed on front doorstep so he can help himself to beakfuls to take back to his chicks! Good luck
  • NEST UPDATE

    The nest was empty this morning apart from one unhatched egg Disappointed Yesterday there were three babies in there and momma robin was frequently in the nest. I saw her on a tree branch this morning but saw no babies.

    It didn't look like the nest had been disturbed though, that's what's confusing me. No sign of a struggle or feathers or anything which I thought there would be if a predator got them. I thought maybe she'd moved them but I can't find any evidence of a parent moving their young to somewhere safer, most of the experts online say this doesn't happen so I don't know and I don't have a lot of hope.

    I can hear faint chirping somewhere but can't pinpoint it, this could just be another nest from another bird somewhere else though. The chicks were too young to be fledged yet, they were only a couple of days old so they can't have got far if they did leave.

    If I see a young robin in a week or 2 I'll be thrilled but I don't have a lot of hope at the moment. 

    Sad ending and I'll never forgive the neighbours for what they've done. Unfortunately I can't legally prove they knew there was nesting birds when they chopped the trees down either, even if i could it wouldn't solve anything and I'm heart broken. 

  • Such sad news & sounds as if either predated or had died & parent took them away, wouldn't necessarily be feather evidence as they were so young! I found a baby Sparrow on my path yesterday, maybe couple of days old & likely blown from nest by the strong gales we had!
    Nobody should be cutting down trees or hedges this time of year but the circumstances were pretty exceptional so doubt any action would be taken!
    Don't hold out any hope for miracles from this nest but fingers crossed there could be others near you!

    I also had Robins nesting for first time this year but a cat kept jumping up to nest & frightened them off, they had laid four eggs which will have to stay there until end of season ... I shall not put nestbox back though!

  • Sorry To read about the robins nest Jessie. Nature can be so cruel sometimes, whether they died or have been taken.