Christmas Round Robin

Here is a photo of a robin on the bird table in my garden. It's not Filnore Woods but there are certainly robins there.

 

 

Before you see them you can hear their 'tick' 'tick' calls and the tuneful song that they sing all through the winter.  The song is a claim to territory and both males and females, who look identical, sing, posture and even fight to defend their patch of hedgerow, woodland or garden.

 

They seem quite friendly and will be especially so if you are turning over the soil in your garden to produce the worms and other small creatures that they love to eat.  But to them you are just another blundering animal like a mole or even a wild boar, disturbing the ground and providing a feast.

 

Another feast which you can provide and which they really enjoy is meal worms.  You don't have to have live ones.  You can buy dried mealworms from the Garden Shop in Thornbury and put them on the ground or on a bird table. 

 

But try to avoid leaving the tempting morsels in a place where cats can hide nearby.  If a robin sees a cat you can hear it 'ticking' it off.  If the robin doesn't see the cat, you may not hear it sing again.

Happy Christmas to all readers of this blog not only in the UK but also in USA, Canada, Russia, Spain, Australia, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Ukraine, Brazil, Sweden, Colombia, Guam and Hungary.  I don't know whether you meant to read this blog but I am honoured that you did.  Hooray for global harmony !    Good luck in 2013 !