Dobbin

the robin; one of 2 we have residing in our garden - when I say residing what I mean is they live somewhere else yet come in to us every day to feast!

I've heard tale, many a time, that when a robin visits it's the spirit of a loved coming back to say "Hello". Those of you who have read some of my previous crap will know I no longer believe in that; plus, which one of my dead entourage are they, and why so few of them? 

What I do know is they are definitely territorial; Dobbin here is one of a pair (Splodge is it's partner). Don't ask me which is male, and which is female because I haven't got a clue. Accordingly neither do they sometimes! I would say imagine how it must be to live in a world where you don't know if the other creature is of the same, or opposite sex as you, but I've been to a club and been introduced to an absolutely stunning woman, only to discover her name was "John". I was in awe of her (in a non-sexual way - as far as I am aware I am still very much hetero). Her make-up was flawless, her figure to die for and her hair long, thick and lush. Maybe I was a little jealous :) If I wasn't able to tell she was a he, then I guess I can understand a little why a robin would struggle. 

As beautiful as a robin is they are also feisty, aggressive little birds who will fight to the death once they've sussed out another male (if they are male) is trying to muscle in on their patch. I watched 2 go hammer-and-tongs at each other once, and they really were quite vicious (ahh, then the nastier of them must have been my grandmother coming back to visit, although she wasn't a loved-one of mine so maybe not). 

Back in lockdown (I'm sorry, I know it was bad for so many people but I absolutely loved being in lockdown) we had one who hung out from dawn until dusk. We named him Rocky, and had I made an attempt to get him to sit on my finger it would not have been very difficult to do (if only I'd been able to achieve such a feat with my budgie; 7 years old and it still has a go every time I open it's cage door!). I chose not to do so though because I was told years ago one of the worst things you can do for wildlife if try to tame it. Just because I'm friendly and not going to kill it, doesn't mean someone else won't and if it was to land on that someone else's finger who knows what could happen to it. 

I was also told years and years ago when it comes to wild animals and wildlife that a "fed animal is a dead animal" and to a point I agree with the sentiment, but not at the very same time. Maybe out in the US then yes, that statement is absolutely fact. The second someone deliberately puts out food for a bear they have pretty signed it's death warrant, because that bear will then knock on someone else's door if is usual feeder hasn't put anything out. The more they invade the residential areas, the more chance they have of them being shot, so over there a fed animal could most definitely end up a dead animal. Not so much here, although I know there are man who would if they could. I do put out food for the birds, I also put some out for the foxes, badgers and hedgehogs too. What I don't do is put it out every day/night. Sometimes I'll leave it several days before putting any out. The reason for this is because those animals still need to be able to forage - just this week I saw some photo's a ladies back garden that was filled with foxes waiting to be fed; sadly the lady had died but because she'd put food out every day for them they'd never learned to fend for themselves. Those foxes now have to learn, or risk be killed by someone else who isn't happy to have wildlife at their back door. A conversation I had with a woman who owned chickens (among many other birds). She lived on a farm, with hundreds of acres, and every day she would put out food for foxes. I thought this is a crazy thing to do, encouraging them onto her land where he prized birds were most likely viewed as a tasty lunch. Her response when I asked her why, was "because if I feed them they won't go after my chickens. So much of the land around the farm has been built on so they have no natural habitat left to fend for themselves which means they'll look elsewhere. If they're not hungry, they're not going to eat my birds". When I questioned that they'd still, surely, kill them anyway because from what I know of people who keep chickens if a fox enters a coop it will kill them all yet not take all away, she told me the reason for them doing this is because they plan on going back for the rest but usually get scared off before they can. She said in the 7 years she'd been feeding them she'd not lost a single bird to a fox, and she let those birds out first thing in the morning, putting them away last thing at night, and they were free to wander where they wanted. 

We are taking away our wildlife's habitats. We (humans) have cut down the trees and removed the hedgerows for the birds. Many people have slabbed over their gardens so there are no longer flowers for bees and butterflies. We all know what will happen to us without bees, but a world without butterflies and birds would also be catastrophic. That's why I will put out all manner of feed for our birds, will allow dandelions to grow for the bees and will plant as many shrubs, hedges, flowers and trees as I possibly can. Those around me may be slabbing and fake grassing but I know that no matter how small an impact, I am having a positive impact on the local wildlife, and that can never be a bad thing.