My new friend Robin, another pic for Shirley

Wonderful photo, Lily, he just looks so fragile. Gone on to my favourites. I expect he's looking for a handful of meal worms from you . . . . . : o ))

Oh he's gorgeous, gone onto my faves.

Exquisite photo Lily, well done !

WOW! A beauty! :)))))))))))))))

stunning pic of robin lily, well done in my favs right now ;o)

What lovely comments, many thanks to you all. :o))
I mixed him up a bowl of all the best birdie goodies this morning and went to the usual place where he quickly joined me but I'm afraid it was beaks up to that, he preferred to look for worms! I guess I'll just have to get some of those horrible mealworms then......asap. lol

Wow Lily What a fantastic photo.....

I was looking at those mealworms in the GC today ... they'll be lovely when you've re-hydrated them in some warm water, Lily! Go on, you know little Robin wants some . . . . . . : o ))

Well we know who's boss round here Shirley, with you to fight his case....who am I to argue? LOL. Mmm dried ones may not be quite so bad, I seem to remember seeing them floating in tubs of brine or something. Looked revolting. :o(((((

and with that image in my head, I'll bid you goodnight and dream of a poor, hungry Robin waiting to be fed. Feeling guilty yet? LOL zzzzzzzzz

Sweet dreams Shirley! :o)) Guilty? Moi?....you bet!

brilliant photo ~ how did you get it and what wonderful magical camera have you got?

Hi Sticki and thank you. I think it's just a wonderful magical robin rather than any expertise or hi tech ghizmo camera! I was only about 18" away but he will come closer than that if he chooses, he's very tame. My camera is a Panasonic TZ6 which I've had for just over a year and I'm very pleased with it. It's got a big zoom lens but other than that it's just press the button! :o)

It's probably a slimmer Robin now .. somebody won't feed it any mealworms ..............: o )))))

im not surprised you are pleased with it ~ thats a superb picture.
you could just tip the pot of meal worms out lily ~ they rattle a bit but thats all!!! thats not too scary??

I thought you had to soak them in warm water to re-hydrate them .. make them nice and fat for the slim Robin .. getting the hint yet, Lily? ha ha ha ha

Umm...excuse me but Mr Diva Robin is NOT interested in the dried mealworms, either hard and rattly or marinated overnight in warm water in the airing cupboard. He just wants me to get the fork out and dig him up some real earthworms....bet he'll change his tune if we have another hard frosty or snowy spell though!! Off to the GC tomorrow to have another look at the pickled (or whatever) ones, am I nuts or what??

You're not nuts, Lily, just a lady who cares for the garden birds! I've just Googled 'mealworms for Robins' and a company called 'Wiggly Wigglers' deliver them to your door! There's lots of info. on there and a lovely Youtube video of a baby Robin eating mealworms .. aah. : o )

Now I've heard it all....... Wiggly wigglers being delivered.
Go on Lily you know you want to !

ooooh... I'll have to think a while about live ones Shirley, it may be a step too far just now! Maybe if we're lucky enough to get them nesting here again..... Thanks for the info anyway, I had a quick look but I'll look at the video tomorrow. I wonder how big a 40g tub is. Not sure OH would be too keen on keeping them in the fridge though! LOL (me neither)

40g is very light but then so are the wriggly wiggly worms, not sure how big the tub would be ~ i have a measuring jug that shows you how much flour, sugar etc you have measured ~ it doesnt have mealworms on it!!!!!

obviously your robin is quite a gourmet and only wants the fresh food ~ perhaps he should be a taster on masterchef?

I'm not convinced about that Val!
No mealworms on your measuring jug Sticki, how strange? Lol. He's definitely a gourmet but he seems to be managing fine without me, he hardly looks starved does he? Rain stopped play on the GC trip today but there's a fishing tackle shop in our local High St so I'll call in there and see what I'd be letting myself in for before I take the plunge!

Better invest in a pack of latex gloves while you're in town! Those 'wigglies' do exactly what it says on the tin ... lol!

shirley tulip i shall rename you shirley tease!

LOL, Sticki, I think Lily is used to my humour by now. You are, aren't you, Lily? : o ))

;o))

Quite so Sticki!
Shirley....just one question - have you ever actually had any close encounters with the wiggly things yourself? lol

Nope ... my garden birds have never had that luxury ... and probably never will as I'm too squeamish to handle mealworms! The best they get are any slugs/snails/caterpillars I come across whilst gardening ... I'm more than happy to dispatch them by trowel to the bird table! What a wimp I am! : o )))

Ah...just as I thought....you're all talk Shirley! Glad to have blown your cover, fellow wimp :o)) It's been raining all day so I don't think he will have any problem finding his own big fat juicy earthworms as nature intended.

Found out ... drat ... we have a small puddle appearing on the lawn from the deluge of rain today. Looks like I'll be spiking the grass with a garden fork at the weekend ... deep joy! Still, perhaps some worms will appear for the birds! : o (((

is it time to start spiking? apparantly thats what i need to do with my lawn full of moss.

Not really, Sticki, it's just that one small area of grass isn't draining, only happened since the patio was laid last March/April! Sunny weekend weather forecast down here, I really hope so! : o ))

supposed to be quite nice here at the weekend ~ i hope ~ i still have 60 tete a tete bulbs to plant that i got cheaply at the GC this week!
when is the best time to spike the lawn?

Late Summer/early Autumn ideally ... never had this drainage problem before so I've never aerated the lawn. More heavy rain today hasn't helped ... hope to just stick a garden fork over the area on Sunday ... it may have dried off by then.

Lovely pic Lily... well done :o)

Great picture and such a close up too. We have a robin that has suddenly started to visit us. We have a wren about. He likes the mealworms and so does the wren. SPiking the lawn does help but if you have clay soil that may be the reason as well that the water doesn't drain very well.

we dont have clay but we do have lots of trees ~ thats why we get the moss i think
i have seen a wren here although not often enough ~ i think they are my favourites! perhaps if i get a tub of the wrigglies they will come more often?

Your trees probably shade the lawn and it doesn't get enough sunshine. I get mealworms from Wilkinsons at two tubs for £4.

ooh thats not bad ~ thanks for that linda

great pic lily,wonderful, well done..:o)

Thanks Terra, glad you like it. It's lovely to have such a willing poser!
Thank you too Linda, how lucky you are to have a wren. I've only ever seen them very fleetingly and very occasionally. That's a great price for mealworms, I paid over twice that for one tub in the pet shop and to think they were rejected too. Talk about adding insult to injury! :o(

I think some people put the dried mealworms into water first before putting a few out so that they are soft. I never bother and even the wren eats them dried o.k.

Thanks for your comment Joanella, he's very handsome isn't he? Or I've just had a thought 'he' may be a she!Yes I did try that Linda but he still wasn't interested. I hope he will nest here too and if so I'll try again, he may not be so picky then :o)

sometimes putting a bit of moss hanging from the nest box hole attracts them.

Ihaven't any nest boxes in my garden but I do have a very large conifer hedge which many birds nest in. The year before last we had robins nesting in the climbing euonymous just outside our back door, they were a joy to watch being so near :o) At least one fledgling survived and I like to think maybe this is the one.

I've seen birds nesting in the others gardens round here in the thick hedges. When we lived down the road robins always nested in the ivy. It's lovely to watch them as they come and go feeding their young.

So interesting to see how they work as a team too. I love having them nesting in the garden but I do worry about all the local cats including my own especially when they leave the nest. I guess it's all nature......

We have one cat visiting our garden and it's a bird menace so it gets water treatment. Doesn't hurt the cat but certainly puts it off hiding in the bushes ready to pounce.

LOL You can't beat the water treatment as a cat deterrent!

Missed this Lily.....just beautiful...they do seem to have a magical aura about them......:o)

Hi Janey...quite agree, there's nothing like a robin is there? I haven't seen him the last few times I've been out in the garden. I think maybe it's not really his usual 'patch'. I do hope he comes back, I'll recognize him by that odd little yellow bit just below his beak :o))