General Chat

Hi Harry, what a lovely story. These days the birds seem to be sadly missing from my part of the world (unless I go to Trafalgar Square Lol). I have a mental picture of you busy in your garden with your new little friend watching. Long may it last. Love and Peace Marianne. xxxx

Roxanne; Dawn, Many thanks. No, I don,t have a bird bath, but my neighbour has one in full view of our breakfast room - said before ' no good having a dog and barking yourself' happy days

Aaaaahhh What a lovely message Harry...... You have brightened my day!! Kind Regards Dawn

CB, thanks for you input. Nice happenings. My garden is deliberately 'wild' - nothing is left uncovered. I have a cat scarer which works for me - at least one other has been less successful. the garden USED to be full of cats hiding in the undergrowth, waiting to pounce. I suppose that,s nature and we have to accept it - sad as it seems to us. happy days

Harry, You're right, they don't develop the red breast until they're older. We've had lots of robin nests in our gardens, and the young ones are really cute. I think their 'tameness' comes from inexperience - they haven't yet learned fear. We used to have them nesting each year in some shelving under our old carport, and inevitably some babies would fly the wrong way and end up in our garage, instead of in the garden. I'd gently scoop them up in an old dustpan and put them out in some leafy plant, and the parents soon found them. We often had the parents eating from our hands, and once, when I inadvertently got too close to the nest as an adult was flying in to feed the nestlings, it attacked me! It flew at the top of my head and started pecking until I moved, which I did quite quickly! In this garden, the poor baby birds have to survive the neighbour's blasted cat. It's ruined several of our plants already by jumping on some poor little bird sheltering under them. Hope your robins have better luck. CB >|<

James/Joy Thanks for your input. Gwen - why can,t we have happy endings in this world. This little fellow will peck at the fat balls in company with the sparrows - the older ones won,t. View the action round the fat-balls and you soon find out what the phrase 'pecking order' means. happy days

Hi Harry, We used to have a robin who would tap on the patio doors if the food available wasn't to his taste. He used to hop around after us whenever we were in the garden and we got very fond of him and the families he raised in the bushes at the end of the garden. Sadly, he was killed by a cat belonging to a neighbour when he got a little less agile with age. I hate cats. Gwynne

not soppy at all, I think it's lovely. :-) Joy

Mentioned before that I have robins nesting in an old shed, with easy access and egress. They are very tame and come right up to my foot. Last week a tiny one appeared - a baby robin. My doubt is that somewhere at the the back of my mind I read that they don,t develop their red breast until older. Anyway this little fellow is already tamer than the bigger ones and I,m hoping we,ll become even closer partners as it grows. It greatly increases the pleasure of gardening when you are joined by a little friend as soon as you start work. Soppy message, I know - but we live in troubled times. happy days