Greetings everyone! Woke up today to an unexpected white wonderland – I really need to take better heed of the weather forecasts! Not being able to spend as much time outside this season, my cold conditioning has been lagging. Just the other day I received a letter in the mail from the RAU threatening a lawsuit for “Neglect and Unbecoming Behavior”. Dropped it off at our legal department to add to the “pile” (don’t ask). Upon inquiry, learned that the RAU is the Runner’s Apparel Union that, news to me, my cold weather running wardrobe had recently unionized under. They are pissed that they haven’t been used once this winter and noticed we were already packing for our trip south. They will need to take that up with my ankle doctor. While I get things straightened out with the disgruntled closet, Brad is going to bring you an adventure from across the pond (what expense report ha).
Take it away Brad….
Wildlife Intrigued sent Jan and I on an international birding assignment to Merry Olde England. The expense report is still pending. I think Legal is holding it up because they are jealous, they weren’t allowed to go. Can you blame HQ after the photocopy incident last time they were given responsibility?
On one of our free mornings, Jan’s cousin Louise offered to take us to Rutland Water Nature Reserve (RWNP) to see some birds. How could we refuse? The morning started out misty and cloudy, a typical English morning you’re thinking. However, in our experience, a very small percentage of mornings actually start this way. The movies have us all thinking that England, or more specifically London, is full of dark and gloomy places shrouded in a thick fog; best keep that brolly handy. Jan and I have made a few trips across the pond, and in the 70+ days we’ve spent there in total, only 2-3 have been truly rainy or the type of weather we needed a Mackintosh or Wellies after your morning cuppa.
After breakfast, Louise said she would drive. I was secretly relieved because while I am able to drive on the wrong, er, left side of the road, I’m not as confident as I need to be on the narrow hedge-lined roadways. Instead of driving the tiny European rental car (I could barely fit my normal U.S. sized feet under the dashboard to work the pedals), we rode to RWNP in style in a Jaaaaag (hoping the increased amount of “a’s” help with the proper pronunciation). Once we secured a spot in the car park, I put Jan’s camera together first. Then she and Louise headed off to the visitor center. I finished my camera, put the strap around my shoulder, and shut the boot on the Jaaaaag. As I wandered up the trail, I saw Jan snapping away at something sweetly singing in the shrubbery. But, as usual, by the time I got there it was gone.
Hit the jump to read more about this spiffy looking bird from across the pond.
It’s a European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), a +1 for us. It may also be a +1 for Wildlife Intrigued from across the pond, at least I think it is.
As the Robin switched its gaze up and down the path, it must have known Jan and I have trouble remembering which way to look when crossing a road or coming to an intersection. Remember, England drives on the left side of the road from the right-hand side of the car. Crazy, I know. I’ve done it a few times in a few different kinds of cars. It’s not so hard adjusting when travelling TO England. The hard part for me is adjusting to driving on the right side of the road when we get back home to America, especially on roundabouts. I try to remember to keep the center line (or lane separator) outside my door, whichever country I’m driving in. Thankfully there aren’t many B-roads (very narrow lanes with no shoulder) or smaller here in the States. In the UK, B-roads (or heaven forbid you get caught on a C-road) make up over 85% of the roads in the UK.
For me, up to this point, all I had was Merlin telling me there was a European Robin singing nearby. I learned later it was the one Jan was already photographing.
It’s now looking straight at Jan as if to ask, “Did you get it? Huh, did’ja?” I don’t really think it’s sticking its tongue out at her. I think it’s a small berry the Robin was going to snack on next. Maybe a bit of taunting . . . a second time, perhaps?
Glancing over its shoulder, I couldn’t help but project a thought bubble over this bird saying,” I wonder if anyone else saw me singing.” As far as I could tell, there weren’t any Britain’s Got Talent scouts hiding in the shrubbery. No one with a herring either.
Of course, I’m making up the entire story, because as usual, I wasn’t there to see it.
The European Robin is a bit smaller than the American version, more the size of a sparrow. European Robins are known to perch in conspicuous locations to sing or look for food. That’s precisely where Jan found this one, on an exposed perch right next to the trail. Seconds later, it retreated into the dense brush.
Not quite “hedge lining the road” dense, but close enough. Robins are very territorial with both females and males maintaining separate territories outside the breeding season. A pair will be monogamous during a single breeding season, but then back on the market as soon as it’s over. A pair of Robins will often raise two broods of 4-7 chicks during a season. The male continues to feed fledglings from the first brood while the female often starts a second brood.
Once I caught up with Jan and Louise, we paid the small visitor and parking fee, picked up a guide map, and walked to the blinds to see what we could see. Oh yeah, and the sun is shining. Typical England.
Thank you for reading. If you want to see more European Robin photos, please visit here.
Credits:
Thanks again to Jan for proofreading and editing. Thanks to Jan for all of the photos in this article.
Wildlife Intrigued 
That is a beautiful Robin. Looks to have plenty of sass to spread around.
12ºF this morning, but dry as a bone. No frost to bite on Jake. We’ve had highs in the low 40s with bitter cold winds the last couple of days.
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WP is munching on my replies for some reason. Par for course, we warm up to 33 tomorrow and get rain during the day so it will be all nice and slick for our return trip from my families Christmas – might save some gas by simply sliding all the way home ha.
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SNAFU mode for WP. Slip sliding away like Paul Simon.
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What was he and Julio doing down by the schoolyard?
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That’s a good questions. One of our new staff is named Julio. We are hiring another young staff member named Paul. They will both be evaluating schools. So Paul and Julio will be down at the school yards a lot next year. Julio knows of the song, but said he hasn’t heard it. He’s 22 years old.
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Wow, that is an amazing coinkydinks. Kids these days, just don’t know the classics anymore. Get him to listen to that, Kodachrome and 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.
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Some do some don’t. Mostly depends on the parents.
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I can see that – to be honest, I have to thank my brothers for getting me well versed in the classics (they are significantly older than me) then college entrenched me in alt and grunge. Pretty much experienced in all forms of music with the exception of speed/death metal which doesn’t do much for me.
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Thanks Tim. And yes it did sass us quite a bit. Then flew away before we could do anything about it.
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Ah merry olde England I know thee well, though not always merry but definitely old-e.
So glad you, er, ‘enjoyed’ the joys of our road system. Try visiting merry olde Norfolk on your next visit, our ‘A’ roads are the equivalent to other counties ‘Bs’!
Yes the Robin. Something we take for granted I suppose, they can be so confiding. One in my garden almost gets clobbered when I’m weeding but their song cheers up the gloomiest winters day.
London’s ‘pea soup’ smogs are a thing of the past now we are all going green. Shame really as they give movies a certain mood with old Jack the Ripper creeping about.
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Those robins are rather cheerful considering the gloomy environment they sometimes have to live in. We did make it to Norfolk on prior visits. I was driving solo then, GPS was of no help on that trip, though it kept trying. I did manage to avoid the multi-level roundabout at Swindon (I think that’s the right place). The “roads” up near Hadrian’s Wall were, well, calling them “roads” was generous in that part of the country. If I can stay on “B” roads I’m almost happy, still a bit too narrow for me. Thanks for stopping by B.
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Wondering if the robin was singing “Pretty bird, pretty bird”!” And it really is a pretty bird. The orange seems to stand out much more than the red Robbin’s here. Nice trip. And, do you like warm beer?
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Hi Jerry. Thanks, it was a cheerful and pretty little bird. Unfortunate coloring if you are trying to blend into the greenery. No warm beer for me. Warm soda is bad enough. Americans can get ice if they ask for it and endure the snickers behind their backs.
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Fabulous fotos (or phabulous photos) of this darling bird, Brad. European Robins must be among the most endearing feathered friends because of their good looks and sweet songs and behavior.
Good for your for being able to drive on the wrong side of the road. The idea alone makes me shiver.
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European Robins and American Meadowlarks (all varieties) have unassailable song abilities. Non-emergency driving on the motorways isn’t too bad. It’s those darn “B” roads and urgent situation that cause me to think the wrong direction. Thanks Tanja.
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Precioso ✨✨
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Thank you very much.
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A beautiful bird very nicely captured.
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Thank you. Jan did all the work on this one.
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Wonderful photos of a beautiful bird – Jan did a great job capturing this lively little bird, and even following it into the thicket. We didn’t consider for a moment trying to drive over there, would have been a complete disaster. We’re such creatures of habit, we kept dodging and weaving in the back seat of the taxi cabs as we anticipated crashes from the wrong side… which of course never materialized. Looking forward to more UK finds!
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Thank you Sam, I’ll share your kind words with Jan. I found that adjusting to UK driving was easier than adjusting back to the States. Urgency has a way of focusing the mind on those roads. Though it does feel like I’m not quite balanced driving on the “wrong” side of the road and car.
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WOW@
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Thanks very much! Jan does a great job photographing our feathered friends.
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Great shot of it looking right at you, Brad! Yes, the roads are very narrow over there. We got the second smallest rental car on a trip to Ireland, and I wished we would have opted for the smallest one. Some of those roads… YIKES!
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Thank you. Jan is the bird whisperer in the family. It helps I set up the cameras first . . . just sayin’. Agreed on the roads across the pond. Haven’t tried Ireland yet, but have been very close to Scotland and I’m sure some of those roads would be considered C- they were that narrow. I thought the Land Rover was going to scrape the stone walls on either side of the sheep path that was called a “road”.
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