The Story of Mrs No tail and Count Skoffalot

Regular readers will remember a guest blog earlier this year when Mary Payne told us how a Robin recycled the old nest that Mary had saved in the garage. I'm pleased to say that Mary has sent through an update:

I've been busy feeding our Robins and their offspring since mid-May. My duties have involved purchasing them copious amounts of live mealworms, as well as ousting various pesky neighbours' moggies from the garden. The birds would be extremely happy for me to perform these tasks full-time.

I was able to monitor the progress of our Robin family, because the female damaged her tail feathers early in the breeding season and they dropped off fairly soon afterwards. My husband Chris and I knew this bird was the female, as she was the nestbuilder. Poor Mrs No Tail has had to manage without her feathers for months.

We never discovered exactly where Mrs Robin had built her recycled nest, but from the direction in which they were taking food and their rapid returns for more, we thought it must be in a convenient location amongst the Ivy on the other side of our fence. I was putting live mealworms out daily in both of the two sanctuaries that we have to give small birds a chance over squirrels and big, fat pigeons.

Before long, Mrs NT and her husband had learnt to follow me to the back of the garage where the mealworms live in a tub. There is a nice, dark, prickly bush next to the garage door where they can queue for meals. Dad was extremely timid and hung back in the darkness, while his wife would come down on the patio to take mealworms. She would cram as many as she could into her beak before taking off. Dad was more likely to swoop in for a single worm and be satisfied to fly off with that. 

A week or so later, Mrs NT was spotted collecting new nest material. It seems that she had at least one fledgeling that was being fed by Dad, while she embarked on brood #2. Again, the nest appeared to be somewhere on the other side of our fence. 

We didn't see much of the first baby. He/she appeared in the garden from time-to-time, gradually turning red, but I never got a photo. I saw him/her have a few altercations with Dad and I imagine the youngster must have been chased off eventually to find a new territory and make room for the new family. 

With the second brood, we once again thought there was a single baby, as I had glimpsed only one being fed. About a week ago, he began joining his mother on the patio to help himself to mealworms. After a few days of waitress service, Mrs NT stopped feeding baby and began coming to get her own meals instead.

However, stiff competition arrived in the form of Count Skoffalot, a somewhat greedy male Blackbird.

The Count seems to have a built-in mealworm radar and swoops in out of nowhere to grab them. He has been known to consume 17 mealworms within seconds, only to give me his patented "Got any more, then?" look.

I do put worms in a small saucer under the bush, on top of a pile of old paving slabs, and weight the dish down with a stone. Mrs NT is not sufficiently strong to move it, but Count Skoffalot will pick it up to get at any wrigglers that have hidden underneath.

One day, there was an earthworm on the patio and I scattered mealworms in the vicinity. The Count ate all the mealworms and ignored the earthworm. Only gourmet food for him! He is quite brave and will come fairly close to me, although he is not as courageous as Mrs NT. She is intimidated, because he's aggressive and so much bigger.

I have been obliged to invent devious ways of ensuring that the robins were getting their fair share of the grub(s), putting some on the other side of the patio to divert his attention. The Count does not look as if he has bred this year and perhaps is a young bachelor. He doesn't have that careworn, exhausted look that avian parents have by the end of the breeding season and his feathers are healthy and shiny.

Soon we reached a situation of, 'When Mary appears in the garden, everyone rushes for the back door of the garage'. Mrs NT, now looking terribly scruffy, baby and Count Skoffalot are all turning up at various times. I haven't been seeing much of Dad at all. He probably thinks he won't get a look-in and he's right.

On Saturday 27th July, baby arrived, I scattered worms as usual and was surprised to see two youngsters of the same age fly down to the patio together and start challenging each other. They have been fighting, arguing and trying to stop each other from getting food, ever since. I can't really name them as I can't tell them apart; it's like looking at identical twins.

I'm seeing much less of Mrs NT now. I guess she is taking a well-earned rest and staying out of sight while she grows herself a nice new wardrobe. The poor girl is really looking quite scruffy!

I hope you enjoyed Mary's tale (and Mrs NT's lack of tail), and that you’ve been having little garden soap operas of your own to match!