Boysie's Back in Town ... !!!

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Well ... as many of you may know I am a very keen bird lover and birder and try to attract as many into our humble garden as we possibly can (we have been 'here' for over 5 years now !) ... :D

It does cost me a small fortune each month providing a whole range of foods both natural, packaged and live ... :eek:

This Winter, so far we have been rewarded with increased volumes of all the usual suspects one might expect plus we have had both Winter thrushes joining the residents ... Redwing & Fieldfare and currently have, among the more unusual of our garden visitors ...

Reed Bunting
Siskin
Brambling
Green Woodpecker

and loads of LTTs ... :clap:


BUT today ... and entering his sixth season known to us ... our Boysie has returned ... :woot:


He has been, and still is, our resident, hand tame/feeding, Robin and has been coming to hand as an adult ever since the first year we moved in - he has reared at least one and sometimes three broods each year and disappears each August never to be seen for the whole Winter !!!

About this time of year he once more puts in an appearance ... but because of his advanced years (average life expectancy for a wild Robin is only 18 months !) we always hold our breath waiting for him to turn up ... :eek:

... AND TODAY HE TURNED UP looking as fighting fit and confident as ever as we approach yet another breeding season ... :D

I look forward to keeping him, his chosen mate and his many babies, in the manner to which he has become accustomed, for the rest of the year ... well until August anyways ... :thinking:


Just thought I would share our deep joy at having him back once again ... !


TFR ...


:p
 
AWWW thats lovely, Ven. I can imagine how tense it must be each year, wondering if he will return. (y)
 
Are you sure it's the same bird? I remember reading/hearing that the average life of a small bird is about 18 months.
 
IanC_UK said:
Thats cool :) sounds like your garden is a very green place to be if a bird :)
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Cheers Ian ... :D ... certainly no shortage of activity every day ... until the Sprawk pops in for his share of course ... :eek:

Janice said:
AWWW thats lovely, Ven. I can imagine how tense it must be each year, wondering if he will return. (y)
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It really is J ... and with each year passing we become more fatalistic ... :shrug:




:p
 
Steep said:
Are you sure it's the same bird? I remember reading/hearing that the average life of a small bird is about 18 months.
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You are spot on Steep ... average LE for him would normally be 18 months ... (y)


AND yes ... 100% certain it is our Boysie ... :D


He had an accident in his first year with us, possibly a cat or even getting his foot/leg caught somewhere and he came to us holding his leg up for a few weeks until he slowly mended it with our feeding assistance I like to think ... :shrug:


Anyway ... this episode left him with no forward claws to the toes on his left foot ... so he is pretty unique and allows us to be so certain it is he who returns ... apart from his other unique mannerisms known to us through our five year 'relationship' with him of course ... :D





:p
 
Good for you Ven :clap:



How many votes for a TP meet in Vens back garden :D
 
That's a great story Rog :) Glad to hear he's still going strong (y)

But............


Where are the photos?? :shrug:


I know you've put your camera somewhere safe and you can't remember where :LOL: but this must be the motivation to hunt it out :D

Long live Boysie :clap:
 
OK ... this is Boysie sometime in early August last year just before he disappeared for the Winter to rest, recuperate and put on his new outfit ... :D ... he looks so spick and span and fit for his age now it has been another wondrous transformation thanks to nature's way ... (y)

AND ... if you look closely at his left foot you can see the clawless toes I was wittering on about ... ;) ... unique to our Boysie ... :D

RLG8878.jpg




Light's definitely not good enough for a current shot ... :coat:




:p
 
Joe T said:
Very cool! :D
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He is one of the coolest Robins I know Joe ... :D

IanC_UK said:
he was definitely a scruffy bugger in that pic Rog :)
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He certainly was Ian ... testament to his tough breeding season last year (we reckon he had three broods at least) ... :thinking: ...

And he had a huge cyst type thing above his eye (the one you can't see !) when the pic was taken ... :eek: ... so we thought his chances of survival this time might be reduced ... :cautious: ...

... but he has come through stronger and smarter than ever and without that damned growth too ... brilliant ... ;)





:p
 
Awww! heart-warming stuff there Rog.
He does look fragile in the pic... you must take another if he visits on a bright day. :)

Are those mealworm youre feeding him?
I saw a very small tub of dried mealworm for £7 in the local GC, yesterday.
I was tempted but just ended up with the usual cocconut shell, fat-balls, sunflower hearts & mixed seed.
I dont mind adding the dried mealworm if they work ... but I doubt Ill be trying to hand feed *cough* Ewww!!! *splutter* :puke:
 
Now that's a nice story (y)
 
InaGlo said:
Are those mealworm youre feeding him?

I dont mind adding the dried mealworm if they work ... but I doubt Ill be trying to hand feed *cough* Ewww!!! *splutter* :puke:
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No Glo ... they are Wax Worms ... our Boysie is a bit of a fussy lad ... turns his nose up at the humble mealworm ... :shrug:

And ... stay away from dried mealworms Glo ... utterly useless they are imhgo ... :cautious:

Hang on ... I'll be back ... ;)



:p
 
I buy virtually all of my stuff from here Glo ... CJ WildBird Foods ... including the mealworms and Wax worms ... very good value and always first class fodder ... (y)

And if you don't want to hand feed you can get special feeders for them and will be amazed at how close a number of species will come for such delicacies ... :D

Last breeding season I had Blue Tits, Great Tits and numerous Robins feeding from my hand ... and my office desk ... :eek: ... and the Blackbirds and Wrens were not far from taking hand offered worms either ... may be this year ... :thinking:


:p
 
Thanks for sharing the story(y)
I bet you are chuffed that he is still around.

Goes to show what difference can be made by making your gardens frendlier to birds :clap:
 
Brilliant stuff Roger .... thank you sooo very muchly for sharing that! (y)

Looks a fab site, Ive just popped the waxworms in the cart, now going to have a nosey around and see what else takes my fancy:D
Mind you, I dont do 'wrigglers' so I'll be gagging and squealing like a girl when I have to handle those things... hang on ... I am a ... oh never mind! :LOL:
 
birdy961 said:
Thanks for sharing the story
I bet you are chuffed that he is still around.

Goes to show what difference can be made by making your gardens frendlier to birds
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Really, really chuffed he is still with us ... (y) ...

And the payback is the joy they give in return ... :D ... just watching them all day makes me all warm and fuzzy inside ... ;)

InaGlo said:
Brilliant stuff Roger .... thank you sooo very muchly for sharing that!

Looks a fab site, Ive just popped the waxworms in the cart, now going to have a nosey around and see what else takes my fancy
Mind you, I dont do 'wrigglers' so I'll be gagging and squealing like a girl when I have to handle those things... hang on ... I am a ... oh never mind! :LOL:
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You are very welcome Glo ... ;) ... and they are so very helpful 'in the flesh' as it were ... (y)

Of course you're a girlie ... :cautious: ... but you'll have to overcome your distaste if you want the pleasure of your Robin taking the wrigglers from your hand ... :shrug: ... they really are not so bad though and the Waxies are nowhere near as wriggly as the mealworms ... :D



:p
 
Well, I hope the waxworms have slightly thicker skins... Ive had a few horrid experiences with mealworms bursting in my fingers ... the nails may have had something to do with that :p
I worked in a petshop in my teens and whenever the reptile-man came in they always thought it was funny to 'fetch the girl to serve him'!:bat:

Anyway .... I'll be ok now ... I'll just wear gloves! :D
 
TomB said:
Nice work Venomator... very rare for 'our garden robin' to actually be the same bird for such a long time! I believe the record is 12 years - you'd best get cracking :p
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Thanx Tom ... ;)

And aww bugger ... :cautious: ... and we were going to move next year ... :D



:p
 
Yo, Ven :wave:
... just letting you know my 'wrigglers' arrived this morning. (y)

Ewwwww!!! they are DISGUSTINGLY HUGE!... should be just the job then :D

Only worry, it says dont get them wet.... they are joking are they.... this is Blighty ... I'll never get them out!
 
InaGlo said:
Yo, Ven :wave:
... just letting you know my 'wrigglers' arrived this morning. (y)

Ewwwww!!! they are DISGUSTINGLY HUGE!... should be just the job then :D

Only worry, it says dont get them wet.... they are joking are they.... this is Blighty ... I'll never get them out!
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Good news then Glo ... (y)

Well ... they cannot swim if that's what you mean ... :LOL:

I think they mean while storing them ... :shrug: ... they don't hang around long outside once the birdies find where you place them ... :D

Good luck ... and have patience if you are going to try and hand-feed your local Robin ... ;)




:p
 
It must be because you are feeding him so well! (y)

How lovely to have your own pet robin! :love:
 
I am working on just getting them in my garden at the moment! Have provided feeders (nuts, fat balls, seeds) and a bird table! and a bird bath!!!!! The tree is still covered in crab apples, the blackbirds are liking those a lot! (y)
 
mrgubby said:
How do you keep the worms ??

waits for very silly comments :p
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Hi MrG ... :wave: ... no silly comments as is a serious subject & close to my heart ... :D

Wax Worms come in little tubs that have air holes in them and also some wood chippings that they feed on - I find it is best to keep them very cool but not refrigerated, our outside shed does just fine, and then bring them indoors to the window sill as you need them ... :shrug:

The cooler they are the less wriggly they are but freezing conditions just kills them off and they go all squidgy and useless ... :eek:

Mealworms, however, can be stored in a fridge, almost indefinitely, as their metabolism just drops really low and when warmed up again they come back to life and start doing their wriggly thing once more ... mealworms feed on a bran type stuff that can be bought separately if you intend keeping them for any length of time and not refrigerated ... :shrug:


HTH ... ;)



:p
 
Are they the sort of wormy-things TM that I could get from my local fishing shop ?

I'm looking forward to the look on MrsGubbys face :)

(have to get minigub ready with his camera :LOL:)
 
NO ... probably not as they will be maggots I expect and these can be quite harmful to some birds ... :eek:

You need Mealworms or Wax Worms ... see the link to CJ Wildbirdfoods above ... they normally deliver within two working days and provide excellent bird foods of all sorts ... :shrug:




:p
 
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