Scruff Scruff has been around for four years. All through the year he has a few feather hanging out at angles. When he is feeding chicks, he just tends to look really frazzled. He also has a curved beak. All the other robins are sleek, and have straight beaks.
Last year we think he had two nests on the go. He alternated the direction he was flying with a beak full of mealworms. We have about five robins in the garden normally, spread up through it. The robin that watches me digging the veg patch is not the same one as sits by the patio.
I had a blackbird (also called Scruff) in the garden last year. He had a distinctive "tutu". One of his offspring is around this year with a "quarter tutu". I can't get a photo of him though as he is a wuss and runs away when l open the door. Totally unlike his father, who used to sit on the back door handle making sure l had pieces of suet before he'd let me out 😁.
I have a flat roofed shed on one side of my garden. It is about 3m high so you can't see the top but I put a large shallow tray about 1.5 x 1.5m (2inches deep). I keep it topped up with water if it doesn't rain. It attracts lots of bathing birds. Starlings, house sparrows, wood pigeons are daily visitors. Common but no less welcome for that. I have a robin that comes into the kitchen when the back door is open and always finds crumbs on the floor that I have missed. He has no fear of me. I have a small tub of rainwater with tadpoles. I am hoping to get plenty of young frogs to keep on top of my slug population.
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Wow. I wonder what is up with Scruff. Some kind of skin disease or mites?