Robin Taming

 

This is Jacques. We've been feeding him in a special dish for a few months now. He will land on the dish even if I am holding it. The weight of his tiny body is surprising. 

Jacques (so named because of the white racing stripes on each side of his wing - after Jacques Villeneuve) and his partner (we sometimes call her Dianne but mostly we call her Mrs Jacques. Very backward of us) nested in the ivy above the patio. Two little chicks fledged on Monday. Jacques is a good dad and is constantly on the go. The food is a mix of suet pellets, soaked meal worms, and robin mix (grain and fruit, presumably not made of robins). Jacques is not impressed by the robin mix but I feel we need to keep adding it anyways. Balanced diet and all that.

I've grown very fond of Jacques - the whirr of his wings as he swoops in to greet us, and the way he cocks his head. He flew in through the upstairs window last week, (luckily found his way back out again quickly) - I think he heard our voices. He has spied his dish just inside the door and flown in there as well. I even touch mealworms with my bare hands because they are for Jacques. Context is everything. 

Can you spot baby Jacques?

Things are slowly starting back up here. Neal has had both his vaccine jabs, I have had my first one. I have not one but two band rehearsals today - both the brass band and the big band. It is almost overwhelming having things to go to. I will have to start writing things down again. I think it will be a good while before we feel comfortable for many things, but it is nice to be with people again.

Brass Band rehearsal in a field...

It's very much a wait-and-see scenario in the UK, sometimes things sound very much like they did just before all hell broke loose around Christmas time last year, so it seems unwise to get too excited. Ours is not a government that learns from its mistakes. Hopefully the vaccine roll out will help mitigate against that. 

We are coming in on a wing and a prayer...