Robins in the Yard

We are lucky to live in a rural setting with about three acres of land . It was once a farmers corn field ,but over the past 12/13 years we have been reclaiming this little square of land using natural species plants ( shrubs and trees ).

Dogwood , willow , nannyberries , high bush cranberries , wild sugar plum , black currants , red currants , blueberries , red and black elderberries all are abundant . I planted them for birds to begin with. I have always worried about the birds not having enough. I rarely get to reap the fruits of that labour as the birds have the advantage of checking for ripeness more often than me .

What is fun , though , is when I do try to get the late spring fruit . Inevitably , the robins that nest in the yard will vie and dare me to pick in 'their' territory....my yard. As I bend to pick , one parent robin will first land close and call ; then it will hop closer and eyeball me carefully and finally it will fly right past my face to try and startle me away.

Since I know the challenge dance , I hold my ground and my bowl of berries and ignore the robin . In desperation and in the face of a very efficient picker (me) , the robin will land where I am working and try to take the berries before me .

In my strawberry patch , the robin has discovered that I don't pick the berries in which it has poked a hole . Now , I rarely find a hole-less strawberry...all having been sabotaged by nesting robins.

There are three nesting pairs in my yard this year , who have divided it into territorial zones for harvesting. My favorite nest is right outside my computer window.



One nest is about 2/3's the way up this tree.

 The photos were taken in March about two weeks after the first robins appeared in the yard . They were happy to use my bird feeder this spring.

I picked no berries this year so far.