# Got a new friend...



## dither (Jun 16, 2020)

I have quite a long back-garden, there's a metal-framed archway two thirds of the way up, the top one third has been, to say the least, neglected. To the point where if I went beyond the archway I had to cut a pathway as I walked. It was that bad. Well, anyway, because of this covid gig...........

Lol! The woman next door to us, her whole garden was as bad our top one third, she had to battle over-grown brambles and nettles to put her rubbish out, BECAUSE of the covid situation, went totally berserk out back, cleaned the place up, told me it was the first time she'd seen the boundary fence in almost twenty years, spent god knows how much on garden furniture, has friends round now, drinks under the gazebo, a small wood-burner glows, and it has transformed her life. Good for her eh?

Anyway, my new friend:
I may have mentioned that as I've beavered away up there I've had vaguest feeling of not being alone. The occasional hum of a wing-beat, for no more than a second and then, sometimes I'd glimpse movement out the corner of my eye, not really sure whether or not I'd really seen anything or not, but, with time, he got bolder, is probably feeding chicks somewhere close by, and now, whenever I'm up there he appears.

Once upon a lifetime plastic sheeting was put down, a layer of small gravel on top, and WE had a table and a few chairs up there, reduced to a mess of rotted wood now but because of that it's been fairly easy to clear. This morning at around seven o'clock, before the sun was anywhere near that part of the garden, I was up there, gently raking twigs leaves and all manner of organic litter, progress is being made, and that little Robin was non-stop.
With the small bugs, some maybe not so small, and all manner of larvae that I probably uncovered, talk about " the mother load ". He was there and then he wasn't, then no sooner had he gone he'd be back, time and time again.

Hopefully, he's resting up somewhere now, watching over a clutch of fat bellied chicks.

Happy daze.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 16, 2020)

I have one of them, as you say, a flutter of wings, and then quite often a burst of song. He will sit somewhere convenient, about eight feet away with a view of what I'm doing, and then dart down within inches of me sometimes to pick something up. Careful for that nest, they like a flatish sort of place to put it, I have found one on the top of the brickwork behind a door post, and also inside a very large flowerpot. It was stood upside down and they were coming and going through the hole. If you have a fishing shop near you they love fresh mealworms, if your missus will let you put them in the fridge they will stay mealworms. It is perfectly hygienic in a plastic box, but for some reason ...  Anyway, I have never tried it, but I am told they will learn to eat out of your hand within three or four days they like them so much, and once they have learned to trust you they don't forget.


----------



## dither (Jun 16, 2020)

Mr.Buckle,
we have a small fishing-tackle shop in our town, whether or not they sell these " meal-worms ", and I don't think I'd have the self-confidence to ask anyway, would be another matter. Also, we have quite a few cats around here, although I'd love to give this guy and his family a hand, I'd to hate be responsible for their demise.


----------



## Amnesiac (Jun 16, 2020)

I was talking about fat-bellied chicks in the restaurant the other day, and the rather large ladies at the adjacent table got all upset.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 16, 2020)

Mealworms is a nice name for maggots, let them pupate and then hatch out and they turn into flies. Anglers use them for bait, the shop is almost sure to have them. To robins they are strawberries and cream with sugar on top. Put a few in a lid from a jar and stand not too far off, get a bit closer each time, then pick up the lid, then get rid of it and have them in your hand. I'm told it can be done in three or four days. Being tame to you won't make him tame to cats, they are not that thick. 
Mind you, I have never bothered trying myself, they seem tame enough anyway for me, or fearless maybe. Someone did a study of ways robins died. One drowned after diving into a stream to attack a minnow! They will also mimic, people have taught them to talk. Then there was the guy who was sent overseas for eighteen months, when he came back he went out in the garden and the robin he tamed before he went came and sat on his shoulder, it remembered him.


----------



## dither (Jun 17, 2020)

Maggots? I did some fishing back in the day. You're saying I just go in and ask for maggots? But, again, "back in the day":roll:, a person took a bait-box and had it filled but that was yesteryear. And no, she who shall be obeyed would not have them in the fridge. I sure would like to give that a try.


----------



## dither (Jun 18, 2020)

I just spent half an hour online, seems like, trying to find a way to purchase some mealworms. What's the problem? You might wonder. The problem is me of course. I worry about buying stuff online, or by phone. Basically, I don't like giving out my card-details. What DON'T I worry about? Well? Anyway, I managed to find a company that, besides advertising their wares, gave an actual postal address.

And so, I've written a letter, enclosed a cheque and, if said company finds that acceptable, hope to be giving my new friend a treat in the not too distant future.

By the way Mr.Buckle, according to the bumph set out in the details, these mealworms are the larvae of some beetle, beetle maggots? Whatever.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 18, 2020)

A cheque, spell-check doesn't even recognize that, you really are a twentieth century man aren't you 

I would have a bit of ice ready for when they arrive. Keeping them cold will slow down their development and you don't want a bunch of beetles, better than blow flies though 

Do let us know how it goes, It will be really interesting to find out.


----------



## dither (Jun 18, 2020)

Mr.Buckle,

what's so "twentieth century" about the English way of spelling? Is it really so out of date?

I've sent for a pack of dried mealworms and yes, if they turn up, I shall no doubt share my experience with them.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 18, 2020)

If they are the dried ones it might be worth giving them a bit of a soak first.

A cheque is twentieth century, I didn't think the banks even issued cheque books anymore, on the odd occasion I needed one I have gone into my local branch and they printed one out, I think it was something like University course fees, or maybe a deposit for accommodation.


----------



## dither (Jun 18, 2020)

Yes, they'd like to do away with cheque-books, they'd like to do away with CASH, but they're hanging on.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 18, 2020)

I am sure doing away with cash is a wet dream for some people in the treasury, and in customs and excise. No black economy, they think. I don't believe it, people will find a way round it, that's what people do. When the monetary system has collapsed in the past people traded using bottles of spirits and cigarettes, where there's a will...


----------



## dither (Jun 19, 2020)

Olly Buckle said:


> I am sure doing away with cash is a wet dream for some people in the treasury, and in customs and excise. No black economy, they think. I don't believe it, people will find a way round it, that's what people do. When the monetary system has collapsed in the past people traded using bottles of spirits and cigarettes, where there's a will...



But it comes with a cost and ordinary joes like me are the losers.


----------



## dither (Jun 19, 2020)

I've been thinking, why do I always act first and think afterwards? Those mealworms look so big for such tiny robin-beaks. Imagining, those poor little chicks choking on them. We shall see.


----------



## River Rose (Jun 19, 2020)

Cuz that’s what we do as humans.


----------



## dither (Jun 19, 2020)

River Rose said:


> Cuz that’s what we do as humans.



Yeah, and it's a bitch. Please excuse my choice of words.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 19, 2020)

Don't know for sure, but I reckon they are unlikely to feed them to chicks. Most young birds don't have a swallow mechanism, so they need live food that will wriggle and help itself down. Linnets are the only one I can think of that feed their young on seed. Don't worry though, it means he can eat them himself and what he forages will go to the chicks, so they end up with more in the long run.


----------



## River Rose (Jun 19, 2020)

dither said:


> I've been thinking, why do I always act first and think afterwards? Those mealworms look so big for such tiny robin-beaks. Imagining, those poor little chicks choking on them. We shall see.



Acting first and thinking later...
that is basically my life. Sounded good at the moment.
Hence...I have 8 children so I have no room to talk.


----------



## Amnesiac (Jun 19, 2020)

I used to buy small tins of meal worms for an iguana I used to have. I'd make him a little salad and sprinkle meal worms over it. He loved it.  That was one fat, sassy, and happy lizard.


----------



## dither (Jun 19, 2020)

I am very much a thinker though Rose, have been told that I have tendency to over-think things and that I should, as the T-shirt logo goes,  just do it, sometimes.


----------



## dither (Jun 19, 2020)

Olly Buckle said:


> Don't know for sure, but I reckon they are unlikely to feed them to chicks. Most young birds don't have a swallow mechanism, so they need live food that will wriggle and help itself down. Linnets are the only one I can think of that feed their young on seed. Don't worry though, it means he can eat them himself and what he forages will go to the chicks, so they end up with more in the long run.



I could try chopping them up I suppose, if they look a bit big. You can buy live " mini mealworms " I believe but I don't fancy keeping live ones.


----------



## dither (Jun 19, 2020)

Amnesiac said:


> I used to buy small tins of meal worms for an iguana I used to have. I'd make him a little salad and sprinkle meal worms over it. He loved it.  That was one fat, sassy, and happy lizard.



Nice one Amnesiac.


----------



## River Rose (Jun 19, 2020)

dither said:


> I am very much a thinker though Rose, have been told that I have tendency to over-think things and that I should, as the T-shirt logo goes,  just do it, sometimes.



See...I knew u could JUST DO IT!!!


----------



## dither (Jun 20, 2020)

Didn't see my Robin this morning and I was out there a while. Cat-food?


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 20, 2020)

I would doubt it, robins are friendly to humans, but they are not stupid. Have a listen, if he is about he will be defending his territory, and that won't be huge this time of year and in the sort of habitat you describe. In fact I would expect the most likely cause if he is missing to be a territorial dispute, they will literally fight to the death. Of course they are wild animals and there are many dangers, the oldest ringed robin was something like 25 years old, but the average life of a fledgling is about eighteen months. Someone was doing a study of robins in a large area of open parkland and they got hit by a virus that killed nearly all of them. Without the competition a lot more of the young survived though, and robins will lay two lots of eggs a year,  so numbers were back to normal within a couple of years.

My first thought was 'Robins don't eat cat food, that's hedgehogs.' Doh!


----------



## dither (Jun 20, 2020)

It seemed pretty quiet out there under that big old Sycamore, the occasional outburst from a Magpie and that was about it. I haven't been in the garden for a few days because of the weather, maybe the red-breast has given up on me.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 21, 2020)

Bloomin' magpies! There are always rows going on with blackbirds, and then I find broken eggs and half eaten chicks. I notice they find places with a good view of a piece of road and sit up there waiting for road kill, I suppose something has to clear it up. There was a big oak in the garden opposite our old house and magpies always nested there. A couple of years ago they raised three chicks, but one got hit in the road outside our house. The rest of the family spent the whole day on the verge next to it. It was like they are robbers and marauders, but they don't like it to happen to one of their own, reminds me of another two legged species


----------



## dither (Jun 21, 2020)

As if the small birds didn't have enough to worry about with the cats. Having said that, without cute little tiddles and co. it would probably even out.

Well, anyway, it looks as though it rained here over night, everywhere is wet, so I won't be doing much out there today.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 21, 2020)

Just think of the maths without disease or predators. Two robins lay two clutches of five eggs, so next year there are ten chicks, plus the original two laying twelve clutches of five eggs, the year after that forty two pairs lay...
And the sky was black with robins


----------



## dither (Jun 21, 2020)

Then you have a family of Magpies, say three, maybe more, fledgling-chicks, going to need a lot of eggs and baby songbirds. Then there are the other members of the Crow family. Small hawks. Eviction by needy Cuckoos. Sky maybe not so black now, and silent.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 21, 2020)

It's easy to see them as the villains, but we have done that with other species and caused terrible natural imbalances, magpies do clear up a lot of road kill, and we know which species causes that. If they were all shot on sight there would be a lot more of all sorts of things.  

We should be careful with common names, our magpie is pica pica, but I bet there are black and white birds completely unrelated somewhere in the world that are called 'magpies' locally. I know the American robin is nothing like ours apart from the red breast. The jackdaw, corvus monedula, is my favourite in the crow family. they are social, and they look like they are simply having fun quite often.


----------



## dither (Jun 22, 2020)

Biro, I get your point but this very much has a  " chicken or the egg " feel about it and so I'll pass on this one.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 22, 2020)

Red in tooth and claw, add beak to that. Don't worry, I grew up with a father who was a biology teacher with an agricultural degree and an older brother who also became a biologist, I have a pretty fair idea of the reality of things.

Ever read Konrad Lorenz 'King Solomon's ring' ? It was what turned me on to jackdaws, they really do seem to get fun out of flying, the real life Jonathan Livingstone was a jackdaw, not a seagull     It is not an easy book to get hold of, but it really is worth reading if you can get a copy, Lorenz's research is really interesting stuff too, but he suffered some for being Austrian and living through the Nazi period. There is an amazing piece of film with one of his students joining ducks in a river and suggesting to them they fly downstream a bit and then come back by imitating their movements, amazingly they can translate it across species.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 23, 2020)

Lorenz had geese that followed him because they had imprinted that way. I am not even sure it has to be a living thing, simply moving.


----------



## dither (Jun 24, 2020)

MEET-UP AT THE BIRD-BATH:

We have a bird-bath at the top the garden, well, at the top of the part that is accessible. It's on top of a small statuette, comprising of of three naked ladies standing back to back, about a metre tall. Don't know what it's made of but it's heavy. Cream-coloured, probably molded from some quick-dry cement, anyway, the birds love it. I sat watching them for a while and then when the rush of drinkers and bathers eased I went and had half-hour or so up there, cut a few branches, uprooted a pile of Ivy and laid it out to dry, cut a few dried branches into short lengths for my bug-hotel, as they're quaintly referred to nowadays, and that was enough. I'm sitting here in just my boxers. Phew!!


----------



## dither (Jun 24, 2020)

Yeah, I AM thinking about that. Will probably have a wood/log-pile or two by the time I'm finished.


----------



## River Rose (Jun 24, 2020)

dither said:


> Yeah, I AM thinking about that. Will probably have a wood/log-pile or two by the time I'm finished.



D put on something more than just your boxers or u are going to get splinters where u don’t want them. :wink:


----------



## dither (Jun 24, 2020)

River Rose said:


> D put on something more than just your boxers or u are going to get splinters where u don’t want them. :wink:



:shock:


Rose we're just not used to these temperatures over here.
Got a nice soft seat  and boxers is good right now.


----------



## dither (Jun 25, 2020)

Well, I got the mealworms and the Robin seems to have moved on. Will check the bbe date when I open the box and will probably just dump them out in the garden sometime.

It was an impulse purchase, thought I'd outgrown impulsive a long time ago. :cookie:

B/B Dec 2021 but they do smell a bit.

We'll see.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jun 25, 2020)

Don't dump the lot, you will attract vermin. A few in a tin lid off a jar somewhere a bird can feel safe and you can see, then keep an eye out for what comes. They may empty it without you seeing the first couple of times, but as it gets to be habit they will get more relaxed.

PS. the dried ones always niff a bit, so long as you keep them dry they will be fine.


----------



## dither (Jun 25, 2020)

Yes, won't throw them all at once and might just sit up there with a coffee some time. There's a small plate  hanging from a tree-branch by three short chains connected to a metal hook. Might just put a few mealworms  in that and hang it from one of the Sycamore branches. It's well shaded  under the Sycamore, quite dark and I've never noticed many birds up there, the Robin, or the secretive Hedge-sparrow might just spot it, although it'll probably be too high up for the Hedge-Sparrow. I need to get an air-tight container, old coffee jar or something, to put them in. We'll see.


----------



## dither (Jun 25, 2020)

Well, I found an air-tight container to keep the MWs in.  Set that small plate hanging from a tree that I stripped of branches and now I'm good to go.

There's just one thing:
It says nothing on the pack about re-hydration, just a bbe date and that I should use them within three months of opening. Why on earth did I buy 250gms? That's a year's supply.
Those MWs look as though they'd be blown off the plate by the slightest breeze and so my thinking is to wet the whole  plate, add a few drops of water, and sprinkle the MW's, little more than a pinch really, onto the wet surface, and see how it goes.


----------



## dither (Jul 3, 2020)

I saw my, well I can hardly call him a friend, but he was up there, rooting around among the organic litter. So what did I do? In all of a rush? I shooed him away when I went to get the small dish that I'd put aside for the Mealworms, and then, when I returned with the intended treats, I shooed him away _again. _DOH!#-o And that was that, gone.

So, I thought, to hell with it, I'll just get on with the garden clean-up. I kept looking for him but to no avail, he wasn't to be seen. After an hour or so I stopped for a coffee and then, looking back over my shoulder as I walked toward the house, what did I see? Right where I'd been tidying, no where near where I'd left the Mealworms of course:upset:, I think he had a young-one tagging along, would be a good time for him to find those worms I think. We shall see.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jul 6, 2020)

I noticed the robin liked feeding on the ground, and put some mealworms on the bird table, then spread a bunch across the ground on the patio. As I looked back I saw a small black cat, covered in sores and with no fur on its back legs or tail, following me, eating the mealworms. I showed the missus who found the tin of whiskers left from our old cat, she loved it, and returned daily. It was a fortnight before she would come in the house, that was a bit over a year ago, we now have a small, sleek, black cat asleep on the sofa. I was feeding the birds the other day and offered her some mealworms, she no longer has any interest in them. I have a feeling only starving stray cats eat mealworms.


----------



## SueC (Jul 6, 2020)

Olly Buckle said:


> I noticed the robin liked feeding on the ground, and put some mealworms on the bird table, then spread a bunch across the ground on the patio. As I looked back I saw a small black cat, covered in sores and with no fur on its back legs or tail, following me, eating the mealworms. I showed the missus who found the tin of whiskers left from our old cat, she loved it, and returned daily. It was a fortnight before she would come in the house, that was a bit over a year ago, we now have a small, sleek, black cat asleep on the sofa. I was feeding the birds the other day and offered her some mealworms, she no longer has any interest in them. I have a feeling only starving stray cats eat mealworms.



This has the feel of a short story to write, Olly.


----------



## dither (Jul 7, 2020)

Mr.Buckle,
you may be right that only "starving stray cats" would eat mealworms but cats will eat for the sake of eating. Something that harks back to before they were domesticated I suppose, to a time when they had to gorge themselves as and when an opportunity presented itself, not knowing where or when the next meal was going to come, perhaps. That's why we see pictures and hear so many stories  of bloated over-weight cats and dogs. Whatever.

We don't have a bird table and we finished with those feeders that hang in mid-air because of the rats. I've tried leaving a few mealworms on a small plate, down low, close to the ground. The very top end of my garden, _was_ over-grown, had been  in a sorry state, and when I started to sort it out, well, I suppose that was what drew the attentions of the Robin. It's not a very big area, twenty square metres perhaps, maybe a bit more. It is surrounded on three sides by tall fencing, there's a Cherry tree up against the top fence in the middle and the whole area is darkened by the canopy of a huge Sycamore. 

I don't want to advertise these mealworms to all and sundry, it's like I said to the cat-person that we have here, you can't take on the whole world. I rather like the idea of feeding the small, preferably the shy ones, the ones you rarely see. _Like _the Robins, the Hedge-Sparrows, the Wrens, and those of the Tit-family perhaps.

I shall continue to leave just a few mealworms out every day,and then throw them into my incinerator every other day, until either one of these small birds finds them or I run out of them, not sure that I really mind which. I _would _like to give those guys a hand but I'm about ready to walk away from it.

We'll see.


----------



## dither (Jul 9, 2020)

The mealworms won't go to waste, I left a few on the garden path and a  Blackbird made a meal of them, well done him eh?


----------



## River Rose (Jul 9, 2020)

https://youtu.be/wMbQsKJ64S0


----------



## dither (Jul 9, 2020)

Rose, I don't do U2B I'm sorry.


----------



## River Rose (Jul 9, 2020)

dither said:


> Rose, I don't do U2B I'm sorry.



I know 
I forgot. 
Let me tell u about it. 
It’s a funny video
Did u ever hear the song...Tip for thru the tulips????
Thats what the video is. 
The guy singing it is so funny
Made me think of u working on your garden


----------



## dither (Jul 9, 2020)

No gardening today, has rained almost non-stop since Tuesday night. Going to be a while before stuff dries out now.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jul 11, 2020)

River Rose said:


> I know
> I forgot.
> Let me tell u about it.
> It’s a funny video
> ...



Tiny Tim? He was a five minute wonder years ago, weird guy, had a thing about cleanliness, took about eight showers a day, and still managed to look grotty somehow.


----------



## dither (Jul 11, 2020)

So many " five minute wonders " back then, must have one hell of a trip.


----------

