Recently, we’ve been watching the comings and goings. There’s a gardener near our nest in the shed. We wouldn’t have started the nest if it were not possible to get in and out when the door is closed, but fortunately there’s a small gap above. Perhaps he put it there deliberately for us? In that case, thank you kind gardener!
We have met him several times. We’d be off getting a bit of moss or perhaps some light twigs and there he’d be, walking in or out, usually head down. For a few weeks, we were able to keep the location the nest from him, but we saw him zoom in last week as we watched from a distance. He knows that we’ve settled in between two plastic crates on a middle shelf. The gap is quite small, yet we’ve been diligent to have all materials installed. He seems content just knowing the exact Eircode. As far as we know, he has not told the cat. Mr. Robin says he can be trusted.
As we potter away at various tasks, we regularly see him in the glasshouse or potting up in the shed, watching us from a distance. Two can play that game! We greet one another with our trademark calls.
At this point, we know he’s not a threat. He sat inside drinking coffee on Monday. The chair is about a two feet to the right of our nest entrance. We moved quickly from glasshouse outside to a pot inside, waited a few seconds there and darted in home close by. He saw us, but seemed more nterested in the coffee.
Having a gardener to follow around is very exciting, particularly if digging is involved. It’s part and parcel of life here.
So, we have some questions… six, actually.
- Do the male and female gardeners nest together? That would be nice.
- When will baby gardeners arrive?
- How many?
- Why does he seem to tolerate these thuggish local cats?
- Is there anything we should be doing to get him to change? We heard the lady gardener mentioning this too.
- He digs the soil but doesn’t like worms or other grubs. We don’t understand. Can anyone explain? And another thing… we fail to see why coffee is so important.
Below are a few selfies…
The Irish word is spideóg. We like it.
Here’s one painted by the gardener’s baby. Last week, we noted that Eileen and The Shrub Queen had high praise for the work of the artist. We are inclined to agree. Also, we were rightly chuffed when Rosie mentioned us on her lovely blog. We’ve never been mentioned on a blog before (well, just once actually)… perhaps we’ll be famous little robins? We’ll be sure to tell the whole story to the little ones when they arrive.
That’s it for this week, a cháirde. Until next week, we hope that all will be well in your world. Slán go fóill. If you’d like to read many other Six-on-Saturday updates, just head over to Jon The Propagator‘s blog. You’ll find links in the comments section beneath the Saturday updates.
The Robins in the Shed.
Pádraig de Búrca - Grow Write Repeat 