REASON TO BE CHEERFUL .. PART ONE ((:>)
I turned round to pick up a plant and there, sitting on the edge of the bird bath, jiggling his tail and seemingly smiling at me was the brightest chested red red robin that I have ever seen.
Undeterred, he sat there for quite a while, totally at ease with the world at large. (I am sure that we have an expert ornithologist amongst us .. do Robin's breasts get brighter in spring when they're looking for a mate ?)
Illogically perhaps, the thought struck whilst watching lil Robin that whatever happens to CAFC, whoever owns, runs, succeeds with or fecks up the club in the short term, WE will survive and one day get stronger and back where we belong, even under this 'regime'.
My friend the Robin does not have a care in the world, just goes about looking for a mate, hunting for grub and feathering his nest. There is more to life for us humans than worrying because some Belgian fuckwit is making a right Horlicks of running the club we all love and in which we have invested a lot of emotional energy. Chins up my brethren and lets all look forward to next season, as drab as that possibility seems right now when we are down in the basement.
That's it ((:>) .. life goes on (oobla de oobla da)
Comments
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My friend the Roland does not have a care in the world, just goes about screwing up CAFC, hunting for a friend and feathering his nest.
Fixed it for you ;-)2 -
not the same Robin we saw at Barnehurst train station on Saturday night then.
it appeared from the bushses and was so tame, it walked to within a foot of my missus' feet.
i had consumed a few beers and a vodka shot before we went out but am absolutely convinced that when the robin hopped on past us, it looked back at me and opened its beak three times. the first two words it beaked consisted of one syllable and the third word definitely had two syllables.
i am 99% sure it beaked "Fuck Off Roland".
it then disappeared back into the bushes.
it returned about a minute later but didn't say anything this time round.
it has to be a sign because i've never had sparrows, blackbirds or finches mouthing that to me before.7 -
Macronate said:
not the same Robin we saw at Barnehurst train station on Saturday night then.
it appeared from the bushses and was so tame, it walked to within a foot of my missus' feet.
i am 99% sure it beaked "Fuck Off Roland".
it then disappeared back into the bushes.
it returned about a minute later but didn't say anything this time round.
it has to be a sign because i've never had sparrows, blackbirds or finches mouthing that to me before.
hahahahahahaah .. could be the same Robin .. the reincarnation of Jimmy Seed telling us to be not afeared ((:>)
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I read somewhere that on mainland Europe the Robin is an extremely shy, forest-dwelling bird. It follows wild boar around as they snuffle about and picks up invertebrates, etc that the boars disturb. They do the same thing in the UK but live in gardens. So, basically, they just think you are a pig, especially if you are gardening, and so they follow you around.
BTW, Robins go crazy for mealworms, they'll do almost anything for them - even the washing up (okay I lied about that!) Some concealed mealworms (sellotaped to the back of a pair of socks on the washing line for example) is a good way of getting really good close-up photos of Robins. You can get either live or dried - the Robins prefer fresh - but while they are quite expensive - you can try to grow your own:
For a constant supply of mealworms, prepare a large circular biscuit tin as follows:
Punch small holes in the lid for ventilation, place a layer of old hessian sacking in the bottom and sprinkle fairly thickly with bran. Put a slice or two of bread and raw potato, followed by another two layers of sacking/bran/bread/potato, like a three-decker sandwich. You can put a raw cabbage leaf on top if you like. Keep the tin at room temperature, not in hot sun.
Introduce two or three hundred mealworms into the prepared tin. After a few weeks the mealworms will turn into creamy pupae, then into little black beetles.
The beetles will lay eggs which hatch into mealworms and so on. Crop as necessary. Replace the bread, potato and cabbage as necessary.
If you want to start new colonies, prepare another tin and transfer some bits of dry bread (these will carry beetle eggs) from the flourishing colony.
I haven't heard about the breast getting redder in spring. Although each bird has a unique pattern. Juveniles don't have the red breast so as to avoid getting attacked and killed by the territorial adults.
On a slightly different topic, we had a linnet in the garden this year, which is the first one we've ever seen. Also, last week a Wood Warbler pitched up. They are summer visitors and generally absent from our area, so I guess it was stocking up en route.
So, another reason to be cheerful - summer is on its way!
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Seen it all on CL now - development of our own Mealworm Academy!! Suitable, I guess, for Sparrows Lane ....
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I remember last summer, my missus said as soon as I'd got in, without even looking up, 'There's a dead jay in the paddling pool. Can you get it out?'2
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@cafcfan .. thanks for the learnéd post .. CL never fails when it comes to an expert insight into ANY and EVERY topic ((:>)
soooooo .. Robins think that I'm just a meal providing pig .. mmmmm and I always considered myself a bit of a tiger ((:>)1 -
Did your Red Red Robin go bob bob bobbing along by any chance?0
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Why can't you just tape the mealworms that you have to buy to start the colony directly on to the socks, and thereby cut out the biscuit tin related middle man? I don't know how many socks I own, but I am guessing less than two or three hundred.2
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just like old Al ..ForeverAddickted said:Did your Red Red Robin go bob bob bobbing along by any chance?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtkhJ1xqw2o 0 -
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No. You'll pick it up as you go along. Perhaps you could experiment using a nail punch and your head?PL54 said:
Can I have a bit more detail about the size of the holes in the lid and the size of the beetles.cafcfan said:
Punch small holes in the lid for ventilation.....after a few weeks the mealworms will turn into creamy pupae, then into little black beetles.4 -
It's a sign that Roland's going to sell the valley once the crowd dips below £3k and move the franchise to LincolshireLincsaddick said:I was out in the back garden this morning doing early spring clear up and planting a few honeysuckle climbers against an ugly fence. Anyway ...
I turned round to pick up a plant and there, sitting on the edge of the bird bath, jiggling his tail and seemingly smiling at me was the brightest chested red red robin that I have ever seen.
Undeterred, he sat there for quite a while, totally at ease with the world at large. (I am sure that we have an expert ornithologist amongst us .. do Robin's breasts get brighter in spring when they're looking for a mate ?)
Illogically perhaps, the thought struck whilst watching lil Robin that whatever happens to CAFC, whoever owns, runs, succeeds with or fecks up the club in the short term, WE will survive and one day get stronger and back where we belong, even under this 'regime'.
My friend the Robin does not have a care in the world, just goes about looking for a mate, hunting for grub and feathering his nest. There is more to life for us humans than worrying because some Belgian fuckwit is making a right Horlicks of running the club we all love and in which we have invested a lot of emotional energy. Chins up my brethren and lets all look forward to next season, as drab as that possibility seems right now when we are down in the basement.
That's it ((:>) .. life goes on (oobla de oobla da)1 -
Oh dear. Prick.cafcfan said:
No. You'll pick it up as you go along. Perhaps you could experiment using a nail punch and your head?PL54 said:
Can I have a bit more detail about the size of the holes in the lid and the size of the beetles.cafcfan said:
Punch small holes in the lid for ventilation.....after a few weeks the mealworms will turn into creamy pupae, then into little black beetles.-1 -
Would be more than a prick if you did it properly.PL54 said:
Oh dear. Prick.cafcfan said:
No. You'll pick it up as you go along. Perhaps you could experiment using a nail punch and your head?PL54 said:
Can I have a bit more detail about the size of the holes in the lid and the size of the beetles.cafcfan said:
Punch small holes in the lid for ventilation.....after a few weeks the mealworms will turn into creamy pupae, then into little black beetles.0 -
The breast of a Robin is, in fact, orange, not red. Take a close look next time you see one.
Robins have always been described as having "red" breasts, however, because the name of the colour orange was taken from the name of the fruit. (Not the other way round).
Thus, until the ubiquity of the orange (Citrus × sinensis) across Europe by around the mid 17th century, there was no name and no reference point to the colour orange.
But red sounds better.0 -
Lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol.cafcfan said:
No. You'll pick it up as you go along. Perhaps you could experiment using a nail punch and your head?PL54 said:
Can I have a bit more detail about the size of the holes in the lid and the size of the beetles.cafcfan said:
Punch small holes in the lid for ventilation.....after a few weeks the mealworms will turn into creamy pupae, then into little black beetles.0 -
Loooook at youCovered End said:
Lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol.cafcfan said:
No. You'll pick it up as you go along. Perhaps you could experiment using a nail punch and your head?PL54 said:
Can I have a bit more detail about the size of the holes in the lid and the size of the beetles.cafcfan said:
Punch small holes in the lid for ventilation.....after a few weeks the mealworms will turn into creamy pupae, then into little black beetles.0 -
Not as much as look at you, you sad man.PL54 said:
Loooook at youCovered End said:
Lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol.cafcfan said:
No. You'll pick it up as you go along. Perhaps you could experiment using a nail punch and your head?PL54 said:
Can I have a bit more detail about the size of the holes in the lid and the size of the beetles.cafcfan said:
Punch small holes in the lid for ventilation.....after a few weeks the mealworms will turn into creamy pupae, then into little black beetles.1 -
We have robins in the garden who are incredibly tame and follow you round the garden when digging. So they are very trusting, like CAFC fans, until annoyed.
By the way, both males and females have the red/orange breast, only the juveniles are all brown for about 6 weeks.
Before every game, when I see one on the bird table, I take it as a good luck sign for CAFC! Guess that hasn't worked much recently.... but they are busy attracting mates and nest building, planning for next season I guess! Unlike like KM and RD.
Wise, wise robin.1
