Cyn's Nature Notes: Friendly Robin

Tuesday 15 May 2007

Friendly Robin

The last few years, my precious garden has become very overgrown, but now I have a new lease of life due to a change of medication – I can breathe so much more easily.

Mike has kept the lawns cut, but the rest has grown rampantly. This was not as bad as it might have been, because we have made our garden into a wildlife sanctuary, however, now I have more strength and energy, I am once again able to enjoy working on it.

Weeding a section of garden yesterday, I was joined by a friendly robin collecting grubs, worms and insects for the nestlings. This same robin waits on the kitchen window sill at odd times throughout the day until I provide some food. The robin made us laugh yesterday because it was apparent that although he watches me through the window, he did not equate the person he sees inside with the person who was doing the weeding, because while I was outside he kept flying to the window and looking intently inside.

There are many robins in the garden, but the reason this one is special is because he has built his nest and is rearing his young in a carrier bag with three plants in it outside the conservatory door. Our constant coming and going near the bag has made no difference to him – we might just as well be invisible as we stand in the open doorway and he flies in and out of the bag. I was worried for his family a week or so back when the heavy rain started, but need not have feared, because he had pulled one side of the bag down and inward to protect his nest.

The feud I observed last month between the mistle thrush and a magpie was won by the magpie, and the mistle thrushes are now building a new nest in the nearby conifers.

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About this Blog

When we moved to our present home in December 1987, I was very ill and bedridden. My garden was a life-saver, although it was very different then. The first thing I did was to put up bird-feeders, and long hours were spent lying indoors in a recliner. This was when I discovered many things. Do you know the underside of every blue tit’s tail is differently marked? Gradually, over the years, the garden changed. We put in shrubs and plants that would not only enhance the garden, but would also be good for wildlife. The first rabbit we saw was so joyful for us. The deer eat the flowers, prune the apple trees, eat the marrow, and are wonderful to watch. Foxes have been a major part of our wildlife. We have fed them each night for more than 20 years. They are such a delight, especially in late summer and early autumn when there are youngsters. They behave like puppies and are great fun to watch.

I love all wildlife: the mason bees that nest in the brickwork of the bungalow, the hornets that last year made their home in the roof above our bedroom, the bees currently nesting in the roof above the bathroom. On a hot evening, if you stand quietly in the bathroom, you can hear this amazing sound: it is very rhythmic and reminds me of the waves at the seaside. It is made by the beating of the bees’ wings as they fan their nest to keep the temperature at the right level -- how many people have heard that sound? I feel so privileged.

Obviously, I feed the birds. When I open the window in the morning I call “Come on Bobby and Blackie”, and one followed swiftly by the other they fly immediately to the bird table. Each morning, on rising, I make my way to the kitchen and find the squirrels already sitting on the window ledge waiting to be fed. Winter brings the moorhens and spring time the mallards. Our pond is a poor effort from a human point of view, but wild creatures see it differently. On summer days, the grass snakes spend long hours in the pond: eating the fish, froglets, toadlings, newts, and any other living creature they can swallow. Although I hate to see the pond emptied this way, I do enjoy the snakes and feel they are an important part of the balance of nature in the garden. Watching a dragonfly nymph climbing out of the pond, up a plant stalk, and then over the next few hours gradually transforming into a beautiful dragonfly -- these are contented hours well spent.

It has been my pleasure to write and publish a nature column each month. I am always delighted to hear how much pleasure this brings to my readers. I have often been asked if I have written a book, so I am making more of my writings and photography available through this web site and blog.