Two beautiful robins in my English garden

I thought it would be lovely to have a post about the beautiful robins that are sharing my garden this spring.

As the UK’s favourite bird, the robin really is a much-loved part of our gardens. And I have thoroughly enjoyed gardening with a friendly male robin, especially over winter.

In fact, the male has been with me for many months, since late summer last year and has been demanding mealworms many times every day.

How exciting it was when he started singing jolly loudly in order to try and attract a female into the garden. I had read that singing loudly attracts females, and also shows them to be in good health and vitality.

So, after all that singing, he brought along a mate in early spring and started his courtship.

My photo above shows the two of them with a beak full of mealworms. One of my favourite photos so far.

Thankfully, they did not appear to mind an onlooker, taking hundreds of snaps. Although, I am sure that if I looked like another robin, I would have been chased away pronto!

So, here is the story of my resident robin and his feathered romance.

The male robin in winter

My photo shows my resident robin over winter. He was such a constant companion that he featured in my 12 Days Wild posts. Links below if you missed them or fancy a recap.

12 Days Wild, some festive Christmas magic

12 Days Wild, into the New Year

I provided plenty of mealworms and ensured he always had fresh drinking water to get him through the winter and beyond. As my wild life ponds were often frozen, he had his own supply of water for drinking and bathing.

As a result, he survived the winter, looking clean and plump, and continued to be a constant gardening companion into the spring.

He became so tame that he would sneak indoors if he got the chance and would have to be escorted outside again.

Well now that spring has sprung, and as I mentioned earlier, he has found himself a partner.

Those beautiful robins

My next photo shows the beautiful female who appeared in early spring, being fed by the resident male. One of my heartwarming snaps of the male feeding the female as part of his courtship. He was a highly attentive chap and fed her mealworms so many times a day.

I managed to get many close up photos, after fulfilling my role as frequent mealworm dispenser.

However, I did not manage to get one clear photo of them bustling around with their nesting material.

They decided to use a decrepit old nesting box, fixed to the house wall and the female soon made a lovely nest.

I noticed, during the courtship, that she sometimes flew off to the lilac tree and called him over, demanding food. Playing hard to get clearly and making the courtship more interesting perhaps.

Looks like it was very successful, as they soon started breeding.

Beautiful robins collecting food

My next photo shows one of the robins with a tasty caterpillar snack.

Interestingly, they collect food, land on the fence, appear to wait for a photo, and then deliver the meals to their hungry brood. Meals on wings in fact!

Therefore, I have hundreds of close up photos of the robins with a beak full of spiders, lacewings, mealworms, caterpillars, worms and other goodies.

I could have chosen a snap of one of the robin’s with a beak full of wiggling worms, but I thought this photo was probably my favourite, so far……….

Don’t you just love that expression? Take your photo of me looking gorgeous, with my lovely head on a rakish angle, and then I am off to feed the kids.

Robin chicks ready to fledge

My next photo shows the robins getting ready to fledge. I was lucky enough to get a quick snap as they peered out of the nest box.

After they fledged, this thirty year old, rather decrepit, nest box was removed from the wall. Of course, two new nest boxes were promptly added, as they may well be needed for another brood.

In fact, whilst the robins were feeding these chicks, I noticed they were taking beaks full of mealworms over the hedge too. Surely, they couldn’t have a second nest full of hungry chicks in another garden?

Whenever I provided mealworms, the chicks in my garden were fed three of four times by both robins. The busy couple then had a quick snack themselves, and then raced off with more food. It’s a mystery that I am trying to solve.

In the meantime, I am spending many hours a day on mealworm dispensing duty and taking hundreds of photos too.

Furthermore, I find myself doing plenty of digging in the borders to uncover worms and grubs for them to supplement their diet.

Of course, I need to dig out some border space anyway, for all the flowers for pollinators I have sown in Favolosa, the greenhouse. As well as spaces for the one hundred and ninety dahlias waiting in pots to be planted out.

I have occasionally dug up a vine weevil larvae during digging operations. These are immediately grabbed by the beautiful robins as a tasty treat. Great news for me too, as those pesky insects eat the roots of plants and are therefore not welcome in my garden.

My fabulous rescue hens are keen on munching vine weevil larvae too.

Last robin waiting for lift off

My next photo shows the last of the chicks getting ready to leave the nest.

Interestingly, both robins stopped feeding the chick and encouraged a speedy fledge from the nest.

This involved perching nearby and becoming very vocal. As I was skulking around under the nest box, poised for more photos, I could hear the answering chirps.

I was lucky enough to see the final chick leaving the nest, but the photos I took were too blurry to share.

As I saw both parents feeding the chicks, I understood that it was then the male who takes on the caring role after the chicks have fledged. This allows the female to prepare for her second brood.

However, in this case, as I mentioned above, my beautiful robins appeared to be feeding two sets of chicks simultaneously. Plenty to do then, with caring for the fledged chicks and possibly feeding some nesters too.

I imagine, as the chicks fledge after around fourteen to sixteen days from hatching, there must have been an overlap. I can’t be sure though, as I have not seen another nest yet.

Of course, the robins are turbo charged fliers and could travel across a few gardens in the thirty or so seconds they are absent. Nevertheless, I would think they would not want to have to travel far, if they do have another nest somewhere.

What a hardworking pair of beautiful robins they are.

Robins feeding from my hand

My next photo shows how tame the beautiful robins have become.

They both land on my hand and collect a batch of mealworms to feed to their chicks. Occasionally, they stay put and eat some mealworms too. Although, this is more likely to be the male as he is tamer, having been with me for longer.

Often, they both chirp at me, and I like to think they are thanking me for the endless supply of food.

I have noticed that the female still calls for food occasionally and the male immediately feeds her. Surely, they are not courting again and thinking of starting yet another brood so soon though.

Having spent so much time with the robins in my garden, I would love to know more about them. I have found a book that is sure to add to my knowledge and ongoing fascination with these wonderful birds. The book is snappily titled RSPB Spotlight: Robins.

I have noticed that the reviews for the book are positive with plenty of five star ratings, so it looks like a good choice. Link below if you are also interested in finding out more.

https://amzn.to/3WcPklp

Those tasty vine weevils

I thought I would finish this post with a photo of one of those vine weevil grubs. A quick pause for a photo and the unlucky grub was then transported into the nest box to feed some hungry chicks.

I hope that you have enjoyed this post and are lucky enough to have a pair of breeding robins in your garden too.

Do post a comment if you have any robin stories to share. Also, if you have any ideas about my fecund couple of beautiful robins and their possible double broods.

I hope you will join me next time when I publish a post about some new dahlias.

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