My New Feathers

One of the HTR's has been tucked away in the bushes for some weeks now. He or she appears every now and then, but skulks around in the shrubs for most of the time while undergoing the annual moult. I finally managed to lure it out today and got a couple of pics of the emerging feathers.

I initially believed this to be HTR, but now I am not so sure. Mrs HTR still had tan spots on the coverts but HTR (being an older bird) did not. This bird still has them, so it might be Mrs HTR, who, if young enough, would still have them. The bird in question does follow me around, albeit from the safety of cover, so that suggests her rather than him. If it is Mrs HTR, then it will be interesting to see if she tries to retain the territory or maybe she will migrate. There is a second Robin in the area and I have heard whining and ditting from the pair of them. Watch this space...